Every Day Is Earth Day at Biosphere 2!

At Biosphere 2, our mission is to treat every day as Earth Day by helping young people (and their parents) understand the science that is all around us. Everything we use in our daily lives has been studied, discovered or made better by scientists who examine how things work now and how they might work better in the future. While scientists research, poke and prod, artists create images and objects that are representations of how we feel. The scientists at Biosphere 2 are studying ways to keep our Earth healthy and we want you to create some art that shows your love and respect for our planet. We would like to display your art at Biosphere 2!

It’s a Party!

Biosphere 2 has chosen April 17, 2010 as the day to have a huge party celebrating our beautiful planet and you are invited! You can help us bridge the gap between science and art and show people how you care about the earth.

Win prizes for yourself or your classroom by entering our Earth Day art contest! This is a statewide contest open to individual K–8 students or K–8 classrooms (entries will be judged in two categories). To enter this competition, create a sculpture from recycled or recyclable materials that is beautiful, useful, whimsical or just simply funny. Your sculpture should represent something that you love or find wonderful about the Earth. Explore some things you may not think about every day, like natural resources, wildlife, trees and plants, rocks and mineral formations, oceans, ice fields or acknowledge the beauty and wonder around you. Send us photos and a written explanation of your sculpture so we can better understand the significance it has to Earth Day.

The winning sculptures will be displayed at Biosphere 2 on April 17, 2010 for the Earth Day celebration and will receive great prizes! All those who enter will receive a “Citizen Scientist” certificate!

How can you treat every day like it’s Earth Day?

Help protect the ecology (the interaction of an organism and its environment) of the Earth by doing these simple things every day!

• Reduce how much “stuff” you use. Instead of buying new things, see if your parents will let you trade with a friend.
• Reuse whatever you can. Instead of using plastic bags, use reusable containers for your lunch box and to store dinner leftovers. Ask your parents to get reusable grocery store bags.
• Recycle the things you use, like plastics, paper, cardboard and aluminum cans.
• Eat organic and local foods that are grown responsibly (without pesticides or growth hormones).
• Conserve resources like water and gas.
• Carpool to reduce the amount of gas your family uses.
• Use biodegradable products, like paper, instead of plastics or Styrofoam.
• Compost food items instead of throwing them in the trash.
• Don’t litter! Keep the earth beautiful and trash free.
• Put as little trash as you possibly can in landfills.

For more information about Biosphere 2 or to schedule a field trip, please call 520-838-6200 or visit www.b2science.org. All students who participate in a classroom field trip to Biosphere 2 receive a complimentary annual student membership.

CONTEST PRIZES

Classrooms:

Prize: A classroom tour of Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 may acknowledge other classrooms and display their submissions as well.

Individual Students:

1st Prize: 4 tickets to Biosphere 2, 4 tickets to SEA LIFE Arizona and a Biosphere 2 T-shirt

2nd Prize: 4 tickets to Biosphere 2, a Biosphere 2 T-shirt and 50 Wonders of the World (a Time/Life book)

3rd Prize: 4 tickets to Biosphere 2, A Biosphere 2 cap and a signed copy of Jeremy Jackrabbit Harvests the Rainwater.

All students who participate will receive a beautiful certificate of participation. Winning entries will be displayed at Biosphere 2.

RULES FOR EARTH DAY SCULPTURE CONTEST:

Who may enter:

1. Individuals in grades K– 8

2. Classrooms K– 8

What materials you may use for the sculpture:
Anything you might put in the trash or send to a recycling center including, but not limited to, glass, metal, paper, plastic, rubber, wood, old clothes, old shoes, broken appliances or tools, automotive parts, computer parts or media, fabric, bottles and jars, rope, cardboard, anything broken or damaged so it can not be used for it’s original purpose.

What you may not use:
Anything you might purchase. Using new materials will disqualify you. However, you may purchase connective materials such as string, wire (for connection only) or adhesives. You may also purchase and use paint or pigment.

Questions:
If you need clarification call or email Matt Adamson.
madamson@email.arizona.edu • 520-838-6137

Deadline: 5:00 p.m. February 28, 2010 (no exceptions)

Mail or email the following information with your entry:
Name, Age, School, Grade, Teacher, Address and Phone number:
List of materials used:
Photographs of front, back, each side and top of sculpture.
A three to five paragraph explanation of your submission.

