Rules
THE SIEMENS "WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD"
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHALLENGE
OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES
VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
1. TERM: The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge ("Contest") begins at 12:01 am Eastern Time ("ET") on August 20, 2009 and ends at 11:59 pm ET on March 15, 2010 ("Term").
2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The objective of the Contest is for teachers, mentors or other adults to work with and supervise teams of two, three, or four eligible students ("Teams"), in the creation of a contest entry which identifies an issue in their community that needs to "go green" and provides a plan to positively impact that issue and further "green living" in their community. Each Team's entry should include the following steps: choosing a topic, writing a problem statement, doing background research, writing a hypothesis, developing a plan, collecting data, drawing a conclusion, reporting the results and explaining how to replicate this project. Additional information and tips for creating an effective contest entry will be available online at the contest website, www.wecanchange.com. Contest entries will be submitted online at www.wecanchange.com by the Team's teacher/mentor.
3. REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHERS, MENTORS OR ADULTS: Each Team shall be supervised by one teacher, mentor or other adult who is a U.S. resident over the age of 18 ("Teacher/Mentor"). These Teacher/Mentors will provide guidance to the Team, work with the Team to develop the entry, and submit the final entry submission. The Teacher/Mentor must know each student and be in constant contact with both the student and the student's parent. Employees of Discovery Communications, LLC ("Sponsor"), the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), their subsidiaries, affiliates, contest administrator, advertising and promotion agencies and members of the immediate families (spouses and parents, children and siblings and their spouses) and persons living in the same household of such individuals are not eligible.
4. TEAMS: The Teams may be made up of two, three, or four students who have been approved and recommended by the Teacher/Mentor, each of whom is a legal U.S. resident enrolled in 6th through 8th grade at a public, private, parochial or home school located in the United States at the time of entry. Children and siblings of employees of Sponsor, Siemens, NSTA, or their subsidiaries, agencies, and affiliates may participate but are not eligible to win a prize. Eligibility may be verified by Sponsor at any time; any determinations of eligibility will be made by the Sponsor whose decisions are final.
5. PERSONAL DATA AND PARENTAL CONSENT: Sponsor and Siemens will be collecting personal information from the Teacher/Mentors at the time of entry. This information will be used in accordance with Sponsor and Siemens's privacy policies, located at http://dsc.discovery.com/utilities/about/privacypolicy.html and http://w1.siemens.com/about/en/footer/privacy.htm. Each Team's entry must not contain any personally identifiable information about the students on the Team. Instead, the entry must only contain the first name of each student on the Team. In the event that any additional information is provided, the entry will become VOID and will be deleted from the Sponsor's servers.
In order to fulfill the prizes, the Sponsor will need to collect personal information from the members of a particular Team if the Team is selected as a potential First, Second, Third or State prize winner in the Contest. In such an instance, the Sponsor will ask the applicable Teacher/Mentor to provide Sponsor with an executed parental consent form. This form must be completed by the parent or legal guardian in order for each Team member to continue participating in the Contest. In addition, the Teacher/Mentor and the parents or legal guardians will be required to execute the prize documents described in Sections 9 and 10 of these Official Rules. Without this consent, the student may not receive the applicable prize and could be disqualified from the Contest.
Considering the above, it is in the Teacher/Mentor and Team's best interest to ensure it has obtained parental consent from the parent or legal guardian of each Team member PRIOR to submitting the entry described herein.
6. TO SUBMIT AN ENTRY: The Teacher/Mentor must visit www.wecanchange.com to access the Contest online entry form and must complete the required information about his or her Team and insert the Contest entry in the space provided. Entries must be received by Sponsor's server by 11:59 PM ET on March 15, 2010. The entry must be in the Team's own words, but the Teacher/Mentor may assist and supervise the students in preparing and organizing the entry. Limit: ONE ENTRY, PER TEAM. Students may not be on more than one Team. In the event that Sponsor learns that one student is on two separate Teams, it may disqualify both Teams or ask the Teacher/Mentor to remove the student from the Team. Any disputes between Team members is solely the responsibility of the Teacher/Mentor and the Teacher/Mentor may not substitute or change Team members after entry without receiving the written permission from Sponsor. Entries must be completed in English.
