Learn more about our key speaker Lois Gibbs and check out photos from last year's event.

• The Atlanta Botanical Gardens created “The Carnivorous Plant Bog” to assist in the recovery of several endangered carnivorous plant species. The bog is home to native insect-eating plants such as sundews, pitcher plants and Venus Fly-traps. Representatives from the garden will host a station exhibiting various carnivorous plants so children can learn more about under-represented and endangered plant groups. The Atlanta Botanical Garden was incorporated in 1976 to develop and maintain plant collections for the purpose of display, education, research, conservation and enjoyment. The Garden features 15 acres of outdoor display gardens and hosts many youth classes and summer camps.
• “ Bug Hunting”, a station where children will be invited to explore tree logs to look for local insects and spiders with an entomologist from University of Georgia. Also featured in this exhibit will be insects from the Georgia Museum of Natural History. The first 100 children to visit the exhibit will receive a Captain Planet and the Planeteers videotape of the episode Bug Off about pesticide resistance in insects presented to them by the environmental superhero himself, Captain Planet. The popular animated series airs weekday mornings on Cartoon Network. “Bug Hunting” is designed by The Smithsonian Institute.
• The Center for Wildlife Education at Georgia Southern University will sponsor a station featuring a selection of birds of prey and various reptiles. Highly evolved predator/prey relations, raptors as environmental indicators, venomous vs. non-venomous snakes, and tremendous adaptations in the animal kingdom are presented while hawks and owls fly overhead and snakes make their way into the arms of the willing youth participants. Mascots, Thrash and Harry the Hawk from Atlanta’s professional hockey and basketball teams will be invited to help children associate the real bird species with the life-size version of the bird they see in their everyday lives. Located on the campus of Georgia State University in Statesboro, Georgia, the Center for Wildlife Education offers guests a self-guided nature walk through six habitat displays, children’s discovery trail with 17 exploratory stations, flighted raptor demonstrations, a reptile exhibit and an Ecology Pavilion for hands-on programs. The center is open 7 days a week and admission is free.
• The Chattahoochee Nature Center’s, Project H2O, is a water-quality testing program designed to introduce students to ecological concepts demonstrated in the natural environment. Through meaningful
  Activities, such as measuring dissolved oxygen content, pH, turbidity, temperature, and observation of biological indicators children will apply knowledge and skills to actual water samples. They will also leave with an appreciation of a community's impact on the Chattahoochee River, and what they can do, beginning tomorrow at home, to make the world a healthier place. The Chattahoochee Nature Center at its very core is an educational facility - a place where school students, families and adults come to learn about the natural environment and its inhabitants - and the inherent interdependence that exists between the two.
• Elachee Nature Science Center is one of the premier environmental education centers in Georgia serving 47,000 students from more than 35 school systems and an additional 20,000 visitors each year.
  Located in the 1300-acre Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve, Elachee is celebrating more than 24 years of building environmental literacy for Georgians through quality educational experiences, museum exhibitions, special programs and resources for schools and the general public. Dr. Steve Nicklas and the Elachee Nature Center staff will bring their knowledge and amazing fossil collection to Kid’s Fest for youth participants to see and touch actual fossils of many familiar dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Hadrosaur and more.
• Ellijay Wildlife Rehab Sanctuary will exhibit several species of orphaned and injured wildlife such as, a lynx, chinchillas, an eastern panther, a white tail deer and many others. The Ellijay Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary is a 50-acre facility that medically cares for all species of orphaned and injured wildlife indigenous to Georgia and the southeast. Six years ago, the sanctuary achieved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and began to offer outdoor education and summer camp programs. To date, the sanctuary’s dedicated staff has educated over 100,000 children and adults on what it takes to rehabilitate orphaned and injured animals and how these animals are prepared for release through on-site course offerings, summer camps, and mobile education programs.
• Southface Energy Institute will help children understand the importance of renewable energy by sponsoring a station where children will construct solar ovens using pizza boxes, construction paper, foil, plastic and non-toxic glue. The pizza box solar oven can reach temperatures of 275 degrees, hot enough to cook food and to kill germs in water. Children will get a chance to cook and sample pizzas made in their solar ovens. Southface Energy Institute promotes sustainable homes, work places and communities through education, research, advocacy and technical assistance.