Label: Contests

March 10, 2014

Congratulations to all the students who entered the "My Favorite Seymour Simon Book" contest. We asked you to read my books, decide which one was your favorite, and give examples from the text to support your opinion. We received entries from 145 individual students and 11 first and second grade classes. That is really a LOT of participation from a single school! Good work, Franklin Elementary. We read every one of your entries, and enjoyed the writing very much.

According to the rules of the contest we randomly choose one individual winner in grades 3-5 and one classroom winner from grades 1-2.

The individual winner is Izzy from Mrs. Feeley’s class (5-FE). Izzy wrote:

My favorite Seymour Simon book is OCEANS.

I like the book Oceans because it tells lots of facts about ocean. For example, on page 2 it says "Echo soundings of the ocean floor show mountains more than twice as tall as Mt. Everest and 6 times deep as the grand canyon."

Why we like it? We think it is a great book because it taught us many facts we didn’t already know. We liked Seymour Simon’s book because he talked about animals we had never heard of before.

Example: We didn’t know that Sea Stars eat by turning their stomachs inside out through their mouths! First we said, "eww!" and then we said, "cool!" Also, we found out that some fish can turn into a darker color for camouflage at night.

Izzy and Mrs. Shaughnessy’s class will each receive a copy of their favorite book, which I will autograph for them.

Thanks again for all your great writing and very kind words about my books. It meant a great deal to me to read what you all had to say about my writing.

Seymour

February 25, 2014

Seymour Simon is preparing to visit Franklin Elementary School in Westfield, NJ next week. Their library media specialist, Mrs. Kennedy, asked if we would run a contest for their students. Seymour loves it when you use his blog in school, so students at Franklin Elementary - this contest is for you!

Do you have a favorite Seymour Simon book? Is there one that you have taken out of the library many times, or that you go back to when you have free time in the media center? For this contest Seymour Simon invites you to browse through his books in your school library or at a bookstore, or you can look under the "Books" heading on his website, and think about which one of his books you like the best. 

Once you have decided which Seymour Simon book is your favorite, you have to do three things:

1. Tell us the name of the book.

 2. Tell us why you think it is Seymour Simon’s best book.

3. Give at least one example from the text in the book that illustrates your point.

Here is an example. Let’s say that I pick NEPTUNE as my favorite Seymour Simon book. I might write:

Favorite Book: Neptune.

Why it is my favorite: I think it is very interesting to learn how we are exploring the very end of the Solar System. It is amazing to me that humans can learn about a world that is so far away.

Evidence from the Text: I like the way Seymour Simon describes the information we receive from the Voyager 2 probe, which we sent to explore Neptune. He writes: "By 2015, Voyager will reach the heliopause, the true end of the Solar System. Then Voyager will drift silenty through time and space, a testament to the human search for knowledge." I always feel a little sad when I read that. I want to wave and say, ‘Bye, bye and thank you, Voyager!’ I think that is very good writing by Seymour Simon.

Here is how to enter once you have selected your Favorite Seymour Simon Book:

A. Click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of the blog to enter the contest by sharing your favorite book, why it is your favorite, and giving an example from Seymour Simon’s writing in the book to illustrate your point.

B. When you write your information, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, and your teacher’s name. That way we can find you if you are the winner!

C. Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Friday, March 7th. The contest ends then. 

Rules:

• Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. 
• Students in grades 3-5 may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. 
• Students in grades 1-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher or with Ms. Kennedy to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner. 
• Both winners will receive a copy of their favorite Seymour Simon book, personally autographed by Seymour Simon.
• Students who do not attend Franklin Elementary may also enter this contest. If we have at least 10 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose a third prizewinner from the non-Franklin entries. 

So, get to work and send us your entries today. Good luck!

January 10, 2014

Seymour Simon is preparing to visit Greenfield Elementary School in Saratoga Springs, NY next week. Their librarian, Mrs. Abad, wrote to say how much her students would love to have a contest, and asked if we might have one for her school. Seymour loves it when librarians and media specialists use his blog in school, so students at Greenfield Elementary - this AWESOME SCIENCE WORD contest is for you!

Two lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s newly updated SCIENCE DICTIONARY, with more than 2,000 entries!

