WILKES-BARRE--- Students from all over the Wyoming Valley crowded Nesbitt Park to learn about Mother Nature on Friday.
On the day before Earth Day, they learned how the sun fuels fun. Youngsters put solar-powered race cars to the test.
"I've never seen anything like that before and it's actually amazing how it moves," Julianna Stull, a fourth-grader at State Street Elementary School, said.
"If you can make a little car run, what else can you make run with the sun? So it's a good thing," Marleen Troy, a Wilkes University Professor of Environmental Engineering said.
But it was not just about technology, students also learned about animals, too.
Kids met Owen the Owl, a Screech Owl who was hit by a car. He survived the incident and is now an education animal.
"His wings, they don't match, so he can't fly. So he's now an education animal and we go out to schools, do special events and people come to us and see him," Rebecca Lesko of the Endless Mountains Nature Center said.
All of this talking about the environment had students talking about their future.
"Well if plants go extinct, we can't breathe. If animals go extinct, we're just going to be lonely. Well, we are animals, but still," Jayden Brinzo, a fourth-grader at State Street Elementary said.
Even fourth-grader Julianna Stull was inspired by the event. She said she's steering her potential career goals towards a future in environmental engineering.
"I think it's really fun to attempt to build certain things that you've never tried," Stull said.
Volunteers from the Riverfront Parks Committee have been hosting the Earth Day event for more than 22 years.