The 2015 DNA Day Pinterest Challenge for K-12 Teachers and Students

The 2015 DNA Day Pinterest Challenge for K-12 Teachers and Students

As part of 2015 National DNA Day, Unlocking Life's Code is offering K-12 teachers and their science classes a chance to participate to the 2015 National DNA Day Pinterest Challenge.

It's fun, educational, and every classroom that enters will win a printable personalized E-certificate suitable for framing. The top 10 entries from the United States will also win classroom educational packets that include useful CD-ROMs and printed learning materials. 

The Challenge begins on March 2 and ends on April 17, 2015. Top boards will be announced and featured on Unlocking Life's Code on April 24th - the day National DNA Day is being celebrated this year.

Engaging your class in this activity is really easy. The entry must be submitted by a teacher. Just follow and complete these four steps:

1. Working together - students with their teacher - create a Pinterest board and name it: Unlock Life's Code for DNA Day (Your Class Name). So, if your class was Ms. Cote's Class your Pinterest Board might be named: Unlock Life's Code for DNA Day (Ms. Cote's Class).  

Include in the board's description the appropriate grade level for your board (for example K-3, or 6-8, or high school).

2. On your Pinterest board pin at least five (5) pins about DNA, genetics, and genomics that could be used in classroom. Pinning more is even better.  Suggested topic areas include:

• Fun Things to Do With DNA
• DNA and Keeping Us Healthy
• DNA and the Arts
• DNA in the News
• DNA Classroom Projects

We made a sample board to give you a peek at what your board might look like: Sample Pinterest Challenge Board.

3. Teachers should e-mail the web address of the Pinterest board to unlockinglifescode@mail.nih.gov by midnight on April 17, 2015 to be part of the Challenge. Remember to include in the email the exact classroom name you would like on your eCertificate (ie. Mr. Jones Science Class; Mrs. Smith's Biology Class at Jonesport High School, etc.).

4. Look for winners on the home page of Unlocking Life's Code on Friday, April 24, 2015. Top 10  winners will be contacted before the announcement to make arrangements for mailing resource packets.

Giving recognition to National DNA Day is easy with this class project. The Challenge opens the classroom to the many uses of DNA in the world around us: in science, art, health, the news and everyday life.

This classroom project works at all grade levels. Your class would be accepting the Challenge from their grade-level perspective and the results would likely be valuable to others at the same grade level when combined by us into a single larger Pinterest board.

Your class would be part of a larger effort to create a National DNA Day Pinterest board. That board will include as many of the entered pins as possible and be featured on our website and on our Pinterest page.

Everyone's a winner. We will send a really professional-looking certificate to your class that is personalized and suitable for posting on a bulletin boards or in a newsletter. Top 10 winners will receive a packet of our K-12 tailored learning resources.

Finally, as part of the Challenge we hope each teacher will look closely at the up-to-date, and free, teaching tools we offer on the Unlocking Life's Code website: animations, illustrations, feature stories, a talking glossary, and more.

Posted; March 12, 2015