Insects and animals are amazing and they are incredibly fun to learn about in the classroom. It’s when they come indoors—into our homes and schools— that they can become pests. Some pests are simply nuisances, while others including rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches, stinging insects and ticks can become dangerous health threats and destroy our property.

PestWorldForKids.org and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) want to spread the word about the importance of protecting our health and property from household pests and we need your help! Using the Pest PSA lesson plan, students enrolled in grades 4-8 can create educational television public service announcements discussing the health risks posed by household pests.

Entries can focus on a single pest—i.e. cockroaches trigger asthma attacks, spread Salmonella and 33 different parasites, etc. Or, the TV PSA can focus on several pests such as rodents (contaminate food), mosquitoes (West Nile virus) and ticks (Lyme Disease). Videos can be up to 60 seconds in length.

Teachers must enter the contest on behalf of their students and schools no later than 12:00 p.m. EDT on 12/23/09. Files can be submitted online (files up to 100MB) or can be sent on CD or jump drive via U.S. postal mail. Please see our contest rules page for more details. The winning entry chosen by NPMA will receive a grand prize of $3,000 for their school’s science department.