Teacher Tips

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) are delighted to have you participate in the 23rd annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest!  The theme for this year’s competition is Everyone Can Be a Citizen Scientist, a topic that encourages students to explore, observe, and record data about the natural world.  Citizen science projects offer people of all ages the chance to contribute to important scientific studies.  Volunteers across the state, nation, and even around the world report their findings online, giving professional scientists the information needed to answer questions they were never able to answer before.  The data helps us understand long-term and widespread changes in wildlife populations and in the environment.  

The very first citizen science project began in 1900 and is still going strong today: the Christmas Bird Count.  In more recent years, other projects emerged.  Bird lovers flock to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's many programs.  Firefly Watch, Monarch Watch and Dragonfly Pond Watch attract insect enthusiasts.  Project BudBurst volunteers monitor plants as the seasons change and contribute to studies about the timing of life cycles and climate change.  Learn about the wildlife in your community through Wildlife Watch.  Whatever your interest, get outside, observe nature and share information about all the neat animals and plants you find!

The goal of the Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest is to generate a greater knowledge and appreciation of Georgia’s diverse and increasingly threatened wildlife and their habitats. It is only a deep concern and commitment to these wild places that will ensure their existence for future generations to enjoy.

Contest details:

Start with a local contest at your school

While following the Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines, your students will depict artistic drawings of their findings and will compete at the local level in a school-wide poster contest.  First-, second- and third-place winners should be chosen from your school’s entries for the local-level contest at your school.  All participating students can receive place award ribbons and a Give Wildlife a Chance certificate (refer to Contest Awards section). Participating schools will then choose one first place winner from each division and mail the winning entries to The State Botanical Garden of Georgia to compete in the state-level contest.  These entries will be comprised of the four division categories described in the Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines section.  First-, second- and third-place winners will be chosen as state-level winners from each division level, and their artwork will be showcased in the Garden Earth Naturalists calendar, on the GA DNR Wildlife Resources Flickr website, and at the Go Fish Education Center in Perry, GA from April 26 - May 12, 2013. 

Classroom activities and resources

• Sharpen your observation skills by learning to notice details.  Practice by writing down what you see in a familiar setting, such as your classroom.  Check your lists for accuracy and discuss the results.  Then apply that experience to an unfamiliar outdoor setting (derived from Project WILD's "Learning to Look, Looking to See" activity).  
• Use field guides to learn how to identify Georgia's native plants and animals.  Also note their range and distribution.
• Discuss wildlfie viewing ethics.  Don't chase wildlife.  Move quietly, slowly, and in plain view.  Maintain a safe distance; use binoculars rather than your feet to get closer.  Be respectful of nesting and denning areas.  
• Visit a garden, field or forest.  Have your students draw what they see.
• Host a guest speaker, go on a field trip to a natural area or display photos of native species in your classroom.  Click here for DNR field trip and outreach speaker information.
• Teach your students how to identify (and possibly remove) invasive exotic plants like chinaberry, Chinese privet, Japanese honeysuckle and kudzu.  Learn how exotic species can displace native species.  
• Show your students how to do an Internet search for Georgia’s native nongame wildlife and/or citizen science projects.  Visit the websites mentioned under Teacher Tips as well as the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Museum of Natural History, Savannah River Ecology Lab, Georgia Wildlife Federation, Georgia Ornithological Society, E-nature, the State Botanical Garden and the US Fish & Wildlife Service. 

Click here to download the entire 2013 Give Wildlife A Chance poster contest brochure.