Green contest for kids at zoo

THINK green, act green and you could earn a bundle of cash.

That is what the Singapore Zoological Gardens is promising with its latest interactive contest.

The SPH Junior Conservationist contest was launched yesterday by the zoo to promote environmental awareness among children.

The contest, sponsored by Singapore Press Holdings, will target secondary school students as well as primary school students.

Explaining why the zoo was shifting its attention to older children, its chief executive officer, Mr Bernard Harrison, said:

'We want to target the future leaders of industry, future prime ministers so that they will be in the position to make more responsible decisions than the adults of today.'

To encourage older kids to join, the contest has been divided into two categories - one for secondary students and one for primary. Each group has 10 projects to choose from.

To qualify for the competition, students must complete at least five projects. For each completed project, they get a badge from the zoo.

The prizes for the contest are $500, $300, and $200 for the first, second and third places respectively. All the winners also get free membership to the zoo and the Jurong BirdPark for a year.

About 10,000 applications are expected for the competition.