Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The 2010 Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge

Tapping into the Collective Brain Power of Benicia Youth: The Great 2010 Benicia Tree Science Challenge


If the equation above intrigues you, then consider participating in the Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge. The mission of this challenge is to tap into the considerable brain power of Benicia youth to help advance the city wide initiative to enhance and promote the Benicia urban forest. The City of Benicia and the Benicia Tree Foundation are joining together to challenge youth to identify tree species in Benicia. The participant who names the most tree species in Benicia will be eligible to win a fully loaded iPad!

This science challenge is open to students from 5th to 12th grades who reside in the City of Benicia. Students participating under the age of 16 must have a parent or guardian present at Arbor Day (October 16, 2010, @ 12:00 p.m.) in order to be eligible to receive the award.
In order to participate, all contestants must register at www.beniciatrees.org/treechallengeregister.  

How to Compete in the Challenge
Entries must be submitted via email to the following email address: beniciatree@gmail.com, and must include the botanical name of the tree in the email subject header. Only one tree species submitted per email.

Each message should include the following:
  1. 1 jpeg format digital photo of the tree attached to email - images must be identified by the botanical name.
  2. Name of the contestant submitting the entry (must be pre-registered at www.beniciatrees.org/treecontest)
  3. Geographic Coordinates of the tree in the following format:
38.057535,          -122.148056
Latitude,            -Longitude
The location of the tree must be within the city limits of Benicia!
  1. Botanical (full scientific) name of the tree using binomial nomenclature (Genus & Species).  Example:       
Clematis               alpina                     
(Genus)              (species)            

You may submit as many email entries / tree species as you are able. See an example of a correctly formatted entry at www.beniciatrees.org/species_example. Additional information about how to properly identify a tree or establish the coordinates of a tree are provided at www.beniciatrees.org/treechallenge.

The Great Benicia Tree Science Challenge will run 30 days from 12:01 am on September 15, 2010 to 11:59 pm on October 15, 2010. In order to receive the grand prize, the winner must be present at the Arbor Day Ceremony to be held October 16, 2010, where the winner will be announced.
In the case of a tie, the quality and accuracy of the data submitted, proper spelling and use of scientific nomenclature, and photo quality of submissions made by participants, will be considered deciding factors in selecting the final winner. The final winner will be qualified and announced by a Licensed Arborist who resides in the City of Benicia.

Prior to submitting entries, all participants must register to join the challenge at the following website: www.beniciatrees.org/treechallenge.