INDIANA – Attention 5th-grade students, submit your original artwork for the annual Arbor Day poster contest by the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry’s Community and Urban Forestry program (CUF) and Indiana Project Learning Tree.
Contest Theme 2024 – Oak Trees: Superheroes of the Forest
Did you know oaks are the national tree of the United States? Indiana has approximately 17 native species of oaks that are incredibly important to the future of our forests. Oaks are a keystone species group, meaning that they have a large effect on the surrounding ecosystem.
Here are just a few of the oak tree’s amazing superpowers:
- Producing acorns, which feed an abundance of wildlife like squirrels, turkeys, and deer
- Host and feed hundreds of species of moth and butterfly caterpillars
- Shelter wildlife in their leaves, trunks, and even platy bark
- Withstand disturbances like fire and drought with their robust root system
- Filter nitrates and other pollutants out of water
- Sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
- Provide strong, high-quality wood for the more than 70,000 Hoosiers with jobs in the wood products industry
Oaks are amazing trees that do so much for our forests’ health, biodiversity, and resiliency.
How to Enter:
- Students create their posters
Explore this year’s theme with 5th-grade students in the classroom and ask them to create a poster reflecting the theme and their understanding of the importance of trees and forests. - Select a schoolwide winner
Teachers gather your student’s posters and select a winner through a judging panel of school staff, students, parents, and/or tree professionals. You may consider reaching out to your community’s tree board, city arborist, environmental nonprofit organizations, or local nurseries for tree professionals to see if they are interested in helping. Students who attend nonparticipating schools or are home-schooled may submit posters individually. - Submit your school’s winner to the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry
Scan your winning poster and include the following Contest Entry Form with the poster. Submit to urbanforestry@dnr.IN.gov with the subject line “Arbor Day Poster Contest Entry”. The deadline for entry is March 1, 2024. Winners will be announced by April 12, 2024.
Contest Prizes
1st Place: The student who creates the winning poster will receive a gift card, a book for continuing their exploration of trees, and an Indiana native tree planting at their school. The winning student’s teacher will receive a kit of educational materials to support their class’s further engagement with Indiana trees, forests, and forestry, and a full scholarship to the Natural Resources Teacher Institute. The winning poster and student will also be featured on the Indiana Division of Forestry Facebook page and website.
2nd and 3rd Place: Students who place 2nd and 3rd in the statewide competition will each receive a book for continuing their exploration of trees and recognition on the Indiana Division of Forestry’s Facebook page. Teachers of these students will also receive a kit of educational materials to support their class’s further engagement with Indiana trees, forests, and forestry.
For more information click here.
