What is the WCCTW Challenge? The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge is the premier national environmental sustainability competition for grades K-12 students. Through project- based learning, students learn about science and conservation while creating solutions that impact their planet. Beginning August 13, 2013 through March 4, 2014, teams from across the country will be challenged to create sustainable, reproducible environmental improvements in their local communities. To date, more than 80,000 students have participated in the Challenge.

Prizes!!! a one-hour Discovery Education assembly for their school a Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge green prize pack (for each student) a $5,000 school grant to be used to further "green" initiatives a banner for the winning school

Judging Criteria Local Environmental Issue or Problem (10% of total score) - How well does the entry describe a classroom or school situation or behavior that negatively affects the environment, and its proposed solution? Is the issue or problem common to other classrooms or other students the same age group? Class Advisor/Mentor and Student Effort to Expand the Solution (20% of total score) - How effective was the Class Advisor/Mentor in generating awareness and action within the school community? Did the students take on individual roles to carry out the solution? Creativity/Innovation (10% of total score) - Is the entry original and creative in its concept and communication, and does it enable students to demonstrate their intelligence and resources to solve the problem? The Plan and Enactment of the Plan (40% of total score) - Is the plan based on data collected that helps demonstrate there is a problem? Is the plan realistic, thoughtfully developed, and clearly explained including images, charts, and illustrations? Are materials carefully selected and specified? Is the procedure sequential and clearly explained? Is data used to determine the effectiveness of the solution? Sustainability and Replication (20% of total score) - Is the change one that will continue to benefit the environment over time? Are recommendations made on how other students in this age group could replicate the solution, make the solution easier, or make it work better?

Challenge Steps Step 1: Learn - learn about the environment. Step 2: Plan - develop a plan to make a change. Step 3: Act – put your plan into action and keep track of the results. Step 4: Reflect & Extend - evaluate the project— what worked, what you would change. Step 5: Share - share information about the topic chosen, the problem and solution implementation, what the class learned, and what you would do differently.

Group Rules: Listen and include ideas from all. Respect ideas that are different. Give each team member a job that's not too easy and not too hard. Do what you say you will do. Do as much as you can to help your team. Be supportive, kind and constructive with your words.

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We use too much paper Last year, our school used over 2,000 boxes of copy paper. Another type of paper that is used too much is notebook paper. In addition, different information papers go home all the time. We recycle paper at our school and that's better than throwing it away. But we learned that it is better to reduce and reuse than to have to recycle.

A lot of energy is being wasted! When we walked through the halls, we noticed that a lot of empty classrooms have their lights on.

We need more plants around our school On our playground, there is a hill that goes down to a creek. Many children play on this hill and even ride their bikes down it. There are not many plants on the hill and, when it rains, the water in the creek gets very muddy. This is because of erosion.

Your job: Make a PowerPoint that tells what you think the biggest environmental problem in our school is, and how you would solve it.