Part B. Contest Rules (B-1), Entry Form (B-2) and Check List (B-3)

B-1 Contest Rules

a. Requirements (Contest requirements are unchanged from those of 2018):

1 Team:

• You Are Required To Have a Team of 2 or More
  People.

Entries must be submitted by a team, consisting of at least two people, representing different generations (for example, a teacher and a student). They can be relatives or not.

• The Team Must Be Intergenerational.

The team must have members from two, or more, different generations.

• All Team Members Must Read the “Background Information” Section, Part C.

2 Theme:

• Your Team Must Choose 1 of these 2 Themes
  (look under Additional Information for definitions):

– “Sense of Wonder” or
– “Sense of Wonder/Sense of The Wild”

3 Category:

• Your Team Must Decide On Its Writing Category:

– “Poem” or
– “Essay”

• An Original Photograph Taken By Your Team May Be Added To Either Category.

• Contest Themes and Categories:

• Sense of Wonder Theme, Poem Category
• Sense of Wonder Theme, Essay Category
• Sense of Wonder Theme, Poem with Photograph Category
• Sense of Wonder Theme, Essay with Photograph Category

• Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme, Poem Category
• Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme, Essay Category
• Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme, Poem with Photograph Category
• Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme, Essay with Photograph Category

4  Entry “Form:”

• Your Entry Must Include a Fully Completed, “Official Entry Form for the 2019 Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder/Sense of The Wild Contest.”
• Directions for downloading, filling in, and submitting this form are included below, and on the Entry Form itself.

b. Additional Information:

1 Your Team:

• Names and ages of all team members must be listed on the Official 2019 Entry Form.
• A team member can come from within the U.S. or outside the U.S.
• An individual may be a member of more than one team.
• A teacher may be a team member.
• The team will retain rights to use the submission for other purposes.

2 Defining the Contest’s Themes:

• The Sense of Wonder Theme:

This theme appears in Rachel Carson’s book, The Sense of Wonder (1965). It describes having an appreciation for a positive, outdoor, nature-centered experience.

• The book focuses on an intergenerational sharing of these experiences.
• Those interested in this contest are strongly encouraged to read The Sense of Wonder. It is available in paperback.
• The Contest encourages teams to share “Sense of Wonder” experiences and to describe them in words (either through poetry or an essay), with the option of an accompanying photograph.

3 The Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme:

This theme combines a Sense of Wonder experience with awareness of the benefits provided to us by wild plants and animals living in their natural habitats. Details about the beneficial work of insects are found in Silent Spring’s 17^th Chapter “The Other Road” and in the 15^th Chapter “Nature Fights Back.” As Caroline Fraser noted: “The species we…share space with are indispensable…Without them the attainments we take for granted—agriculture, medicine, our tenuous security on this planet—fall away.” (p. 352, Rewilding the World, Henry Holt Co., 2009) Ecosystem services from around the world are described in The Work of Nature: How the Diversity of Life Sustains Us (by Yvonne Baskin, pp. 224, Island Press, 1997). In Part C-1.b under “Contest Goals” there are examples of nature’s vital resources.

4 Length and Other Specifications — By Contest Categories:

• Poem: The maximum length for a poem is 500 Words (or 2 pages)
• Essay: The maximum essay length is 500 Words (approximately 2 pages)
• Poem with Photograph: The maximum length for a poem is 500 Words (or 2 pages). Original photographs only; the photographer must be identified by name. Send your photograph electronically as a .jpg file, minimum 300 ppi, size: 100 %. Limit: one photograph per team.
• Essay with Photograph: The maximum essay length is 500 Words (approximately 2 pages). Original photographs only; the photographer must be identified by name. Send your photograph electronically as a .jpg file, minimum 300 ppi, size: 100 %. Limit: one photograph per team.

5 What Winners Receive:

• Winners will receive a certificate from RCLA. Their first names and ages (optional) along with the title of their winning entry will be posted on the RCLA website. A portion or all of the winning entry may be posted on the RCLA website.

B-2 Official Contest Entry Form:

a. Downloading the Form

• Click here to download the Official Entry Form for the Contest.
• “Save as” the completed form as a PDF, and give it a new name that includes the last name of the first team member.
• This form must be filled out fully and submitted your written entry (and photo, if any).

b. Submitting the Completed Form

• Send by email to:
  rachelcarsonlandmark@verizon.net

• Send by U.S. mail to:
  Rachel Carson Landmark Alliance
  11701 Berwick Road
  Silver Spring MD 20904

C. Deadline for Entering the Contest:

• The Deadline for receiving entries at our office is
  November 16, 2019 at 5:00 p.m., EST.

