Fairchild Challenge Elem Students in Parade of Incredible Insects

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Dec. 17, 2013 - PRLog -- More than 300 parents and elementary school students from 30 Miami schools attended Fairchild Challenge’s Parade of Incredible Insects (with students wearing masks), in the Challenge’s annual competition for elementary schools on Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 2pm at Fairchild Garden in Coral Gables.

Students were charged with researching an insect and learning how that insect interacts with plants. Then, they were asked to create a mask of their chosen insect with an emphasis on natural and recycled materials, which they displayed at the Parade. More than 80 percent of all living beings on earth are insects. Even though they are small, insects play a huge role on earth as they are responsible for important ecological services such as pollination, seed dispersal, and decomposition of organic matter.

The Fairchild Challenge is Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s award-winning multidisciplinary STEM education competition, now in its 12th  year. It reaches 130,000 students in South Florida at more than 260 schools from PreK-12. The Fairchild Challenge includes a cross-curriculum science initiative and comprehensive environmental training pipeline, including the nationwide STEM directive - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Extending from early childhood through advanced graduate education, its goals are aimed at recruiting future science leaders and training a new generation of professionals in environmental science.