Kids & Teens Read Science, the Contests
Increasing science literacy is the founding mission of Ars Hermeneutica, Limited.* Encouraging people to read good science writing — of which there is an abundance available — is one of our strategies.
One of our projects in that direction has been the Science-Book Challenge that we've sponsored for the past three years (links: current challenge, 2009, 2008 — it's never too late to take the challenge!) It's is a project that's aimed at adult readers in two categories: those who like to read choose popular-science books to read and then write short notes about them, which notes we hope will aid those who would like to read a science book but feel intimidated or bewildered by the choices available. It's a project that's been primarily for adults largely for historic reasons of accident, but affirmed by my conviction that adults are deserving of science outreach but are woefully under served as a group. Up to now I hadn't found the time or the route for expanding the project with younger readers in mind. That's changed now.
Earlier this year my colleague in informal science-education, Joanne Manaster (Joanne Loves Science; follow @ScienceGoddess on Twitter) had the great idea that she'd like to hold a summer science-reading contest for teens and pre-teens. I'm delighted that she asked me whether this was a project that Ars Hermeneutica would like to be a part of. I had no hesitation in responding with an enthusiastic "yes!"
We quickly settled on a basic outline. The high points:
- There would be two age groups for competing: 8–12 years old ("kids"), and 13–18 years old ("teens"); and
- A video about the chosen book, less than 5 minutes long, would be the contest entry.
Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors we're giving away over $2,000 in prizes. Top prize for Teens Read Science is an iPod Touch; top prize for Kids Read Science is quality-optics binoculars. Other prizes include gift cards for iTunes, gift cards for geeky gadgets, T shirts, and other geeky swag. Over twenty amazing science-book authors have contributed signed copies of their books for prizes, too. We'll also send a free contest bookplate to at least the first 1,000 contest entrants. Please note that all prizes are awarded at the sole discretion of the contest judges.
We've had a good initial response to our announcement of the contest; here are three online pieces:
- Phil Plait, "Two teachers doing good work to promote science education", Bad Astronomy, 25 June 2010.
- Julie Wurth, "'Science Goddess' challenges kids to read and have fun with science", The News-Gazette [Champaign-Urbana, IL], 11 June 2010.
- Suzanne Kennedy, "Kids Read Science Summer Reading Contest 2010 ", Microbe World, 9 June 2010.
What we most need now is to spread the word about the contest to maximize involvement with what we see as the first annual contest. Everyone can help by telling someone else, blogging, posting links, emailing the contest announcement (below), and so forth. Help us get this contest series off to a great start. What follows now is more resources for you to help. There's plenty of time: this year's contest ends on 22 September 2010.
The official websites for the contests, where we keep all the rules and make announcements and do other fun things are
There are Facebook groups and Twitter accounts:
- Kids Read Science on Facebook
- Kids Read Science (@KidsReadScience) on Twitter
- Teens Read Science on Facebook
- Teens Read Science (@TeenReadScience–NB truncated spelling!) on Twitter
The official submission pages are here for Kids Read Science submissions and Teens Read Science submissions. Remember to tag your video as specified in the rules!
Below is our press release about the contests. The press release is online so you can download, and print it or email it around. Please do!
"Kids Read Science" & "Teens Read Science" 2010
Summer Science-Reading Contests Open
Bowie, Md & Champaign, IL, 8 June 2010:
Young people are naturally curious about the world and nature and they love learning about science. KidsReadScience and TeensReadScience are two exciting, new summer science-reading contests that challenge young people to discover science for themselves and encourage their peers to do the same.
Contest rules are simple: 1) read a nonfiction book on a topic in science, technology, engineering, or math; 2) make a video about the book that's less than 5 minutes long; 3) upload the video and submit the entry form by 11 pm (Central Daylight Time) on 22 September 2010.
KidsReadScience is for kids ages 8 through 12; TeensReadScience is for young adults ages 13 through 18. Anyone anywhere may submit one entry (in English), although prize distribution is currently restricted to locations in the US and its territories. Details are at the contest websites.
These first annual contests are a joint project of Joanne Loves Science and Scienticity.net. Several noted science-book authors and corporate sponsors have generously donated an array of great prizes to be awarded in a number of categories for each age group.
Joanne Manaster (follow @ScienceGoddess on Twitter) is well known to the online community for her enthusiastic science outreach. "These contests are happening entirely online," she explains. "Today's social-networking tools really engage young people and are a great way to spread excitement about science."
Jeff Shaumeyer (follow @scienticity on Twitter) is program director for Scienticity.net. "Developing a reading habit as a youngster is essential to becoming a life-long learner. We want to see young people start down that path. Likewise, our contestants, through the book videos they put online for others to see, encourage their peers to read about science for themselves."
Scienticity.net is the public science-education program of Ars Hermeneutica, Limited, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission of increasing science literacy. Contributions to Ars Hermeneutica to help us increase the reach of KidsReadScience and TeensReadScience are fully tax deductible in the US.
More: http://KidsReadScience.org and http://TeensReadScience.org.
Also visit http://JoanneLovesScience.com and http://Scienticity.net.
This press release online (PDF file): "'Kids Read Science' and 'Teens Read Science' 2010 Summer Science-Reading Contests Open", Scienticity.net, 8 June 2010.
Finally, let's have the promotional video that Joanne made about the contests:
[YouTube link for those who don't see the embedded player.]
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*For the record, Ars Hermeneutica is a nonprofit corporation recognized as 501(c)(3) tax-exempt by the IRS; contributions within the US are tax-deductible.