Pennsylvania Envirothon 2007
Teacher Resource Packet
(Adobe .pdf file of entire teachers resource packet - 322kb)
For over 20 years, high schools in Pennsylvania have been recognizing the value of the Envirothon experience. Students and their teachers become empowered by their own motivation as the Envirothon engages them in an exciting, multi-faceted study of the environment. Students involved in the Envirothon often pursue further education in environmental fields. Many Envirothon participants pursuing college degrees in various natural resource studies have indicated that their education choice was partly due, or strengthened by, their Envirothon experience. Many Envirothon advisors credit the Envirothon with increasing student interest and involvement in environmental sciences. To many people involved, the Envirothon is more than just a competition.

We hope that whether this is your first Envirothon or you are a veteran, you and your team are excited to learn about the environment, our relationship with it, and how we can each work towards its protection and conservation.

This year features "Alternative/Renewable Energy"; as the Current Environmental Issue.  We have made an effort to link the other stations (Forestry, Soils and Land Use, Wildlife, and Aquatic Ecology) with the Current Issue in the Essential Topics and Learning Objectives to emphasize their interrelatedness.

This Teacher Resource Packet is intended to help you and your team become fluent in a broad range of environmental topics. It outlines the curriculum of the Envirothon, including the Learning Objectives and Reference Lists. Included are:

* The following are specified for each station:
  a) Essential Topics
  b) Learning Objectives - Correlations to PDE Academic Standards for    

      Environment and Ecology and Assessment Anchors
  c) Reference Materials List - If you are missing any of these materials,
      contact your County Conservation District.
  d) Learning Enhancements

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ENVIROTHON MISSION STATEMENT
The Envirothon is an environmental education program made available to Pennsylvania Conservation Districts in partnership with related state and federal agencies and other organizations. The Envirothon program is designed to test high school students’ knowledge of Pennsylvania natural resources and environmental sciences. The program emphasizes the importance of environmental sensitivity while stressing a need to achieve a social, ecological, and economic balance. The Pennsylvania Envirothon provides future generations with the ability to be better equipped to address the complex natural resource concerns facing today’s world as well as the challenges of tomorrow.

ENVIROTHON OBJECTIVES
Awareness: The Envirothon will help students cultivate an awareness of the total environment and acquire a sensitivity towards its limited natural resources.

Knowledge: The Envirothon will help students develop a basic understanding of the earth’s ecological systems and the life-sustaining implication these systems have on all living things.

Attitudes: The Envirothon will help students develop attitudes, which embrace environmental sensitivity and instill the dedication to participate in activities geared towards protecting the environment.

Application: The Envirothon will help students develop skills needed to identify, investigate, and contribute to the resolution of environmental issues and problems.

2007 CANON ENVIROTHON
The winning team of the Pennsylvania Envirothon will advance to the Canon Envirothon held July 29 – August 4, 2007, at the Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York.  Over forty-five states and eight Canadian provinces are expected to participate in this 20th Canon Envirothon!

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENVIROTHON
The Envirothon program began here in Pennsylvania as the “Envir-Olympics” in 1979 with three counties holding competitions. In 1984, the first State competition was held with six counties participating. 1988 marked an important year in our history: the event had grown to include thirty-eight teams; the program was officially changed to “Envirothon”; and Pennsylvania planned, hosted, and won the first National Envirothon. Over 15,000 students now participate each year and the program has grown to include every conservation district in the state.

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ORAL COMPONENT
What is the Oral Component?
The Oral Component (OC) offers Envirothon teams a chance to address real-life environmental problems as presented through a written scenario. The OC tests a team’s ability to consider an environmental issue, discuss its likely ramifications and effects, develop possible solutions, and present their findings to a panel of judges and then answer the judges’ questions during a 20-minute session. The OC is mandatory. Scoring will continue to be kept separate from the traditional Envirothon testing stations. The OC not only offers students a chance to hone their public speaking, problem solving and presentation skills, but it also helps the students prepare for the upcoming testing stations.

How does it Work and What will it Teach My Students?
Teams are allotted one hour to study the presented scenario and to prepare recommendations according to their instructions and provided resources. Each team is provided with a set of identical resources. Teams may use only the provided materials for the OC when preparing their presentation. The teams overall knowledge of the required traditional Envirothon resource materials serves as a sound knowledge base in preparing for the Oral Component.

During a 20 minute session, the teams present their recommendations to a panel of judges chosen by the PA Envirothon Board. A total of five judges constitute a panel in each room. Each team is asked questions based on their recommendations and scored accordingly by the panel of judges. This is a great opportunity for students to work together and apply some of the things they have learned while studying for the Envirothon competition. Teams discuss their findings prior to presentation time and decide which of their recommendations is feasible in a real life situation. They are asked to defend and explain their recommended actions. Students are not judged on what is "right" or "wrong", they are judged on their ability to think on their feet and incorporate their existing knowledge of Soils & Land Use, Aquatic Ecology, Wildlife, Forestry and the year's current issue. The scenario is based on the Current Issue theme each year when applicable.

