Oklahoma Ugly Bug Contest started in 1997. This educational outreach program is designed to providing a fun and rewarding educational experience for students and get them interested in science at a young age.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The OMS Ugly Bug Contest is open to all Oklahoma elementary schools, public or private. Elementary is defined as kindergarten through 6th grade. Only one (1) bug per school may be submitted.
WHAT TO DO
- Collect Bugs. Bugs must be native to Oklahoma. Spiders and scorpions will NOT be accepted.
- Pick the ugliest or most unique “bug” (only one entry per school!). Small insects make the best entries because photography is easier and the images are typically of better quality.
- Write a description of your ugly bug. See the Description section of the rules on the form.
- Mail your competing “bug” to an OMS member laboratory listed in the rules. Contestants must be postmarked by Friday, October 30. Be sure to include the form attached to these rules. Bugs will not be entered into the contest without a completed form.
- Check the Ugly Bug website (www.uglybug.org) and OMS website (www.okmicroscopy.org) to see if you win.
WHAT IS THE CONTEST PROCEDURE
Part one: Beginning of School (…pretty much now). Learn about insects and find your most interesting specimen. In-house preliminary contests are often used to, pick the ONE bug who will represent your school.
Part two: Entries are processed and photographed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at OMS member labs across the state, including Oklahoma State University, Phillips 66 and the Samuel Roberts Noble Microscopy Laboratory on the University of Oklahoma campus.
Part three: The SEM images are then posted on the Ugly Bug website (www.uglybug.org). These images are judged and voted by OMS members and others. The “ugliest” are crowned the winners.
PRIZE
OMS will award a grand prize of high quality light microscopes to winner schools. In addition, all participating schools will receive a large poster highlighting the winning bugs from the contest, and two 8×10 photographs of their own bug. Bugs entered in the contest will also be displayed on the internet at the Oklahoma Microscopy Society Web site, considers the bugs in the contest to be submitted on behalf of the school, and therefore any prizes awarded belong to the school itself and not to the student who originally found the bug.