7. WARRANTY AND IP RIGHTS AND CONSIDERATIONS: By submitting an entry, the Teacher/Mentor named on the entry form warrants and represents that (i) the entry is the original work of the Teacher/Mentor, was written by the Teacher/Mentor and was created by the Teacher/Mentor, all while supervising and assisting the Team in developing the Contest entry (ii) the Teacher/Mentor owns or otherwise controls all of the rights to the entry, (iii) the entry does not violate any law, regulation or any right of any third-party, including but not limited to rights of copyright, publicity and privacy; (iv) he or she has obtained the appropriate permission from each of the Team members and their parents to submit the entry essay and the related entry materials required in this Contest; and (v) the Teacher/Mentor will only supply the identity, or any personal information related to the students in the event the entry is a winner of First, Second, Third or State Prize.
Submitting an entry that is copyrighted by another individual will make the Teacher/Mentor responsible for any legal action the legal copyright holder might take against the Teacher/Mentor, Sponsor, Siemens or the Team. Entries may not defame or invade the rights of publicity or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon a person's personal or proprietary rights. Submissions that are deemed by the judges in their sole discretion to be not in keeping with Sponsor's image will be void. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entry at any time which, in the Sponsor's reasonable opinion, endangers the safety or well being of any person or in the event it is determined that the entrant has not complied with these Official Rules. Other than for winner notification, neither Sponsor, nor anyone acting on its behalf, will enter into any communication with any Team member or Teacher/Mentor regarding this Contest, nor will entries be acknowledged or returned. Entries become the property of Sponsor.
8. JUDGING AND JUDGING CRITERIA: There will be two rounds of judging, each of which is described below.
First Round. After the completion of the Term and beginning on or about March 15, 2010, the entries will be judged by a panel of judges from Discovery Education and its partner organizations, educators and science professionals, based on the following judging criteria:
- Local Environmental Issue or Problem (10% of total score) - How well does the entry describe the negative effects of a local environmental issue or problem, and its proposed solution?
- Community Engagement (20% of total score) - How effective was the team in generating awareness and action within their community?
- Creativity/Innovation (10% of total score) - Is the entry original and creative in its communication, and does it take advantage of a variety of resources and combine them in an effective way?
- Scientific Approach (45% of total score) - Is the issue or problem well researched, and is research evidence cited in proposing a solution? Is the plan thoughtfully developed and clearly written, including carefully specified materials and detailed, sequential procedures? Are analyses based upon quantitative and qualitative data?
- Replication/Expansion: "How could other communities do it?" (15% of total score) - Does the team give recommendations on how other communities could use, improve upon, and expand the entry content?
Using the above criteria, the judges will score each entry and select one Team from each state, including the District of Columbia. Each of these Teams will be named a "State Winner." In the event of a tie, the entry with highest combined "Scientific Approach" and "Community Engagement" score will be named the winner. If an insufficient number of qualified entries is received from any state, the Sponsor may award less than fifty-one State Winners the "State Winners Prizes" described below. The Teacher/Mentors of the State Winners will be notified by email, phone, postal mail or express mail, beginning on or about April 15, 2010. At that time, the Teacher/Mentor will be asked to provide the parental consent described in Section 5 of these Official Rules.
Second Round. Beginning on or about April 21, 2010, each State Winner will be evaluated by a second panel of judges from Discovery Education and its partners, which may include but is not limited to NSTA, NAAEE, Discovery's Planet Green Advisory Committee, Discovery's Science Channel Advisory Committee, the U.N. and National Governor's Association, and ETS, who will consider the following judging criteria:
- Local Environmental Issue or Problem (10% of total score) - How well does the entry describe the negative effects of a local environmental issue or problem, and its proposed solution?
- Community Engagement (20% of total score) - How effective was the team in generating awareness and action within their community?
- Creativity/Innovation (10% of total score) - Is the entry original and creative in its communication, and does it take advantage of a variety of resources and combine them in an effective way?
- Scientific Approach (45% of total score) - Is the issue or problem well researched, and is research evidence cited in proposing a solution? Is the plan thoughtfully developed and clearly written, including carefully specified materials and detailed, sequential procedures? Are analyses based upon quantitative and qualitative data?
- Replication/Expansion: "How could other communities do it?" (15% of total score) - Does the team give recommendations on how other communities could use, improve upon, and expand the entry content?
