FOREST PRODUCTS WEEK
ESSAY CONTEST
Forests provide us with many things-clean air and water; beautiful places to play and relax; homes for birds, fish and other wildlife; and numerous products for people. To celebrate National Forest Products Week (October 21-27, 2012) the Idaho Forest Products Commission sponsors a statewide essay contest.
JOIN THE FUN! Encourage your students to enter the contest to practice authentic writing and learn more about Idaho's forests.
Who may enter? ALL K-12 STUDENTS IN IDAHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE CONTEST
What are the requirements?
° Scroll down for the Background Statement, Writing Prompts and Scoring Criteria.
° Each essay must include the student name, teacher name, email, grade, school name and town.
(An easy way to accomplish this is to use adhesive labels of teacher & school information.)
° Teachers: Submit only the top five essays per class. If you send more than five per class, the judges are unable to review your essays. Teachers with multiple sections of a class (e.g. Biology) may send the top five essays per class session. Please include a list of all students who complete an essay, so we may provide a Certificate of Participation for every student.
What are the prizes?
Each winning essayist receives a $100 savings bond, a certificate, and a beautiful poster. Their class receives $100, and their teacher receives a voucher to attend a Project Learning Tree workshop, plus posters and other resources.
There is a string attached:
The winning essayist must help decide how the class spends its cash award!
Honorable mentions are named at each level. Every participating student receives a Certificate of Participation.
When are the essays due?
Essay submissions must be emailed or post-marked by October 31, 2012.
Where should the essays be sent?
Send your essays (top five per class) to:
| Via Email |
Via Mail |
Send to: plt@idahoforests.org
In SUBJECT, include:
Essay Contest, Teacher Name, Grade |
IFPC ESSAY CONTEST
350 N. 9th Street, Suite 102
Boise, ID 83702 |
What if I have questions?
Email plt@idahoforests.org, call 208-334-4061 or 800-ID-WOODS, or fax 208-334-3449.
BACKGROUND STATEMENT
Forests and trees provide many things-clean air and water; beautiful places to play and relax; homes for birds, fish and other wildlife; carbon storage; energy savings and numerous products for people. One of the best things about trees is that they are a renewable resource. When you harvest trees, new ones grow or can be planted. With sustainable forestry practices, our forests can continue to provide their many benefits for generations to come.
WRITING PROMPT for Grades K-5
Think about your daily life. How are you affected by products from trees and forests? Write an essay to a general audience sharing how tree and forest products touch your life, and why they are important to you. You may choose to consider one specific forest product, or generalize about a variety of products. (K-2nd graders may use any media for their "essay.")
WRITING PROMPT for Grades 6-12
Energy-related topics are in the news every day. Renewable or nonrenewable; buying local; biomass; jobs; forest density and fire; fuel; economy; "green" building; carbon production; carbon sequestration; climate change-the list of energy-related topics is long. Every choice we make as consumers has an energy consequence. Consider the question of using wood versus other building products. Write an essay to a general audience sharing your ideas, supported by your research, about whether using Idaho wood is a good choice environmentally and economically or not.
| Grade levels and length |
| 9th-12th graders: Up to 500 words |
6th-8th graders: Up to 350 words |
| 3rd-5th graders: Up to 250 words |
K-2nd graders: May use any media |
| Scoring Criteria |
Subcategories |
Maximum points |
Creative thinking
(25 points total) |
Shows individual thinking skills. |
25 |
Content accuracy
(35 points total) | |
Clearly relates to the topic. |
10 |
|---|
| Is accurate and logical. |
15 |
| Provides supporting details and/or examples. |
10 |
Clear writing including grammar, spelling and punctuation.
(30 points total) | |
Grammar, spelling and punctuation is correct. |
15 |
|---|
| Information is organized, neatly typed or written and has well constructed paragraphs. |
15 |
Overall likeability
(10 points) |
Reader was engaged by the writing and wanted to continue reading the essay. |
10 |
Total
(100 points) |
|
100 |
 
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