When is it Held?
The Oral Component is held the day prior to the traditional state Envirothon competition. Teams are scheduled for presentations according to their travel distance from the competition location. Awards are given for the top ten presentations. Oral Component awards are presented at the same time as the traditional Envirothon awards.

How Can My Team Prepare?
To help your county team prepare for the Oral Component experience, peruse the "Learning Enhancement activities" provided in the literature in this booklet on each traditional station. Many of the activities allow students to role-play situations that affect various environmental areas. These role-playing extensions could be very valuable in preparing a team to think in terms of how all the traditional station areas interconnect. Your County Conservation District also has a training video available that will assist you in preparing your team for the state OC event.

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SOME TIPS FOR TEACHING ENVIROTHON MATERIAL
1. Try a few of the learning enhancements with this year’s reference materials! We have tried to identify learning enhancements that would assist you in teaching Envirothon material. They can be a lot of fun and would help improve student understanding of key concepts for each station. All new learning enhancements have been included in your reference materials. Others have been supplied in previous years. If you do not have a copy and would like one, contact your County Conservation District.

2. Arrange a visit to a local park or nature center! Just one day or afternoon “in the field” can do wonders for bringing all of your team’s studying to life. Many environmental educators in parks and nature centers can lead hikes based around themes or concepts that you want covered with your students. Hands-on investigations, tree identification walks, stream investigations: all of these may be possible at sites near your school.

3. Ask your Conservation District about tree and log scales, diameter tapes, topographic maps, and other available educational resources and programs! Many Conservation Districts have educational resources that you can check out for use with the Envirothon and they offer a variety of training workshops. Talk to your County Envirothon Coordinator about the possibilities of a school program or other educational activity. This person (or persons) is your contact for a wide array of helpful services. Write or give them a call! A listing of contacts and phone numbers can be found on the Envirothon website.

4. Visit the PA Department of Education’s website! The Envirothon learning objectives can assist you in addressing the adopted Environment and Ecology standards. If you would like to see how the Envirothon’s learning objectives correlate to these standards, visit the PA Department of Education’s website at www.pde.state.pa.us.

5. Utilize the World Wide Web! The Envirothon WebPages have been recently updated and, in addition to all of the information there, it also has links to all of our sponsors and partnering agencies. For updates, current events, and resources, this is a great way to go!

A few links of interest:
1. www.envirothonpa.org - PA Envirothon homepage
a. All of our partners’ and sponsors’ pages! Links on the Envirothon homepage.
2. www.pgc.state.pa.us
3. www.fish.state.pa.us
4. www.dcnr.state.pa.us
5. www.pda.state.pa.us
6. www.nrcs.usda.gov
7. www.envirothon.org - Canon Envirothon homepage
8. www.eNature.com - Bird calls, resources, activities, information, updates, etc.

6. Follow environmental issues in your local newspapers! This is a great way for your students to connect all of the environmental concepts the Envirothon covers with “real life.” In every spot in Pennsylvania on every day, something is happening which affects the health of our forest ecosystems and watersheds, the quality of living for local residents, and the use of our resources. There are success stories as well as hard lessons in economics, politics, and sociology. Following a current local event in the classroom is an effective way of engaging students in informed discussions and action.

7. Check out Keystone WILD! Notes This is wonderful Pennsylvania-centered conservation-education publication. Each issue reviews special articles that can be used in the classroom as foundations for a lesson.
For further information, contact:
Wild Resource Conservation Program
P.O. Box 8764
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8764
(717) 730-6263

8. Check out Bay Journal! This is a broad-reaching and informative monthly magazine put out by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay that focuses on issues and updates on our downstream estuary. It would be a great addition to teacher reference materials for use in student research assignments, in-class discussions of current events, or a year-long monitoring of this critical ecosystem’s health. Topics covered include: water quality, pollution violations, the Clean Water Act, conservation efforts, oyster and crab population levels, and threats of industrial development projects. This is free! You may read the Bay Journal online at www.bayjournal.com or for further information, contact:
Alliance for Chesapeake Bay
6600 York Road, Suite 100
Baltimore, MD 21212

9. Last, but certainly not least: have fun! One key to a meaningful environmental education experience is fun. Reading up on your local ecosystems, having an energetic discussion about a forestry issue, investigating a stream for water quality, measuring trees like professional foresters, even getting your hands “dirty” in an exposed soil profile: all of these can be fun and exciting adventures in learning. If it’s fun, you will not only get the students excited for more, but what they end up learning will probably stand a better chance of sticking with them. Have a great time with the 2007 Envirothon!

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