B-3 Check List for 2019 Contest Entries:

Pick the members of your Intergenerational Team — which must contain individuals from 2 generations. Confirm that your team is intergenerational. It must contain individuals from 2 generations.

Indicate that all team members have read Part C “Background Information.”

Choose with your team, a Theme, either:

– “Sense of Wonder” or
– “Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild”

Choose with your team, a Category: either a poem or an essay. You may also decide to add an original photograph. The 4 categories are.

• “Poem”
• “Essay”
• “Poem with Photograph”
• “Essay with Photograph”

With your team identify a subject area or topic for your entry.

Create your entry using the guidelines provided.

Download 2019 Official Contest Entry Form. IMPORTANT: After filling out the “fillable” PDF “Save As” new file giving a name that includes the name of the first team member.

After your written entry is complete and has a title, check that it contains a fully filled out, official “2019 Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Contest” entry form, save it and print it. If you plan to send it by email check that its name includes the last name of the first team member. Retain a printed copy, and check to make sure that what you have printed is not just a blank entry form (which can occur if you failed to save your entry as a new document).

After you have satisfactorily completed the above step, the written portion of your entry is ready for submission.

If your entry includes a photograph, verify that it is an original photograph taken by a member of your team and that the photographer is identified on your entry form. If you send it by email, be sure to attach the photograph as a .jpg file, minimum 300 ppi, size 100%.

Now, you may submit your Contest Entry.

Contest Deadline: November 16, 2019, 5:00 p.m. EST.

Contact RCLA With Any Questions
Phone: 301-593-4900
Email: rachelcarsonlandmark@verizon.net

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Part C. Background Information Including – Contest Goals (C-1), Judging Criteria (C-2), About Rachel Carson (C-3), About RCLA (C-4)

C-1 Our Overall Contest Goal Is to Help Individuals and Society Benefit from Rachel Carson’s Legacy, using these concepts:
C-1.a) A Sense of Wonder,
C-1.b) A Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild,
C-1.c) Carson-Derived Writing Elements.

C-1.a A Sense of Wonder Theme

Contest entries with this theme involve an intergenerational team (2 or more individuals from different generations) undergoing positive, outdoor, nature-centered experiences. Team members then call on these events to create a poem or essay incorporating their personal responses to nature.

Why Outdoors? Rachel Carson’s book, The Sense of Wonder describes how time spent in nature contributes to the health and well-being of individuals. More recently, researchers have confirmed her observations by measuring the beneficial health effects of nature experiences. (Bratman, G., Daily, G., et al, “The Benefits of Nature Experience: Improved Affect and Cognition,” Landscape and Urban Planning, June 2015) Teen depression can be reduced when young people spend time in green and growing natural settings. (Bezold, C., et al, “The Association between Natural Environments and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents Living in the U.S.,” J. of Adolescent Health, 2017) Behavioral scientists report that nature experiences can lead us “…to act more generously and ethically [and to] think more critically when encountering persuasive stimuli, like arguments or advertisements.” (Abrahamson, J., “The Science of Awe,” Sierra Magazine, Nov/Dec 2014) 

Encouraging people of all ages to spend time outdoors is an important goal for our Contest.

C-1.b Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild Theme

Choosing this theme involves incorporating Carson’s aesthetic appreciation of nature along with a focus on one or more examples of how we humans depend on nature for essential benefits. For instance, regarding microbes Carson wrote that they: “…include not only disease organisms but those that destroy waste matter, make soils fertile, and enter into countless biological processes like fermentation and nitrification.” (Silent Spring, p. 289)

Examples of services performed by wild species — routinely in the functioning ecosystems where they live:

• Dragonflies and other beneficial insects helping to control mosquitoes and other pests
• Oak Trees performing many functions including hosting up to 500 species of caterpillars that help to provide essential food for baby birds
• Oysters: Helping to clean natural bodies of water
• Wild bees, wasps, butterflies and birds: pollinating crops and wild vegetation

Examples of services performed by functioning ecosystems composed of diverse species:

