Earth Day: Elementary students visit Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens to learn about ecology

Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Daily News
Second graders from The Conservatory School learn about artist Ann Norton during the EARTH DAY CELEBRATION at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.
Second graders from The Conservatory School learn about artist Ann Norton during the EARTH DAY CELEBRATION at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.
Nathaniel Jean Louis says she chose to use flying fish to decorate the drift card she created while participating in the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.
Nathaniel Jean Louis says she chose to use flying fish to decorate the drift card she created while participating in the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.

To celebrate Earth Day on Monday, the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach welcomed more than 200 elementary school students.

The children included kindergarten, first and second graders from Glades Academy in Pahokee and second graders from The Conservatory School in North Palm Beach.

"Designed to embrace Ann Norton’s vision for maintaining an urban preserve that celebrates the powerful intersection of art, science and the natural world, Earth Day at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens will spotlight the missions of the organizations listed below," organizers of the event said in a statement. "Children will travel through the gardens to visit interactive learning stations presented by each partnering organization.

Second graders from The Conservatory School prepare to play a game called Eat the Rainbow during the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.
Second graders from The Conservatory School prepare to play a game called Eat the Rainbow during the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.

During their three-hour visit, the Title I program students explored the gardens and engaged in interactive learning stations presented by nine partnering organizations: the ANGARI Foundation, Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, A Green Community, Cox Science Center & Aquarium, Environmental Resources Management, FAU Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, Friends of Palm Beach, Manatee Lagoon and Youth Environmental Alliance.

The events included decorating "drift cards" that teach how trash moves in the ocean; learning how vegetables and plants grow; a demonstration on composting and seed planting; and playing a game about mangroves, herons and the Lake Worth Lagoon estuary.

There also were lessons on pollination by bees, hummingbirds, moths, bats, butterflies, flies, and beetles; the harmful effects of plastics and pollution; manatees; and the importance of worms in the ecosystem.

Millipedes crawl on each other as students watch while learning about decomposer and composting communities during the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.
Millipedes crawl on each other as students watch while learning about decomposer and composting communities during the Earth Day Celebration at Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens on Monday.

.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Earth Day: Students learn about ecology at Ann Norton gardens

Advertisement