Entries can focus on either of two themes:

• Show Your Sense of Wonder. Entries should express the Sense of Wonder your intergenerational team feels for the beauty of natural surroundings, as near as your backyard or as far away as the night sky.
• Show Your Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild. Entries should express your intergenerational team’s appreciation of and wonder for a natural (wild) plant or animal in its own ecosystem performing a benefit for a person, group, society, or the Earth. Such beneficial activities make possible the survival of their species as well as our own.

Winners: Winners in each of the 6 “Sense of Wonder” categories and the 6 “Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild” categories will receive an award from the Rachel Carson Landmark Alliance, and some of the submissions will be featured on the RCLA website. Winners will be announced on December 1, 2016.

Details: Deadline for entries is November 1, 2016. Each 2016 Contest entry is required to:

• Represent the combined effort of at least two related or unrelated individuals from different generations;
• Show an appreciation of Nature in general;
• Focus on one of two themes: Sense of Wonder or Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild; and
• Fit into 1 of 6 categories for each theme: poem, essay, photo, artwork, song/dance, mixed media.

This contest is a great class project for English, science, and other classes. RCLA encourages schools to use this intergenerational contest to help students discover their Sense of Wonder and Sense of the Wild in cooperation with individuals of other generations.

Rachel Carson’s work will inspire you! Read The Sense of Wonder, available at your local library or on Amazon.com. First published more than 50 years ago, The Sense of Wonder inspires parents, mentors, and others who love the Earth to help children become more receptive to the natural delights around us.

For full details about this contest, including specific entry rules, click here.

For the contest entry form, click here.

Entry deadline: November 1, 2016!

Winners to be announced by December 1, 2016