|
Federal Member for Gorton Brendan O’Connor is encouraging local school students to enter a new national competition to tell Australia what they think about climate change.
Mr O’Connor said the Think Climate Think Change competition gives primary and secondary students an opportunity to use their creative talents to answer the question: ‘What does Climate Change mean to me?’
“Climate change is something that children and young people hear about every day. It’s something that they know is going to impact on their futures, so they often have very strong views about it,” Mr O’Connor said.
“At my Gorton 2020 Summit last year, for example, the young people who attended were very keen to talk about climate change and they made a significant contribution to the discussion about what we should be doing about it.”
Competition winners will be flown to Canberra in August with a parent or guardian to share their ideas with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong as part of a special awards ceremony.
The Think Climate Think Change competition will open on Tuesday 28 April 2009 and close on Wednesday 24 June 2009. Entries will be judged in three age categories across grades three to nine.
Students will be able to submit entries in a wide range of forms including short stories, poems, songs or artwork.
Prizes for each age category will include:
| 1st Place |
• Trip for two (winner and parent/guardian) to Canberra including return airfares, 2 nights accommodation, the awards ceremony, a personalised tour of Parliament House, and 2 tickets to Questacon – the national science and technology centre
• Nintendo Wii Console, sports kit and Wii Fit pack
• $1000 Dymocks voucher for the winner’s school
|
| 2nd Place |
• 16GB Apple iPod touch
|
| 3rd Place |
• 8GB Apple iPod Nano
|
| Highly commended (3 per category) |
• $50 Dymocks book voucher |
Each winner will also have his or her work published on the Department of Climate Change website.
Judging criteria will be based on creativity, originality and attention to the theme. Schools will receive a special resource kit that will include information about the competition and fast facts on climate change at the start of Term 2.
More details about the competition, including terms and conditions and the official entry form, will be available on the Department of Climate Change website at www.climatechange.gov.au from 28 April.
|
