Challenge C
Welcome to the elementary school challenge page for Challenge C of the Fairchild Challenge! Read below to find challenge information, entry requirements, resources and more for the challenge.
Challenge C: Art and Writing
Title: Green Your Classroom
Due Date: Fri., Feb. 14 , 2025 by 5 p.m.
For Groups or Individuals
Your Challenge:
Have you ever heard of Living Buildings? At Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens reside some of the greenest buildings that have been awarded the title of Living Building. These buildings are designed to be super eco-friendly, with features that help reduce energy use, purify the air, and even recycle rainwater. Working in a building like this helps create a healthier environment for people, making it easier for employees to focus, feel good, and stay energized. Now, imagine bringing those same ideas into your classroom!
In this challenge, you’ll design a green classroom that is healthy for both the environment and the people who use it. You’ll create a labeled drawing that shows how you would adapt your classroom to be more eco-friendly. You can think about ways to improve air quality by adding plants, using energy-efficient lighting, setting up recycling stations, or even finding ways to save water. Your goal is to design a space that helps students and teachers feel better and helps the planet too! After creating your drawing, write a short paper explaining your ideas and how each change will help the Earth and make your classroom a healthier place to learn.
- 50 words or less for Prek-1st
- 75 words or less for 2-3rd
- 100 words or less for 4-5th
Entry Requirements: Deliver to the Fairchild Challenge coordinator at Phipps in person, via certified mail, or via email to amule@phipps.conservatory.org.
- Challenge Entry Form
- Include the school name and the participating students’ names.
- Hand drawn picture of “green classroom” with labels and description.
School Submits Challenge Entry Form, maximum three entries per set of grades.
Resources: The following list of online resources may be used when preparing your entry:
- Living Building Challenge – Living Future
- Greening the classroom: Three field experiments on the effects of indoor nature on students' attention, well-being, and perceived environmental quality - ScienceDirect
- 24 Ways to Make Your Classroom Eco Friendly This Year - Population Education
PreK-1st Grade:
3.1.PK.A1 Recognize the difference between living and non-living things.
3.1.PK.A2 Identify basic needs of plants (water and light) and animals (food, air, water).
3.1.PK.A3 Recognize that plants and animals grow and change.
3.1.PK.A5 Name basic parts of living things.
3.1.PK.B1 Match offspring to their parents
3.1.PK.C3 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE Describe changes that occur in animals.
3.3.PK.A5 Identify seasons that correspond with observable conditions. Identify how weather affects daily life.
4.1.PK.A Identify living and nonliving things in the immediate and surrounding environment.
4.1.PK.D Identify basic needs of living things.
4.1.PK.E Identify the change of seasons in the environment.
4.2.PK.C Describe an aquatic (water) and terrestrial (land) habitat.
4.4.PK.A Identify what plants and animals need to grow.
4.4.PK.C Recognize that plants and animals grow and change.
3.1.K.A3 Observe, compare, and describe stages of life cycles for plants and/or animals.
3.1.K.A5 Observe and describe structures and behaviors of a variety of common animals.
3.1.K.B1 Observe and describe how young animals resemble their parents and other animals of the same kind.
3.1.K.C2 Describe changes animals and plants undergo throughout the seasons.
3.1.K.C3 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE. Describe changes that occur as a result of climate.
3.2.K.B6 ENERGY Recognize that light from the sun is an important source of energy for living and nonliving systems and some source of energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.
4.1.K.D Observe and describe what happens to living things when needs are met.
3.1.1.C3 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE. Describe changes that occur as a result of habitat.
4.1.1.A Identify and describe the basic needs of living things in a terrestrial habitat.
4.1.1.C Describe a simple food chain within a terrestrial habitat.
4.1.1.E Describe the seasons and describe how the change of the season affects living things.
4.4.1.C Describe the life cycles of different plants and animals in a terrestrial habitat.
2nd and 3rd Grade:
3.1.2.A3 Identify similarities and differences in the life cycles of plants and animals.
3.1.2.C2 Explain that living things can only survive if their needs are being met.
4.1.2.A Describe how a plant or an animal is dependent on living and nonliving things in an aquatic habitat.
4.1.2.D Identify differences in living things (color, shape, size, etc.) and describe how adaptations are important for survival.
4.1.2.E Identify how living things survive changes in their environment.
4.4.2.C Examine life cycles of plants and animals in an aquatic habitat.
3.1.3.A1 Describe characteristics of living things that help to identify and classify them.
3.1.3.A2 Describe the basic needs of living things and their dependence on light, food, air, water, and shelter.
3.1.3.A3 Illustrate how plants and animals go through predictable life cycles that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.
3.1.3.B1 Understand that plants and animals closely resemble their parents.
3.1.3.B5 PATTERNS Identify characteristics that appear in both parents and offspring.
3.1.3.C2 Describe animal characteristics that are necessary for survival.
4.1.3.D Identify organisms that are dependent on one another in a given ecosystem.
- Define habitat and explain how a change in habitat affects an organism.
4.2.3.C Identify plants and animals that live in lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands.
4.4.3.C Use scientific inquiry to investigate what animals and plants need to grow.
4th and 5th Grade:
3.1.4.A1 Classify plants and animals according to the physical characteristics that they share.
3.1.4.A2 Describe the different resources that plants and animals need to live.
3.1.4.A5 Describe common functions living things share to help them function in a specific environment.
3.1.4.C2 Describe plant and animal adaptations that are important to survival.
4.1.4.A Explain how living things are dependent upon other living and nonliving things for survival.
- Explain what happens to an organism when its food supply, access to water, shelter or space (niche / habitat) is changed.
- Identify similarities and differences between living organisms, ranging from single-celled to multi-cellular organisms through the use of microscopes, video, and other media.
4.1.4.D Explain how specific adaptations can help organisms survive in their environment.
3.1.5.B1 Differentiate between inherited and acquired characteristics of plants and animals.
3.1.5.C1 Describe how organisms meet some of their needs in an environment by using behaviors (patterns of activities) in response to information (stimuli) received from the environment.