Did you ever spend time browsing through an encyclopedia or dictionary? You might not have been looking for a specific word but just leafing through, finding cool topics and reading about them. For this contest Seymour Simon invites you to browse through his online Science Dictionary and find a word or image that you really like. Here is the link where you can find his Science Dictionary online: http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/science_dictionary/

Here is what you need to know to enter Seymour’s Awesome Science Word Contest:

Take a look around in the online Science Dictionary and find a word that you think is an Awesome Science Word. Once you have decided on your word, you have to do three things:

1. Tell us what your word is and explain the definition in your own words.

 2. Tell us why you think your word is awesome.

3. Use your Awesome Science Word in a sentence to prove that you really understand what it means.

Here is an example. Let’s say that I look at the Online Dictionary and pick "fingerprint" as my Awesome Science Word. I would write:

Definition in my own words: A fingerprint is a pattern of swirls and lines in the skin at the tip of a human finger.

Why it is awesome: I think it is awesome that every single human being has their own fingerprint.

Using it in a sentence: Every person’s fingerprints are unique and that means that like snowflakes, no two are alike.

Here is how to enter once you have selected your Awesome Science Word:

A. Click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of the blog to enter the contest by sharing your word along with your definition, why you think it is awesome, and your sentence using your word.

B. When you write your information, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, and your teacher’s name. That way we can find you if you are the winner!

C. Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Thursday, January 16. The contest ends then. 

RULES:

• Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. 
• Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. 
• Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher or with Mrs. Abad to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner. 
• Both winners will receive copies of the printed version of the SCIENCE DICTIONARY, autographed by Seymour Simon.
• Students who do not attend Greenfield Elementary may also enter this contest. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose a third prizewinner from the non-Greenfield entries. 

So, get to work and send us your entries today. Good luck!

October 5, 2013

Thank you to the students and faculty at Altamont Elementary School - I enjoyed my visit to your school yesterday! We talked about everything from paper airplanes to outer space, and lots of animals, too.

  Congratulations to everyone who entered the Moth or Butterfly? contest. We had many good entries; each of you observed, did research, came to a conclusion and then wrote about it. Nice work!

As promised, there are two randomly selected winners - one individual student and one K-2 class. Each one of the winners will receive an autographed copy of my book BUTTERFLIES. Check with Mrs. Ahearn to pick up your prizes!

Here are the winners and what they wrote about which of these animals is a butterfly, and which is a moth:

Emily, age ten, from Mr. Whiteman’s Class, is the individual winner. Emily wrote:

I believe that insect A is a moth. I think this because a moth’s wings are to the side of his body, and it has very dull colors.

On the other hand, I think that insect B is a butterfly because, firstly, a butterflies wings rest upright on its back, and secondly, it has straight, clubbed antennae.

Mrs. Critelli’s Kindergarten Class were the classroom winners. They wrote:

We think that picture A is a moth because we learned that moths are nocturnal and picture A looks like it was taken at night. We also think it is a moth because it is smaller than the  insect in picture B. We learned that moths are smaller than butterflies. We also learned that moths don’t have knobs on the ends of their feelers and in this picture we do not see any knobs. These are the reasons we think picture A is a moth.

We think that picture B is a butterfly because we learned that butterflies have knobs at the ends of their feelers and in this picture we see knobs. We also learned that butterflies are larger than moths and the insect in picture B looks larger than the insect in picture A. Picture B looks like it was taken during the day so we think it must be a butterfly because butterflies are out during the daytime. These are the reasons we think picture B is a butterfly.

Thanks we had so much fun learning about butterflies and moths.

Mrs. Ahearn, Altamont’s school librarian, did a beautiful job of organizing everything for my visit this week. Thank you very much, Betty! Your kids were well-prepared and wonderful to work with.

September 27, 2013

Seymour Simon is preparing to visit the Altamont Elementary School next week, and we are happy to see comments from many new readers on the Seymour Science blog. Students in Altamont Elementary - this contest is for you! 

1.    Write a comment on this blog post and tell Seymour whether each of these photographs is a butterfly or a moth.

2.    Tell him how you identified it. Give at least two reasons for each insect.

3.    Tell us your name (first name only), age and teacher’s name. Don’t forget your teacher’s name, because that is how we will contact you if you are selected as the winner.

4.    Be sure to post your entry by midnight, Friday, October 4. The contest ends then.

Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner.

What if you don’t know how to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth? You can find the answer right here on the Seymour Science blog. Look at all the entries under the label "Butterflies." We guarantee you that you will find the answer there!

So, get to work and send us your entries today. Your comments will be invisible until everyone has a chance to enter. Once the contest is over, we will post everyone’s writing.

Good luck!

READERS: Are you wondering how to add your own "comment" to this blog? Click here for exact directions on how to add a comment so you can become one of our Seymour Science writers! We also want you to be safe and not share too much information when you write on this blog, so please take a minute to read about how to stay safe on the Internet. We love to hear from you, so give "comments" a try! 