Please include:
1. Why you chose this form.
2. A list of all materials used in the sculpture.
3. What this entry represents about the earth.
By entering this contest you are authorizing Biosphere 2 to display your submission during and following the 2010 Earth Day festival

Send all entries to:

Matt Adamson
Biosphere 2
P.O. Box 8746
Tucson, AZ 85738

Or email to: madamson@email.arizona.edu

For more info, or to schedule a field trip, call 520-838-6200
or visit www.b2science.org

Is Shaq Sinking Suns?

There's a new big man in town; the Phoenix Suns are betting he's the spark they need to win the playoffs.

One of the biggest stars in the NBA universe, Shaquille O'Neal, is now wearing purple and orange. And both Shaq and the Suns have a lot to prove. Shaq, who just turned 36 and has endured knee and hip injuries, wants to show he's still a big force in the NBA. His critics say that the Diesel is too old and too slow for a high-octane, blazingly fast team like the Suns.

During the regular season, the Suns are one of the toughest teams in the West. And while fans love the Suns' exciting and high-scoring brand of basketball, led by two-time League MVP point guard Steve Nash, the team has never won the NBA Finals.

The Suns believe that Shaq is the piece that's been missing. At 7 feet 1 inch tall and 325 pounds, Shaq gives the Suns a true center who grabs rebounds, plays tough defense and passes the ball well. Up till now, Amare Stoudamire has been stuck playing center for the Suns, even though he's really one of the best power forwards in the game. With Shaq in at center, Stoudamire is freed up to do what he does best!

"Psychologically it really helps us out. Guys are much more willing to go to the boards and fight around the basket with Shaq in there," explains Head Coach Mike D'Antoni.

Fans love Shaq's superstar qualities. The big guy has won four NBA Finals and was MVP for three of them! But the Suns have lost their winning ways since Shaq started playing on Feb. 20. In the trade for Shaq, the Suns gave up All-Star forward Shawn Marion, who said he wanted to be traded at the beginning of the season. For years, Marion had been a clutch scorer. As of press time, the Suns have won just two of their last six games and have fallen to fifth place in the Western Conference. Fans wonder whether it's growing pains with the big guy or could it be a bad fit?

'Doomsday Vault' Opens for Business!

SVALBARD ARCHIPELAGO, Norway-Imagine a bank that's so far north that polar bears outnumber the people living there! The bank is located on Norway's Svalbard archipelago just 620 miles from the North Pole. As you may have guessed, it's cold there. During winter's around-the-clock darkness, temperatures can fall to -22° Fahrenheit.

The bank was blasted into the side of an arctic mountain and has reinforced concrete walls to help protect its valuable deposits from natural disasters, global warming and even a nuclear explosion. Welcome to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault-also called the "Doomsday Vault" by the press!

You can find seedbanks all over the world. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a seedbank here in Arizona. Its mission is to protect the diversity of local seed used in farming and their wild relatives. "We have nearly 2,000 varieties in our seedbank, mainly corn, beans and squash," explains Carolyn Owens, who works on grants for the seedbank. "Just like the seedbank in Norway, the seeds need to be kept cold, so they're stored in a freezer," she says. Seeds for the bank come from southwestern states and northern Mexico.

Seedbanks help protect our food supply from the "what ifs" in life-like what if there's drought; what if a disease attacks a certain kind of wheat, or what if global warming changes what can grow around here?

Modern farming has led to fewer and fewer varieties of crops. This has brought about many varieties of food crops being lost forever, and Owens says it's alarming. "It's just more cost effective to grow a single variety...but you don't know what disease is going to come along down the road," she says. A disease could wipe out an entire variety of a crop, leading to food shortages. But if there are enough other seed varieties, like wheat for instance, one of those types of wheat may turn out to be resistant to the disease.

Owens points out that a lot of seedbanks are in politically unstable areas like Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and have been looted or destroyed. In the Phillipines, a flood wiped out the country's seedbank.

That's why the Svalbard Global Seedbank was created-to protect the diversity of seeds no matter what happens in the world. Countries can "deposit" different varieties of seeds. If a disaster jeopardizes crops, the country can make a "withdrawal" of seeds.

The vault was built by Norway at a cost of about $3 million. Because seeds are so small, the "Doomsday Vault" can hold up to 2 billion seeds!