Using the above criteria, the Second Round judges will score each entry and select the First, Second and Third Place potential winners. The potential First prize winner will be the Team with the highest score, the potential Second prize winner will be the Team with the second highest score and the potential Third prize winner will be the Team with the third highest score. In the event of a tie, the entry with highest combined "Scientific Approach" and "Community Engagement" score will be named the potential winner. The Teacher/Mentors of the First, Second and Third Place Teams will be notified by email, phone, postal mail or express mail, on or about May 7, 2010.
If the Teacher/Mentor does not respond to any of the notification attempts described herein within the time period specified within the notification, then such Team will be disqualified and an alternate potential Team will be selected from among all eligible entries received based on the judging criteria described herein.
9. TEAM PRIZES:
First Place Prize: Each member of the First Prize-winning Team will receive a $10,000 Series EE United States Savings Bond ($10,000 face value of bond redeemed at maturity; $5,000 present value); a 3-day, 2-night Discovery trip, location to be determined, a chance to tell their story at a United Nations event, a chance to be featured on one of Discovery's networks, a chance to be featured on a jumbotron in Times Square in New York City, a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise, and a pocket video camera. Total Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") $7,680 per person.
Second Place Prize: Each member of the Second Prize-winning Team will receive $7,500 in Series EE United States Savings Bonds ($7,500 face value of bonds redeemed at maturity; $3,750 present value); a Discovery trip, location to be determined, a chance to be featured on a jumbotron in Times Square in New York City, a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise and a pocket video camera. ARV $6,430 per person.
Third Place Prize: Each member of the Third Prize-winning Team will receive a $5,000 Series EE United States Savings Bond ($5,000 face value of bond redeemed at maturity; $2,500 present value), a chance to be featured on a jumbotron in Times Square in New York City, a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise and a pocket video camera. ARV $2,680 per person.
State Winner Prize: Each member of a State winning Team will receive a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise valued at approximately $50. The prize will be awarded to the Teacher/Mentor of the applicable Team, who will be responsible for ensuring each Team member receives the prize.
Honorable Mention Prize: After the State winners have been determined, up to the next fifty (50) highest scoring entries will be awarded an Honorable Mention prize, at Sponsor's sole discretion. Each member of an Honorable Mention Prize-winning team will receive a Discovery "Green" prize valued at approximately $20. The prize will be awarded to the Teacher/Mentor of the applicable Team, who will be responsible for ensuring each Team member receives the prize.
The First, Second, Third and State Prizes will not be awarded without Sponsor first receiving each Team member's parental consent. Each member of the First, Second, Third and State prize Teams must provide the Sponsor with the appropriate consent and also may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility, liability and (where legal) publicity release which must be returned within the time period specified in notification letter or Sponsor may select an alternate winner or disqualify that member of the Team. Prize trips will include round trip coach air travel for one person from a major commercial airport near winner's home (as determined by Sponsor), hotel accommodations for 2 nights, admission or participation fees for activities planned by Sponsor, all meals and ground transportation. Actual value will be determined by winner's residence and destination of the trip. All other expenses not specifically mentioned are the sole responsibility of winner's parent/legal guardian. Travel and accommodations are subject to availability and certain restrictions. Air carriers, hotels and other transportation selected by Sponsor. Black-out dates may apply. The parent/legal guardian of winner is responsible for any travel insurance. Trip must be taken at time determined by Sponsor or trip portion of the prize will be forfeited in its entirety and replaced with an alternate prize determined by Sponsor. Sponsor will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate all winning team member schedules. Sponsor reserves the right to award an alternative prize in the event that a prize is unavailable or inapplicable.
10. TEACHER/MENTOR PRIZES:
First Place Prize: The Teacher/Mentor of the First Place Team will receive a one-year membership to NSTA, free registration to the next NSTA National (or Area) Conference, hotel accommodations for three nights at the conference, a pocket video camera, a Discovery trip, location to be determined, a chance to tell their story at a United Nations event, and a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise. ARV $3,130.
Second Place Prize: The Teacher/Mentor of the Second Place Team will receive a one-year membership to NSTA, free registration to the next NSTA National (or Area) Conference, hotel accommodations for two nights at the Conference, a pocket video camera, a Discovery trip, location to be determined, and a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise. ARV $2,980.
