Get to Know
First of all, I know people are asking me about video updates (they are coming!), but I've got a new editing software, and it's taking some time to get to know it and figure out how to use it.
But we've been really busy here at the museum with the launch of the Robert Bateman Get to Know contest!
The contest is open to Canadian kids under the age of 19, and the winners are published in a special calendar that's released every year. This year's theme is "This is my forest," in honour of the International Year of Forests and as in previous years, the winners, like the ones shown above, are the entris that reflect the theme and show that a) you really understand the subject of your entry, and b) that it really means something to you.
The due date this year is May 23, so you need to get your entries submitted soon!
I've written about the contest before, but this year is especially exciting; the museum is doing a full-out launch this weekend. Survivorman was here, and we have tables set up throughout the second floor focusing on the various categories in which you can enter: art, writing, and photography. But this year, there's another category: video. Unlike the other categories, the video competition is open to all countries around the world, and it's a subject close to my heart, because my Naturequest campers last summer really worked hard on their own video about showing how much they know and appreciate the world around them.
The video came about in a roundabout way. In 2008, the members of Ecoquest looked at messages in the media about the environment. They discovered that media about things that are harmful to the environment (such as driving SUV's) are shown as being fun and exciting, and something that you would want to do. They also found that pro-environment messages are often angry and harsh, and make you want to argue against them, even if you actually agree with what they are saying.
So Ecoquest came up with the idea of creating a pro-environment message that shows action items kids can take to make a difference, but portrayed in a way that shows that they can be fun instead of a hardship.
The result was amazing. And it's right here:
(Producer's Note: I get a lot of questions about the "take baths instead of showers" suggestion. We basically did the math and figured out that if you can shower in under 8 minutes, a shower uses less water. If you take more than 8 minutes to shower, a bath uses less water. Most of the campers (especially the girls) stated emphatically that showering in under 8 minutes was impossible, so they used the bath)
But Naturequest 2010 wanted to take it one step further. They wanted to create a high-definition video that could be played on the ROM Green Screen in the Earth Rangers Studio in the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity. The kids wrote the script, using Ecoquest 2008 as their inspiration, and the result of all their hard work plays daily in the Earth Rangers Studio after 3 p.m.
But we had to cut a lot out to fit it into the 2-minute timeslot, so here for the first time is the extended edition of Naturequest 2010's "Saving the Earth, One Step at a Time."
But we've been really busy here at the museum with the launch of the Robert Bateman Get to Know contest!
The contest is open to Canadian kids under the age of 19, and the winners are published in a special calendar that's released every year. This year's theme is "This is my forest," in honour of the International Year of Forests and as in previous years, the winners, like the ones shown above, are the entris that reflect the theme and show that a) you really understand the subject of your entry, and b) that it really means something to you.
The due date this year is May 23, so you need to get your entries submitted soon!
I've written about the contest before, but this year is especially exciting; the museum is doing a full-out launch this weekend. Survivorman was here, and we have tables set up throughout the second floor focusing on the various categories in which you can enter: art, writing, and photography. But this year, there's another category: video. Unlike the other categories, the video competition is open to all countries around the world, and it's a subject close to my heart, because my Naturequest campers last summer really worked hard on their own video about showing how much they know and appreciate the world around them.
The video came about in a roundabout way. In 2008, the members of Ecoquest looked at messages in the media about the environment. They discovered that media about things that are harmful to the environment (such as driving SUV's) are shown as being fun and exciting, and something that you would want to do. They also found that pro-environment messages are often angry and harsh, and make you want to argue against them, even if you actually agree with what they are saying.
So Ecoquest came up with the idea of creating a pro-environment message that shows action items kids can take to make a difference, but portrayed in a way that shows that they can be fun instead of a hardship.
The result was amazing. And it's right here:
Click to view(Producer's Note: I get a lot of questions about the "take baths instead of showers" suggestion. We basically did the math and figured out that if you can shower in under 8 minutes, a shower uses less water. If you take more than 8 minutes to shower, a bath uses less water. Most of the campers (especially the girls) stated emphatically that showering in under 8 minutes was impossible, so they used the bath)
But Naturequest 2010 wanted to take it one step further. They wanted to create a high-definition video that could be played on the ROM Green Screen in the Earth Rangers Studio in the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity. The kids wrote the script, using Ecoquest 2008 as their inspiration, and the result of all their hard work plays daily in the Earth Rangers Studio after 3 p.m.
But we had to cut a lot out to fit it into the 2-minute timeslot, so here for the first time is the extended edition of Naturequest 2010's "Saving the Earth, One Step at a Time."