Celebrate the Holidays with Pop-Up Books

The Robert Sabuda Contest is a monthly opportunity to win a new pop-up prize. K–12 teachers can enter the contest by filling out the form and submitting it online. Past prizes have included a pop-up gingerbread house ornament, a box of pop-up cards and a pop-up bell. Deadline: Rolling, monthly Click Here for More Information

Plus: The website offers dozens of ideas for making pop-up books. For example, your students can use the Make Your Own Pop-Up Reindeer or Poinsettia template as a basis for customized holiday cards. The ideas are coded simple (green), intermediate (blue), advanced (red). Click Here to Access Pop-Up Book Ideas

Make a Positive Impact on the Planet

Disney’s Planet Challenge (DPC) is a project-based environmental competition for classrooms across the United States. DPC teaches students about science and conservation while empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities and the planet. Any third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh- or eighth-grade classroom in a public or private school in the United States may participate in the challenge; second-grade classes can participate if in combination with a third-grade classroom. The grand-prize-winning teacher will receive $6,000; the winning classroom/school will receive a $10,000 grant. Deadlines: December 23, 2011 for registration; February 16, 2012 for project submissions Click Here for More Information

Plus: Find resources for starting and completing your DPC project. Among the resources on this site are a complete step-by-step guide to the DPC project, from enrollment through completing your portfolio; a growing list of useful websites to help with planning or researching your classroom’s project; access to videos, images, blogs and other helpful resources provided by theCalifornia Academy of Sciences; and sample lesson plans that address your state’s specific educational standards. Click Here to Access Free Project Resources

Fuel Imagination with Technology

ExploraVision is a science competition, sponsored by Toshiba and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), which encourages K–12 students of all interest, skill and ability levels to create and explore a vision of future technology by combining their imaginations with the tools of science. It’s a hands-on, minds-on project that inspires students and fuels imagination. All entrants have the opportunity to be recognized for their creative ideas and to win prizes. Educators can learn more about ExploraVision and its value through a series of Web Seminars at The NSTA Learning Center. Join the next webinar, ”How to Avoid Disqualification in ExploraVision,” on January 18, 2012, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. ET.
Deadline: Entries must be received at NSTA headquarters by February 1, 2012
Click Here for More Information 
Click Here to Register for Web Seminars

Winter Solstice

The winter solstice is named for the cluster of holidays in December (at least in part.) Discover how Christmas ended up on December 25 from History.com, where you'll find both ancient and contemporary background info and videos on the traditions that cluster around Christmas. Hanukkah’s history and traditions are also vividly presented, with explanations of why the dreidel is much more than a toy and the menorah an ongoing light in the midst of winter darkness. History.com also explains the much more recent origins of Kwanzaa, a response to 1960’s racial strife in the US, that builds upon African ritual and values.