Minnesota Envirothon Fact Sheet

  Would you like to get involved and support the MN Envirothon?

Judy Johnston, Stevens SWCD, 320-589-4886

Felicia Brockoff, Carver SWCD, 952-466-5230

The 2013 Minnesota State Envirothon was held Monday, May 20, at St. John’s University Arboretum in Collegeville, MN.  The first place winning team from TrekNorth out of Bemidji will go on to compete at the North American Envirothon in Bozeman, Montana August 4-9, 2013.

  Thank you to our 2013 sponsors!

       Score Sheet

  2013 Oral Presentation Scenario

  2013 Oral Presentation Score Sheet

  2013 State Envirothon Schedule

  2013 State Envirothon Rules

  2013 Area Event Dates, Locations, and Contacts

           soils

           aquatics

           wildlife

           current events

           forestry

The 2012 Minnesota State Envirothon was held May 21 at the McColl Pond ELC in Savage, MN.  The first place winning team from TrekNorth out of Bemidji went on to compete at the North American Envirothon, held July 22-27 in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

  Thank you to our 2012 sponsors!

  NEWS RELEASE - 2012 State Envirothon Winners

       Score Sheet

       Winners:  1994 to Present

  2012 State Envirothon Event Schedule

  2012 Liability Release

  2012 Oral Presentation Scenario

  2012 Oral Presentation Scoring Criteria

  2012 Rules

           soils

           aquatics

           wildlife

           current events

           forestry

Background on the MN Envirothon

The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental learning competition for high school students. Area competitions are administered by the state's Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in partnership with conservation organizations, educators, and other natural resource agencies.

The Envirothon promotes a desire for students to learn more about Minnesota's natural resources, as well as public policy and roles of government and landowners in managing the state's resources. The program helps students develop critical thinking skills, cooperative problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills.

Schools and teachers benefit by providing a learning opportunity to students who excel in the sciences and ecology. The community and state benefit by having concerned and well-informed citizens who can make good decisions about the environment.

Teams of students compete by visiting five learning stations and taking a 20-point exam on an environmental topic. The topics are:

• Aquatics,

• Forestry,

• Soils,

• Wildlife, and

• Current events, which is a new topic each year.

The exams are administered by a local natural resource professional, who also gives the students a brief overview of the topic and explains some of the core concepts. Teams also prepare and give an oral presentation on the current events topic.

Teams compete at an Area Envirothon, and the top 3 teams from each area advance to the State Envirothon. The winning team at the State Envirothon advances to the North American Envirothon and competes against teams from across the USA and Canada.

Junior Envirothon

Many areas also have a Junior Envirothon for students in grades 6-8. Participating students go to all of the same learning stations, but they do not give an oral presentation. Please contact your local Envirothon contact to find out if there is a Junior Envirothon in your area.

History

The Envirothon program started in 1979 in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts sponsored the program as an outdoor hands-on competition. Minnesota held its first Envirothon in 1993 with 100 students from the Twin Cities area participating. The following year, several Soil and Water Conservation Districts organized area competitions. By 1996, all districts held area competitions. Now, nearly 1,000 students participate throughout the state.

See the MASWCD Area Map to find which area your school is in, and contact the Envirothon Area Coordinator: