“The project… is a way for students to become more educated on our ecosystem and rising issues with it in today’s world,” says Claire Magness, who, along with her fellow seniors Cooper Courson, Cece Crowley, Addison Girdwood, Annelie Gustafsson, Katelyn McKee, Mira Ramanathan and Adam Rohrbaugh, is guiding fifth-graders through the four-part project.
For the first challenge, “Biological Sculptures — Beetles & Blossoms,” students researched and wrote a short paper about a beetle in the order Coleoptera that lives in a type of forest and has a beneficial impact on its environment. The students were also asked to create a small model of their selected beetle using only recyclable or sustainable materials.
The next part of the project, “Urban Design & Environmental Justice — Urban Oasis: Transforming Urban Spaces,” will call upon students to design a city green space. For the third challenge, “Nature Exploration & Writing — Habitat Handbooks,” students will develop a mini-survival guide for an animal of their choosing; and, for the final part, “Model Building — Sea Creature Creations,” students will invent a sea creature that is best adapted to live in the Earth’s changing oceans.
The Fairchild Challenge is a free, multidisciplinary, standards-based environmental education outreach program designed to encourage students’ innate sense of curiosity about the world around them. The program empowers students to engage in civic life and to become energetic and knowledgeable members of their communities.
For more information, visit www.phipps.conservatory.org/classes-and-programs/for-educators/fairchild-challenge/high-school/challenge-2-hs.