Middle School - Challenges at a Glance - Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

GRADES 6 to 8 | 2024-2025

Challenges at a Glance

Challenges	Submissions Due to Fairchild by 5:00 pm	Maximum Points	Maximum Number of Submissions
Educator Challenge: City in a Garden	Friday, January 17, 2025	50	1 submission
1. Heat Happenings OPTIONAL Virtual Heat Happenings PSA Student Workshop: Wednesday, September 25, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.	Friday, October 25, 2024	200 (100/submission)	2 videos
2. Miami, My Garden – Gardens of Our Future	Friday, December 6, 2024	200 (100/submission)	2 submissions
3. Native Plant Network – Native Plant Garden OPTIONAL Virtual MS Garden Teacher Workshop: Wednesday, September 25, from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. *Native plant Garden materials pickup at Fairchild: October 12-13	Digital entry form due Friday, January 31, 2025 Judging tour of schools: March 3-14, 2025	200	1 school garden with 1 visit from judges to hear student presentation of the garden
4. Million Orchid Project – Orchids on the Move MANDATORY In-person Teacher Workshop: Saturday, September 14, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm **If you are unable to attend the mandatory workshop, please notify the Challenge team at challenge@fairchildgarden.org	Friday, March 14, 2025	200 (100/submission)	2 submissions
5. Growing Beyond Earth MANDATORY In-person Teacher Workshop: Saturday, September 14, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm Growing Beyond Earth Student Research Symposium: Saturday, April 19, Time TBD **If you are unable to attend the mandatory workshop, please notify the Challenge team at challenge@fairchildgarden.org	Trial 1 Data due Friday, November 22, 2024 Trial 2 Proposal due Friday, December 13, 2024 Optional Trial 2 Data due Friday, March 21, 2025 Optional Trial 2 Presentation Due: Wednesday, April 9, 2025	300 max 150 for required Trial 1 data and photos AND Trial 2 proposal 100 for OPTIONAL Trial 2 data and presentation 50 bonus points for presenting at the GBE Symposium	REQUIRED: Trial 1 data and photos AND Trial 2 proposal Optional: Trial 2 data and 1 presentation at the GBE Symposium

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AWARDS and PRIZES

The Fairchild Challenge Awards Ceremony is Saturday, May 17, 2024. At this time, the following awards and prizes will be distributed:

Each middle school that earns more than 800 points will receive The Fairchild Challenge Award.
Each school that receives The Fairchild Challenge Award for five consecutive years will become a Fairchild Challenge School of Excellence.
The top-scoring schools will receive cash prizes, up to $1,500, to support their environmental programs.
Top-placing students will receive Fairchild Challenge medals and/or certificates. Special Merit winners will also be recognized.
All participating schools receive a limited quantity of four-person family passes to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to distribute to actively participating students and teachers.