September 26, 2013

Thank you to everyone from Cider Mill Elementary School who entered the Einstein Anderson Contest. We asked students to read a passage from Seymour Simon’s book LIGHTNING NEVER LIES and tell us about the characters of Einstein and Paloma. Specifically, we asked you to tell us what their characters are like (using examples from the text) and then tell us how you are the same as or different than these characters.

We are very impressed by the quality of the writing that was submitted. Those of you who entered obviously gave some real thought to this assignment. 

As promised, we have selected a random winner from each grade, and each author will receive an autographed copy of Seymour Simon’s LIGHTNING NEVER LIES. 

Are you ready? Here are the winners of Seymour Simon’s EINSTEIN ANDERSON contest!

Fifth grade winner:  Michael C. from Mrs. Stallfort’s class. Michael wrote:

Einstein is a really nice boy who has light brown hair and wears glasses.  He really likes computers and bird watching.  He does not have a lot of friends.  Einstein is a deep thinker and really smart.  He has one close friend, a girl, who likes a lot of the same things that he likes. Her name is Paloma.

Paloma has long dark hair which she keeps in a pony tail.  Both Einstein and Paloma both like wearing blue jeans. They both like bird watching and computers.  Paloma does not have any other friends.  Einstein and Paloma both like sports but would rather spend quiet time bird watching.

Einstein and I share a lot in common.  We are both athletic, but quiet at the same time.  We like to use computers and have a close friend that shares a lot of the same interests.  I don’t like bird watching but I do have special interests just like Einstein.  We both worry about our friend and think about a lot of things that many people may not understand.  That special friend in our lives makes us feel really good and makes us feel special.  

Fourth grade winner:  Zach, 9 years old, from Mrs. Layne’s class. Zach wrote:

Einstein likes thinking, soccer, science, birding and research.  He wears glasses, does not wear fancy clothes, uses technology and is a good friend. Einstein Anderson got his nickname “Einstein” because he likes to think often.  He probably doesn’t like his real name since he always uses Einstein!

Paloma likes soccer, birding and research.  She has long black hair, uses technology, is a good friend and always dresses in high top sneakers and jeans and keeps her hair in a ponytail.  She does not sound like a girl who likes dresses!  

Einstein is interested is science and animals.   I like to read about animals too, especially reptiles.  Recently, I saved a baby snapping turtle and put it in the pond near my house.  I found the turtle on the road in front of my house and brought him to the pond so he was safe.  This seems like something Einstein would have wanted to do too.  

Third grade winner:  Lukas from Mr. DiCrescenzo’s Class, Nod Hill House. Here is the extraordinarily good...

September 10, 2013

It is time for a new contest! Seymour Simon is visiting the Cider Mill School in Wilton, Connecticut later this month, and this Writing Wednesday contest is for all the Cider Mill students to enter. Three lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new book LIGHTNING NEVER LIES, from the Einstein Anderson: Science Geek series of science mysteries.

Here is how you enter. First, read this excerpt from LIGHTNING NEVER LIES. 

Once you have read this, here is what you do to enter:

2.    Then write at least one paragraph telling us about an interest or characteristic that you share with one of these characters, either Einstein or Paloma.

3.    To enter the contest, click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog entry and share both your list and your writing.

4.    When you enter, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, your age and your teacher’s name, so that we can find you if your entry is chosen. Allow 24 hours for your comment to show up online, because all comments by people under 13 years old are reviewed by a moderator and approved before they appear on the website. Be patient if your writing doesn’t appear right away!

5.    Be sure to post your entry by midnight on Wednesday, September 25th. The contest ends then.

6.    One winner from each grade will be chosen randomly from all the complete entries.

7.    Students who do not attend Cider Mill School may also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #4, please include your first name, your grade, your teacher’s name, the name of your school, and the city where your school is located. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose an extra prize winner from the non-Cider Mill entries. 

All winners will receive copies of LIGHTNING NEVER LIES, personally autographed by Seymour Simon. So, get to work and send us your entries today!

June 1, 2013

Thank you to everyone from Skano Elementary School who entered the CORAL REEFS contest. We asked students to do some research and tell us about three animals that live in coral reefs. I enjoyed seeing the choices you made and reading your writing about these animals. This contest was very unusual because of the large number of kindergarteners, both individuals and classes, who entered. This was very exciting work from the kindergarten kids, and you’ll see some of it here in our winning entries.

