Challenge 1
Welcome to the high school challenge page for Challenge 1 of the Fairchild Challenge! Read below to find challenge information, entry requirements, resources and more for the challenge.
Challenge 1: Biological Sculpture and Environmental Literacy
Title: Flowers to Fruits
For groups | Maximum points: 200
Due Date: Friday, October 16, 2026 by 5 p.m.
Download the Challenge 1 Rubric Here
Your Challenge:
Peaches, pears, squash, or apples, no matter what your preference, were first a flower! In Challenge 1: Flowers to Fruits, you must choose an edible fruit, research how it grows, what its primary pollinator(s) are, and create an ornament sculpture depicting the “full bloom” stage of fruit development.
Knowing where our food comes from, where it grows, how it grows, what pollinates it, and who is harvesting is a way to build a deeper appreciation for a process so critical to our personal and community health. Without fruits, our diets would be lacking in important vitamins and minerals, fiber, and antioxidants which can negatively affect the way we digest food, regulate our moods, and metabolize (break down) sugars.
“Full bloom” is the state in which nearly all flower buds are open across the canopy. Your sculpture should be true to the plant’s “full bloom” flower structure and color. Finished sculptures should be no larger than 5” x 5” x 5” and should weigh no more than two pounds. Sculptures should not contain any food or edible ingredients (including wheat, seeds or pinecones). Select sculptures from this challenge will be featured in Phipps’ Winter Flower Show. Therefore, each sculpture must have a securely-fastened string or wire so that it can be hung on display. A limited number of sculptures will be displayed. In addition to the sculpture, please also submit the “Challenge 1 Response Sheet”.
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
- Each sculpture MUST be labeled with the participating school and students’ names
- Create a flower sculpture using found or recycled materials
- Each finished sculpture should be no larger than 5” x 5” x 5” and should weigh no more than two pounds, and should have a securely-fastened string or wire to be hung on display.
- Completed “Challenge 1 Response Sheet”
School Submits: Challenge Entry Form, 3 – 10 sculptures (Please note: submitting fewer than 3 sculptures will result in a lower score on this project.) AND Challenge 1 Response Sheet
Address:
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
The Fairchild Challenge c/o Alyssa Mulé
One Schenley Park
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Resources: The following list of online resources may be used when preparing your entry.
- https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/fruit/new-england-tree-fruit-management-guide/plums/bloom-stages
- https://www.kimmelorchard.org/about/news-blog/first-bloom-what-apple-blossoms-tell-us-about-season-ahead
- https://fallingfruit.org/about/welcome
- https://pfaf.org/user/
- https://onfruit.ca/2025/04/25/what-the-crop-apple-update-april-25-2025/
- https://edibleplantdb.org/
Standards:
Read below to find the standards for Challenge 1 of the High School Fairchild Challenge
- CC.3.5.9-10.A Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
- CC.3.5.9-10.J By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
- CC.3.6.9-10.H Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- CC.3.6.11-12.C Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
- CC.3.6.11-12.F Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- CC.3.6.11-12.H Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
- 3.1.9-12.Q Students who demonstrate understanding can make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.
- 3.1.9-12.L Students who demonstrate understanding can use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
- 3.1.9-12.O Students who demonstrate understanding can evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.
- 3.1.9-12.U Students who demonstrate understanding can apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with an advantageous heritable trait tend to increase in proportion to organisms lacking this trait.
- 3.1.9-12.X Students who demonstrate understanding can evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
- 3.3.9-12.S Students who demonstrate understanding can analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
- 3.4.9-12.A Students who demonstrate understanding can analyze and interpret how issues, trends, technologies, and policies impact agricultural, food, and environmental systems and resources.
- 3.4.9-12.B Students who demonstrate understanding can apply research and analytical skills to evaluate the conditions and motivations that lead to conflict, cooperation, and change among individuals, groups, and nations.
