Here are the rules of the contest:

1. Only one entry per person.

2. Use the official entry form (copies of the form are acceptable) to write a poem about the nervous system in the style for your age group (see below). To view the entry form, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you cannot download the official entry form, contact Dr. Chudler at chudler@u.washington.edu and he will send you one via e-mail.

3. Please type or print your poems so we can read them.

4. All poems, limericks and haiku must have at least THREE lines and CANNOT be longer than TEN lines. Material that is shorter than three lines or longer than ten lines will not be read.

5. All material must have a neuroscience theme such as brain anatomy (a part of the brain), brain function (memory, language, emotions, movement, etc.), drug abuse or brain health (helmets, brain disorders, etc.).
   Be creative! Use your brain!

6. Entries will be divided into four age groups.

   If you are in Kindergarten to Grade 2, your poem can be in any style; it doesn't even have to rhyme.

   If you are in Grade 3 to Grade 5, your poem must rhyme. You can rhyme the last words on lines one and two; the last words on lines three and four, etc. or you can choose your own pattern.

   If you are in Grade 6 to Grade 8, your poem must be in the form of a limerick. A limerick has 5 lines; lines one, two and five rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables; lines three and four rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables.

   Example Limerick The brain is important, that's true, For all things a person will do, From reading to writing, To skiing to biting, It makes up the person who's you.

   If you are in Grade 9 to Grade 12, you poem must be in the form of a haiku. A haiku has only THREE lines. Also, haiku MUST use the following pattern: 5 syllables in the first line; 7 syllables in the second line; 5 syllables in the third line.

   Example Haiku Three pounds of jelly wobbling around in my skull and it can do math.

7. To enter the contest, mail your completed entry form with your poem to:

   Dr. Eric H. Chudler
   Department of Anesthesiology
   BOX 356540
   University of Washington
   Seattle, WA 98195-6540

   Entries must be MAILED by "regular" mail.
   Entries will NOT be accepted by e-mail.

8. Entries must be received by February 1, 2002 and cannot be returned.

9. People and their families associated with the Neuroscience for Kids web site are not eligible to enter the contest.

10. Poems will be judged by the staff of Neuroscience for Kids on the basis of originality, scientific accuracy and overall style.

11. At least one winner from each group will be selected. Winners will be announced on March 1 and will be notified by e-mail or regular mail. The winner agrees to allow Neuroscience for Kids to publish his/her name and poem on the Neuroscience for Kids web site. Winner addresses and e-mail addresses will NOT be published.

12. All materials received will become the property of Neuroscience for Kids and will not be returned. Neuroscience for Kids will not be responsible for entries that are damaged or lost in the mail.

13. Winners will be awarded a book (including those from Capstone Press, Millbrook Press, Copper Beech Books and Twenty-First Century Book) related to neuroscience. Prizes will be mailed to the address listed on the winner's entry form.

    Your Brain by Terri DeGezelle, Mankato (MN): Bridgestone Books, 2002	Your Senses by Helen Frost, Mankato (MN): Pebble Books, 2000	101 Questions Your Brain Has Asked About Itself but Couldn't Answer ... Until Now by Faith Hickman Brynie, Brookfield (CT): The Millbrook Press, 1998	Medicine's Brave New World by Margaret O. Hyde and John F. Setaro, Brookfield (CT): Twenty-First Century Books, 2001

14. Void where prohibited by law. Questions about this contest should be directed to Dr. Chudler at: chudler@u.washington.edu