As promised, we have selected two winners of this contest, and both will receive an autographed copy of Seymour Simon’s newest book, CORAL REEFS. We chose the winners at random, using a very cool random number generator website called Random.org.

Are you ready? Here are the winners of Seymour Simon’s CORAL REEFS contest!

Individual Winner:  Benny, 6 years old, from Mrs. Russo’s kindergarten class. Benny wrote:

1. coral looks like a plant but is an animal

2. sharks have sharp teeth

3. lobster eyes are on stalks

Classroom Winner: Mrs. Benkoski’s Kindergarten Class. They wrote:

Sharks are cool and some live in coral reefs.  Sand tiger sharks can be found there, but they sometimes hide in the sand.  Squids have 10 arms and also live in coral reefs.  Lots of sea urchins live on coral reefs. They have many poisonous spines. They can puff these out at things that swim by.  It was really fun learning about coral reefs and we love your new book!

Congratulations to everyone who entered. Be on the lookout for another blog post, because we enjoyed the work you did for this contest so much, we are going to publish some of your writing for everyone to read.

May 23, 2013

It is time for a new contest! Seymour Simon is visiting Skano Elementary School in Clifton Park, NY at the end of this month, and this contest is for all the Skano Elementary kids to enter. Two lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new book, CORAL REEFS.

Here is how you enter. First, read this excerpt from Seymour’s newest book. 

Coral reefs look like a bunch of rock formations. But a coral reef is actually a gigantic community of living things. For a long time, corals were a mystery to people. They were called rock-plants or plant-animals.

Now we know that each coral polyp, basically a mouth, is a soft sea animal that is something like a jellyfish. The polyp makes a hard, protective limestone skeleton.

Once you have read this, here is what you do to enter:

1.    Do some research and tell us about three animals that live on coral reefs. They might be fish, they might be crustaceans like crab and lobster, or they might be plant-like corals.

2.    You can find your information by clicking on the "Coral Reefs" label on this blog, in Seymour’s book CORAL REEFS, or by using other resources, like the library and the Internet.

3.    Click on the yellow "Comments" link at the bottom of this blog entry to enter the contest by telling us about the three animals you have studied. Make sure that you put the information you have found into your own words (don’t just copy and paste information you find).

4.    When you write your information, be sure to also tell us your name (first name only), your grade, your age and your teacher’s name, so that we can find you if you are chosen as the winner. Allow 24 hours for your comment to show up online, because all comments by people under 13 years old are reviewed by a moderator and approved before they appear on the website. Be patient if you don’t see it right away!

5.    Be sure to post your entry by midnight, Friday, May 31. The contest ends then.

6.    Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner.

7.    Students who do not attend Skano Elementary may also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #4, please include your first name, your grade, your teacher’s name, the name of your school, and the city where your school is located. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose a third prize winner from the non-Skano Elementary entries. 

Winners will receive copies of CORAL REEFS, personally autographed by Seymour Simon.

So, get to work and send us your entries today!

May 2, 2013

It is easy to see that there is a big Seymour Simon school visit week coming up - we have been getting so many comments from new readers on the Seymour Science blog. Students in Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Ambler, Pennsylvania - this contest is for you!

Two lucky winners are going to receive personally autographed copies of Seymour Simon’s new book, EXTREME OCEANS. Here is what you have to do to enter:

1.    Write a comment on this blog post and tell Seymour three fascinating facts about sharks.

2. Tell us your name (first name only), your grade, and your teacher’s name. This will let us contact you if you are the winner.

3.    Be sure to post your entry by midnight, Friday, May 17, because the contest ends then.

Two winners will be chosen randomly from all the correct entries. Older students may enter individually, and we will pick one winner. Students in grades K-2 may enter as a class and work with their teacher to enter the contest; there will be one classroom winner.Students who are not in the

Students who do not attend Lower Gwynedd Elementary may also enter this contest. The rules are the same as above, but for #2 please include your first name, your grade, your teacher’s name, the name of your school, and the city where your school is located. If we have at least 20 entries from other schools, we will randomly choose a third prize winner from the non-Pennsylvania entries. 

What if you don’t know any cool facts about sharks? You can start right here on the Seymour Science blog. Look at all the entries under the label "Sharks." We guarantee you that you will find some fascinating information in these stories! It is also ok if you use other sources for your information, such as books in your library, or a reliable Internet source like an encyclopedia, National Geographic Kids, or the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week website.

So, get to work and send us your entries today! Seymour will see you soon, and then you can all talk about sharks and Extreme Oceans together!

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