Forestry Extension: Youth Programs

Missouri Envirothon

Parkway North Sweeps the 2007 State Contest

Team work at Envirothon.

Parkway North High School swept the 2007 Missouri Envirothon, taking the top three spots in the 20-team competition. This is the second year in a row that Parkway North has swept the competition. Students competed at five different outdoor testing stations: aquatic ecology, forestry, soils and land use, wildlife and the 2007 current conservation issue, alternative/renewable energy. Test stations required the five-student teams to answer a variety of both hands-on and written natural resource questions. Each team also presented an oral presentation to a panel of judges. The Parkway North team will go on to compete in the 2007 Canon Envirothon, North America's largest high school environmental competition, in Geneva, New York.

About Environthon

Sponsored by the Missouri Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Envirothon stimulates, reinforces, and enhances students' interest in the environment and our state's natural resources. The concept was created by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts as an outdoor hands-on competition.

From "Environmental Olympics," the concept expanded to other states; and when the national competition was added in 1988, the name was changed to Envirothon. Envirothon affords a unique approach to teaching environmental education, and it's fun!

In the field, teams of students are challenged to hone critical thinking skills and work as a team. They answer written questions and conduct hands-on investigation of environmental issues in five categories: Soils/Land Use, Aquatic Ecology, Forestry, Wildlife, and Current Environmental Issues. In addition to a written test, the teams also present an oral presentation solving a specific natural resource issue.

Reference materials for students and teachers are available through local soil and water conservation districts. Envirothon can also be used as a curriculum guide for classroom study.

For more information, go to Missouri Envirothon.