Third Place Prize: The Teacher/Mentor of the Third Place Team will receive a one-year membership to NSTA, free registration to the next NSTA National (or Area) Conference, hotel accommodations for one night at the Conference, a pocket video camera, and a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise. ARV $505.
State Winner Prize: Each Teacher/Mentor of a State Winner Team will receive a one-year membership to NSTA and a prize package of Discovery "Green" merchandise. ARV $124.
Honorable Mention Prize: Each Teacher/Mentor of an Honorable Mention winning team will receive a Discovery "Green" prize valued at approximately $20 and an NSTA prize valued at approximately $75. ARV $95.
Further, the schools associated with the First Place, Second Place, Third Place, State Winner, and Honorable Mention winning entries will each receive a 12-month subscription to Discovery Education Science valued at approximately $2,000; limit one school per winning entry. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to determine which school is associated with a particular winning entry.
First and Second Place Teacher/Mentor winners and one parent from each team will act as chaperones for the students on any prize trips. Trip prizes will include round trip coach air travel for one person from a major commercial airport near winner's home (as determined by Sponsor), hotel accommodations for 2 nights, admission or participation fees for activities planned by Sponsor, all meals and ground transportation. Actual value will be determined by winner's residence. All other expenses not specifically mentioned are the sole responsibility of winner. Travel and accommodations are subject to availability and certain restrictions. Black-out dates may apply. Air carriers, hotels and other transportation selected by Sponsor. Winner is responsible for any travel insurance. Trip must be taken at time determined by Sponsor or trip portion of prize will be forfeited in its entirety and replaced with an alternate prize determined by Sponsor. Sponsor will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate all winning team member schedules. Chaperones will be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility, liability and (where legal) publicity release prior to issuance of travel documents and within the time period specified in the notification document. In the event the chaperone does not complete these documents, Sponsor may disqualify his or her Team and select an alternative Team to take its place. Sponsor reserves the right to award an alternative prize in the event that a prize is unavailable or inapplicable.
11. PRIZE RESTRICTIONS: Taxes on prizes and all expenses related to acceptance and use of the prizes and not specified are the sole responsibility of winners. Prize cannot be transferred, substituted or redeemed for cash except at Sponsor's sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of comparable or greater value if a prize cannot be awarded as described for any reason. Limit one prize per person. Odds of winning any prize depends on the number of eligible entries received during the Contest and the skill of the entries.
12. RELEASE: By participating, entrants agree [a] to these rules and decisions of Sponsor and Siemens, which shall be final in all respects relating to this contest; and [b] to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Siemens, their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, agents and representatives, and their respective officers, directors and employees from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind resulting from their participating in the contest or their acceptance, use or misuse of a prize including, without limitation, personal injury, death and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, copyright, trademark, defamation or invasion of privacy. In addition, Sponsor, Siemens, their affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, agents and representatives and their respective officers, directors and employees are not responsible for and shall not be liable for [a] electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind, including without limitation, server malfunction or by any human error which may occur in the processing of entries; [b] failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions; [c] lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete entries or postage-due mail; or [d] any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Sponsor that may cause the promotion to be disrupted or corrupted.
13. RIGHT TO CANCEL & DISQUALIFY: Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest or any portion thereof should viruses, bugs or other causes beyond the control of Sponsor corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest, and limit entries to those submitted prior to the action taken, or to proceed in such a manner as may be deemed fair and equitable by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Contest or website or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated entries will be void.
14. RIGHTS IN ENTRY MATERIALS: Teachers/Mentors hereby assign to Sponsor: [a] all rights of ownership, reproduction and use of essay and entry materials for any purpose whatsoever without compensation or further permission, including but not limited to an irrevocable and perpetual, royalty-fee, worldwide right, in all media (now known or later developed) to use, publish, alter or otherwise exploit entries; and [b] use of Teacher/Mentor's name, school, city and state and/or photograph and any video footage of winners recorded on any prize trip for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes without compensation (unless prohibited by law) and without prior approval or inspection, and agree to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.
15. WINNERS LIST: To receive a list of winners, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to be received by September 30, 2010, to: Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge Winners, PMI Station, PO Box 750, Southbury, CT 06488-0750. Residents of Vermont need not supply return postage.
16. SPONSOR: Discovery Communications, LLC, One Discovery Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910 ("Sponsor").
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