• The Amazon rain forest absorbing immense quantities of carbon dioxide and helping to slow the pace of global warming
• Soil and Wetlands purifying drinking water
• Coral reef organisms sustaining fisheries
• Mangrove forests helping to protect coastlines from flooding risks (Plumer, B., “Wildlife Facing Extinction Risk All Over Globe,” The NYT, 5-7-19)
• Growing trees absorbing and storing carbon dioxide
• Plants supporting animal life, “Water, soil and the earth’s green mantle of plants make up the world that supports the animal life of the earth.” (Silent Spring, p. 63)

Why Awareness of Wildlife as a Source of Wonder and Worth Is Important Today

Increasingly, threats to wild species are traced to human activity. Across our planet species contributing to our well being (such as coral reef organisms creating fish habitats and wild pollinators increasing crop yields) are being lost at an alarming rate — unprecedented in human history. Scientists predict that this decrease in biodiversity, if it continues, foretells serious problems for humans. The essential services of wild species in their ecological habitats contribute to our food security, clean air, clean water and livable climate. (Plumer, B., “Wildlife Facing Extinction Risk All Over Globe,” The NYT, 5-7-19)  All life on the planet is in danger from loss of biodiversity.

A U.N. Report estimated that “in the Americas, nature provides some $24 trillion of non-monetized benefits to humans each year.” (Plumer, B., “Wildlife Facing Extinction Risk All Over Globe,” The NYT, 5-7-19) These services are not given actual monetary value in most national economies. As a result, functioning ecosystems are undervalued for the essential services they provide to humans.

People everywhere need to become aware of the importance of ecosystem services to all life on the planet so they can help to protect threatened wild plants and animals – the sources of these services.  Governments need to acknowledge the value of these services (including the importance of preserving biodiversity) in their economic projections. Citizens calling for such governmental action can help lead society toward a sustainable future.1

Participants who become aware of the value to society of biodiversity and of the need for working with, not against, nature help to fulfill a desired RCLA Contest goal.

Below is one approach for dealing with the Sense of Wonder/Sense of the Wild (Source of Wonder and Worth) theme.

Team members choose a favorite aspect of nature (a bird, a tree, or a river and describe how it makes you feel (sense of wonder theme), then describe (for a mammal, bird, insect, tree) the species it represents and how that particular species or in the case of a river (the particular ecosystem) contributes services that enhance your lives. This (sense of the wild theme) may be based on information researched from the scientific literature.  Further, you may want to describe how you could help assure protection of your source of wonder and worth.

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Suggested Reading:

The Work of Nature: How the Diversity of Life Sustains Us (by Yvonne Baskin, pp. 224, Island Press, 1997).

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FOOTNOTE

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C-1.c.* Three Important Elements of Rachel Carson’s Writing

Expressiveness: Conveying in writing the positive, immediate effects that a nature-based encounter can have on our senses (hearing, sight, smell and touch) is an important part of sharing the experience with others and understanding our own needs.  It helps develop expressiveness.

Thoughtfulness: Reflecting on how a nature encounter has impacted our perceptions about the environment calls for engaging in thoughtfulness.

Accuracy: Addressing the work of wildlife (aka ecosystem services), requires obtaining supporting evidence from reliable scientific sources that adhere to accuracy.

Goal: Expressiveness, thoughtfulness and accuracy in writing contribute to an individual’s communication skills — and help to reach a Contest goal.   

C-1.c** Sampling Rachel Carson’s Work

The words of this great American author can provide hours of reading pleasure, and for those in search of a writing mentor, examples of a powerful, enduring, masterful literary style.

Selected references from Rachel Carson’s work are found below following Part (C-3) “About Rachel Carson”.

C-2 Criteria for Judging Entries

Primary Criteria: Entries are evaluated on content, and how well they capture a sense of wonder or a sense of wonder/sense of the wild experience. They are also evaluated on the writing itself for expressiveness and thoughtfulness (reflecting the sense of wonder theme) as well as for accuracy (especially in the case of the sense of the wild theme).  These elements found in Rachel Carson’s writing are discussed in the Contest Goal Section C-1.c.* Three Important Elements of Rachel Carson’s Writing.

The judges also consider:

• How the intergenerational team planned and carried out the project
• How the creative project brought the team in touch with the natural world

Poems and even essays can be wonderful vehicles for presenting Rachel Carson’s “sense of wonder,” as a kind of discovery process. The most exciting entries are those that take the reader along on a journey evoking the sounds, sights, smells, tastes and feelings encountered on the way, rather than relying on direct statements to convey “wonder.” Imagery is the engine that can drive this kind of writing and can make reading a winning poem (or a winning essay) a memorable experience.  The most successful teams tend to be those who venture out together.