WINNER. Lorenzo Rohani, 12, of Edmonds, Washington, took this winning photograph of a snowy owl at Boundary Bay, in Canada. He says he “had to wait a long time” to get the shot that answered the question “Why is Earth Day important to our planet?”

FINALIST Monica, 11, took this photo of sea lions, in Big Sur, California. She says it “shows the interaction between the sea, land and earth’s creatures.”

FINALIST Reece, 11, from Dripping Springs, Texas, took this photo. “I saw a field full of bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, with smokestacks in the distance,” she says. “It shows how people are taking over untouched areas.”

FINALIST James, 10, from Norwalk, Connecticut, took this photo just before sunset on February 17. “It reminds me how beautiful nature is,” he says, "and how we must work together to keep it that way.”