Show Artistic Talent in National Fossil Day Contest

Written by Nathan Smith on September 1, 2015. Posted in Grants & Contests.

A major focus of Earth Science Week 2015 will be National Fossil Day (October 14), and one of the best ways for you or your students to participate is by entering the National Park Service's National Fossil Day Art and Photography Contest. Entries should address the theme "Postcards from the Past."

Imagine you just received a postcard from a fossil living in an ancient environment. What might that fossil tell you about its day or its surroundings? How would the picture on the postcard compare to what we see on the earth today?

Rocks and fossils contain clues of what ancient landscapes looked like and how ancient life lived. Use your creative skills as a paleontologist and as an artist to imagine what your "Postcard from the Past" might look like.

The contest is open to any U.S. resident. Entries must be received by October 7, 2015. For full contest guidelines, see http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/art_contest.cfm. If you have questions, please email National_Fossil_Day@nps.gov.

Nathan Smith

Nathan Smith is Director of Technology for the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. In that role, he also directs The Adele & Dale Young Education Technology Center (The YETC) located in room 170 of the Education Building on Utah State University's Logan campus. The YETC is a combination student openaccess computer facility, a K12 curriculum materials library, a NASA Educator Resource Center for Utah, and a technology training center. Nathan served eight years (20042012) on the Board of Directors for the Utah Coalition for Education Technology (UCET) He was reelected in 2014 to serve another two year term on the board. A former elementary school teacher, Nathan has taught students every age from young children to senior citizens. He has had the opportunity beginning in 2011 to train international high school teachers from all over the world about technology in education, through the U.S. State