BOTTLE BRIGADE Students can help soda bottles find their way out of landfills and earn money for their school or nonprofit groups by joining the TerraCycle “Bottle Brigade.” For each 20-oz. soda bottle collected, TerraCycle donates 5 cents to the organization of the student’s choice. Bottle Brigade programs are up and running in 48 states, and the company has donated more than $50,000 to nonprofit groups thus far. To learn more, visit www.terracycle.net/bb.
 
DOWN AND OUT “Practice your escape plan” is the theme of National Fire Prevention Week in 2007. The Oct. 7-13 commemoration will drive home the message of preparedness—specifically walk-throughs of home escape plans that can make a life-or-death difference in the event of a home fire. Tips, details, an online quiz and other free materials for the classroom are available at the National Fire Prevention Association Web site, http://www.nfpa.org/.

OUTWARD AND UPWARD Outward Bound, the nonprofit educational organization that promotes team-building activities in schools, offers a range of scholarships that empha-size opportunities for urban youth. Programs are tailored for a diverse range of students and are grouped by geography, family background, need and other criteria. Visit http://www.outwardbound.org/ and click on the “Scholarship Program” link for capsule descriptions of dozens of scholarship opportunities that cur-rently reach more than 5,600 students.

SINCE YOU ASKED More than 20,000 student questions have been fielded in the past 16 years by the Newton BBS, the Department of Energy and Argonne National Laboratory’s online K-12 education outreach program. Questions posed by students are routed to scientists around the world who post their responses at www.newton.dep.anl.gov/aas.htm. The site has an extensive archive of questions, a question of the week, a subject index and keyword search tools for ar-chived questions and answers. The Newton BBS continues to grow: Its corps of volunteer scientists typically receives 150 to 300 questions a day. 

SURFING SMART The “Pointsmart.Clicksafe” initiative is a coordinated effort to offer consumers basic educational materials, simple tips, and easy-to-use controls to help young children make appropriate choices on the Internet. The project is coordinated by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association and Ca-ble in the Classroom with partners that include the National PTA and the American Association of School Librarians. The cornerstone of the effort is the http://www.pointsmartclicksafe.org/ Web site, which features a variety of materials including an online guidebook and video clips that give families tips and scenar-ios to help teach children how to make good Internet choices.
TECH TALENT Vernier and the National Science Teachers Association have teamed up to offer seven awards, each valued at $3,000, for teachers who demon-strate innovative uses of computers, graphing calculators or other handheld devices in the science classroom. Awards will be given at the elementary, middle and high school levels, and to a college-level educator. Winners will receive a cash award, Vernier equipment and $1,000 toward travel and expenses to at-tend NSTA’s national convention in 2008. Entries, which can be downloaded from the www.vernier.com/grants Web site, are due Oct. 15.

MAYBE WE’RE AMAZED Organizers of the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards are looking for “amazing” young people in grades 5 through 12 who have volun-teered in their communities. The awards, sponsored in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals, is the largest recognition program for volunteer student service in the country. All participants win certificates of recognition, and state and national award winners receive $5,000 prizes and a matching grant for a nonprofit group of their choice. Applications are available at www.prudential.com/community/spirit or by calling toll-free 888/450-9961. The deadline for the 2008 program is Oct. 31.

STANDING TALL Oct. 21-27 is National Character Counts week, a time for young people and adults to recognize and honor such traits as public service and and honesty. Educators who would like tips and free materials to celebrate the occasion are invited to visit the organization at http://www.charactercounts.org/. There, you’ll find posters, fliers, lesson plans, proclamations and much more.

HAUNTING—AND HELPING Beginning in October, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF materials will be available online, by phone or at select retail locations. Click on www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat to order materials that can help show educator and parent support for the program, including door signs that let trick-or-treaters know they are at a home that supports the UNICEF campaign. The Web site also features fun, creative resources that help support the effort through activities such as bake sales read-a-thons and car washes. Many of the materials also are available by calling 800-4UNICEF, and collection boxes can be picked up at stores such as Pier 1 Imports and Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

IT’S OLD NEWS For a limited time, teachers can enjoy free access to more than 60 years of historic NBC News archives thanks to a partnership between NBC News and HotChalk, an online education site.  For the fall semester, HotChalk is offering free access to the NBC materials. Featured are more than 5,000 video clips and other materials, aligned with course outlines for U.S. history, U.S. government and politics, English and AP composition. Many of the video of-ferings have been created in collaboration with historians, textbook authors and other specialists. The site also allows teachers to add video material to all their class resource lists and to access supplemental lesson plans to get the most out of the material. Following the fall free trial, teachers will need to sign up for a school building subscription if they want to continue to use the NBC material.  For details on the archive or to sign up for a free trial, visit http://www.hotchalk.com/.

STUDENTS WITH GAME TO SPARE Chances are good you already know students who are fans of the Special Olympics. They’re the same youngsters who respect determination, admire grace under pressure and hail all who are “brave in the attempt.”

It’s these budding fans who are encouraged to apply for a $1,000 award that will honor creative messages and videos—ones that build the Special Olympics fan base inside the classroom.

Details on the grant are available at www.specialolympics.org. Students can tape messages encouraging their peers to volunteer for Special Olympics coaching and events, join campaigns aimed at banning the “R” word, circulate inspiring stories based on experiences in the Special Olympics, or donate time and funds to the worthy event.

Video plans must be received no later than Nov. 30.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE OK, maybe previous forays into the $1 coin have underwhelmed the American public. That doesn't mean the U.S. Mint isn't in there pitching—this time with a series of free K-12 materials pegged to the new Presidential Dollar Series of coins.

Head over to www.usmint.gov/kids/$1coin for an assortment of lesson plans that explore the responsibilities of the president, the election process and the history of the executive branch. also available are online games and classroom materials such as posters, bookmarks and bulletin board kits.

Four new presidents will be honored each year in order of succession. No living president will be honored in the series, and it's one to a customer—unless you're Grover Cleveland, who gets two coins because he was the only president to serve non-consecutive terms.

THE SUBJECT IS SAFETY What next? This is the question being asked by millions of parents who have anxiously tracked the disturbing recent news reports about dozens of toys imported from China that pose serious health and safety risks to young children.

Now, you can direct students and their families to the www.recalls.gov Web site for lists of product recalls and other information that will help answer consumer questions about what is safe and what isn't.

This online service consolidates product warning and recall information from a half dozen federal groups, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the lead agency for ensuring the safety of toys and other household products.

The site also offers free e-mail alerts whenever a new recall or warning is issued. A search function helps visitors to the site find current product warnings and recalls based on company, product type or description.