Several Mars Area Middle School students joined in an Eco Challenge, held Sept. 11 at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.

Eighth-graders Riley Edler, Everly Henderson, Emma Johnston, Jacqueline Li and Mary Rhenish completed a scavenger hunt; created their own sustainable city; and interviewed a North Carolina (NC) State University graduate student who spent her summer studying stingless bees in Belize.

Henderson, Johnston and Rhenish also had an opportunity to view their submission in Phipp’s Conservatory annual Fairchild Challenge: Botanical Sculptures “Bountiful Bouquets: Blossoms of the Jungle” Challenge, which asked students to research native and endemic flowering plants of Panama; to create a bouquet using recycled materials; and to write a brief essay describing the researched plants.

The Eco Challenge was the kickoff for Phipps Conservatory’s annual Fairchild Challenge, 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, call (724) 625-3145.