Attention K-5 Teachers!
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of
Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) encourage
you and your students to compete in the 20th anniversary Give Wildlife a
Chance Poster Contest. This popular conservation art contest provides a
unique opportunity for students to explore the wonders of Georgia's nongame
plant and animal species.
This year’s competition theme, “The Future of Georgia’s Wildlife is in YOUR
Hands,” showcases how students can make a difference for the nongame
wildlife and plants in our state. The postmark deadline for entries in the
state-level contest is March 22, 2010.
With the environmental movement on the rise, students are more aware of what
their actions mean for the world in which we live. This year’s anniversary
contest is in celebration of the past 20 years of wildlife art and
conservation as well as expressing what students can do to better the world
our wildlife and plants inhabit.
Whether it is in the schoolyard or the backyard, students can illustrate all
the out-of-doors has to offer while learning more about Georgia’s nongame
plants and animals.Participants can bring the 2010 theme “The Future of
Georgia’s Wildlife is in YOUR Hands” to life by planting a native fruit
bearing shrub in the schoolyard for nesting and foraging habitat for
wildlife, building a small pond or wetland habitat for amphibians, erecting
and maintaining nesting and roosting structures for birds and bats, planting
nectar gardens to provide a food source for hummingbirds, butterflies, bees
and other nectar feeders - the list goes on and on. Students should showcase
in their artwork a conservation action as well as the Georgia wildlife and
plants that are impacted.
Participant’s artwork may reflect an Eastern screech owl peeking out of the
hole of a nesting box, a Tiger Swallowtail feeding on a milkweed plant or a
spadefoot toad laying eggs in a shallow pond. Take an outdoor adventure and
discover how to make a difference for Georgia’s nongame plants and animals -
our wildlife’s future is in YOUR hands!
The vast majority of the state's native wildlife species are nongame (those
which are not hunted, trapped or fished) and can include rare or endangered
animals and plants such as the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and the
hooded pitcherplant, an unusual carnivorous plant found in the longleaf pine
ecosystem. There are approximately 3,600 species of nongame plants, 950
nongame vertebrate species and countless invertebrate species of nongame
wildlife in Georgia. More than 95 percent of the state's vertebrate wildlife
species are considered nongame!
We look forward to working with you and your students on the 20th
anniversary Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest! If you have any
questions or need additional copies of the 2010 Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest brochure, please contact: Rick Lavender, (770) 918-6787 (rick.lavender@gadnr.org or GiveWildlifeAChance@gmail.com), or Cora Keber, (706) 542-6156.
