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The Fairchild Challenge at Phipps: Challenge #3
This wouldn’t be the Fairchild Challenge at Phipps if we didn’t involve plants! We are prepared to be impressed by Challenge #3. This challenge is for both the artist and the scientist, so feel free to partner up for a powerful pair.
Challenge #3 has two options:
Your schools can chose to submit two of Option A, two of Option B or one of each. Read on to learn about the additional perks of participating in these challenges!
Option A: “Environmental Change”
This is the “Global Challenge,” meaning your entry has the chance to be judged alongside Fairchild Challenge participants from satellite sites across the globe. We still boast of a local student winning the Global Challenge last year!
In Challenge #2, you investigated how our personal lifestyles affect climate change. As you may have discovered, human activity has had a lasting impact on nature. In particular, plant population ranges are shifting and ecosystems are modifying in response to climate change.
Your task is to research how a plant species of your choice has responded to environmental changes. Using your findings create a comic strip that documents the changes the species is going through. The specifications for middle school and high school vary, so be sure to check the challenge descriptions.
Option B: “Spring Blooms of Western Pennsylvania”
It is hard to think about spring when winter has not officially started, but try to imagine all the beauty that appears as the snow melts and the temperatures warm. For Option B, create a drawing using either colored pencil or ink to depict the flowering stage of a plant that blooms in western Pennsylvania during spring. Selected drawings will be exhibited in Phipps Conservatory’s Welcome Center gallery space in spring 2016!
Entries for Challenge #3 are due at Phipps via snail mail by Friday, December 18. Please include a Challenge Entry Form.
Have questions? Contact Sahar Arbab at sarbab@phipps.conservatory.org or 412-622-6915 x3905.
