Wind River Ranch
6th Grade Ecology Essay Contest Guidelines
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Available ONLY to 6th grade students
This is not a mandatory contest
Students will be judged on sincerity, originality, conviction and grammar.
Word count between 400 and 600 words.
Each essay must have a completed submission form stapled to the top.
All essays are due January 5, 2011. There is an envelope at the front desk of each
school, or submit via email to teresaeakergray@yahoo.com (as a word attachment).
Students may choose ONE of the following essays:
Ecology is the study of the connections between animals, plants, water, soil, and humans.
People often draw or write about ecology as a web, where all parts of a system are
connected. What is the human community’s role in our local ecology-web?
OR
Natural resources are things that come from the natural world that people use, such as,
water, trees, wild animals, minerals, and farming and ranching land. Write an essay
comparing and contrasting the ways people use natural resources today and the ways
people might use them in the future. What are the consequences of both?
Finalist essays will:
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Have a complete submission form stapled to the essay. Please do not include student
name on essay, only on the submission form,
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Be typed or neatly hand-written with a word count between 400 and 600 words,
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Have an essay title,
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Be organized into 5 paragraphs with an intro, body and conclusion; the central idea
will be clearly identified, and there will be transition sentences and/or words,
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Show strong understanding of the chosen essay question,
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Present ideas that are original and unique with strong development,
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Contain very few to no errors and be clearly proofread.
Prizes:
1st place - $500 College Scholarship, 2nd place - $300 College Scholarship,
Honorable Mention – Tome on the Range Gift Certificate
Winning essays will be published in The Optic
Essays are due January 5, 2011
Winners will be announced January 31, 2011
For questions or concerns, please call Wind River Ranch at (505) 425-1819 or
email Teresa Gray at teresaeakergray@yahoo.com.
Partners: Wind River Ranch, Roots and Shoots, NM Commission for Community Volunteerism,
NMHU, Community First Bank, and Tome on the Range