Challenge B
Welcome to the elementary school challenge page for Challenge B of the Fairchild Challenge! Read below to find challenge information, entry requirements, resources and more for the challenge.
Challenge B: Climate & Weather
Title: Trees & Leaves
Due Date: Friday, Dec 11th, 2026 by 5 p.m.
Your Challenge:
Here in Western Pennsylvania, our climate is defined by its four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Our region experiences a wide range of temperatures throughout the year, with cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. The world around us consequently responds to these changes in the form of animals hibernating during the low temperatures of winter, people making hot tea to keep their hands warm in the chill of fall, and trees sprouting buds and blooming as the moisture of spring rain mixes with summer heat.
Trees that grow in Pennsylvania fall into one of two categories: Deciduous trees and Evergreen trees. Deciduous trees are characterized by losing their leaves part of the year in the winter months while Evergreen trees keep their leaves or needles all year long, regardless of seasonal weather changes.
Your challenge is to choose a species of Deciduous tree that grows in Western Pennsylvania and create a 4-panel drawing that represents how that tree varies in appearance throughout all four seasons. In each panel, please label the season, and write two sentences about how the tree you’ve drawn is being uniquely affected.
Entry Requirements:
Deliver to the high school programs coordinator at Phipps in person or via certified mail (electronic submission is not accepted):
- Challenge Entry Form
- Original artwork that is labeled with student’s name and school name
- Schools can submit a maximum of 3 original projects
Resources:
The following list of online resources may be used when preparing your entry:
- What Causes the Seasons? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
- Microsoft Word - TREES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.docx
- List of Western PA Native Species - Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania
- Why Do Leaves Change Color? | NESDIS | National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
- The Process of Leaf Color Change - Harvard Forest
Standards:
Read below to find the standards for each grade level for Challenge B of the Elementary School Fairchild Challenge
- 3.1.K.A Students who demonstrate understanding can use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
- 3.3.K.A Students who demonstrate understanding can use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
- 3.3.K.B Students who demonstrate understanding can construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
- 3.3.K.C Students who demonstrate understanding can use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
- 3.3.1.B Students who demonstrate understanding can Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.
- 3.1.2.A Students who demonstrate understanding can plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
- 3.1.3.D Students who demonstrate understanding can use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
- 3.1.3.H Students who demonstrate understanding can make a claim supported by evidence about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
- 3.1.4.A Students who demonstrate understanding can construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
- 3.1.5.A Students who demonstrate understanding can support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.
- 3.4.3-5.A Students who demonstrate understanding can analyze how living organisms, including humans, affect the environment in which they live, and how their environment affects them.
- 3.4.3-5.D Students who demonstrate understanding can develop a model to demonstrate how local environmental issues are connected to larger local environment and human systems.
