Texas State
Envirothon -
The 2010
Envirothon has passed but now is a good time to start preparing
for next year's event!
The Envirothon
is the largest high school environmental competition, open to
any high school student (grades 9 - 12). The Envirothon is an
integrated educational experience that will enhance your students'
knowledge and environmental literacy. Over the course of several
months of study, participants will prepare themselves for testing
in wildlife biology, forestry, aquatic science, soil science,
and current environmental issues. The competition fosters cooperation
and teamwork.
Teams of five
students are tested not only on their basic knowledge of the main
topic areas, but also on their ability to apply that knowledge
to solving real-life problems. In the final event of the contest,
students will prepare a presentation on an assigned topic. Winners
at the state level will have an opportunity to compete at the
national contest and to win substantial scholarships and gifts.
Questions
regarding the Texas State Envirothon can be directed to Wendy
Reistle, Environmental Institute of Houston, University of Houston-Clear
Lake. Contact her by phone at (281) 283-3045 or by fax at (281)
283-3953.
College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team B Wins at 2010 Texas State Envirothon
(recap of this past year's event)
- College Park Academy of Science and Technology wins at 2010 Texas Envirothon
The Texas Envirothon was held April 17 through 19, 2010 at The University of Houston-Clear Lake campus in Houston, Texas. Envirothon is an academic, extra-curricular environmental and natural resource education program and competition designed for high school students. Teams of five students work together to answer questions focusing on five areas of study: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and the current environmental issue, which was protection of groundwater through urban, agriculture, and environmental planning. In addition to the field experience, students also participate in an oral component focusing on a real-world environmental problem. Seven schools for a total of 11 teams participated in the competition. Those included were: Carnegie Vanguard High School (Houston); Claudia Taylor Johnson High School (San Antonio); Clear Lake High School (Houston – Teams A & B); College Park Academy of Science and Technology (The Woodlands – Teams A & B); John Cooper High School (The Woodlands – Teams A & B); John Tyler High School (Tyler); and Rio Hondo High School (Rio Hondo – Teams A & B). The overall winner of the 2010 Texas Envirothon was College Park Academy of Science and Technology, Team B. Students on the winning team were: Annie Flynn, Jessica Fox, Emily Powell, Jeanette Ferrana, and Megan Myers. College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team A was second place, while, The John Cooper School, Team A took third place. College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team B will represent Texas at the Canon Envirothon competition to be held in Fresno, California on August 1 - August 6, 2010.
In addition to the overall winners, awards were given to the top scoring teams on the field/written exam by topic and for the top team in the oral presentations during a ceremony held at the University of Houston-Clear Lake on Monday afternoon. The winners were John Cooper Team A in Aquatics; Carnegie Vanguard and John Cooper Team A tied in Soils; College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team B in Forestry; College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team A in Wildlife; Carnegie Vanguard in Current Issue; and College Park Academy of Science and Technology Team B in the Oral Presentation.
The fun began on Saturday afternoon with optional student training workshops presented by a variety of professionals. Presenters included Michelle Holyfield and Alex Stanton from Eastman Chemical Company, Laura Babcock from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, John Boyette from the Texas Forest Service, Dennis Brezina from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Dianna Ramirez and Lynne Ray from the Environmental Institute of Houston. During these presentations, students received training in aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and oral presentation skills. The competition officially began on Sunday afternoon at University of Houston-Clear Lake. There were 55 students as well as 15 team advisors participating in the field testing. Questions on the field test ranged from identifying animal tracks, aquatic invertebrates, and tree measurements to describing soil textures and discussing the benefits of wetlands. Over 60 volunteers assisted with a variety of jobs including monitoring the field stations, leading students to each station, grading the field tests and serving as judges for the oral presentations, etc.
To help students prepare for Sunday evening’s challenge, which was to develop a proposal addressing the Region H water plan, three guest presentations were held on Sunday morning. Dr. John Jacob from the Texas Coastal Watershed Program presented on the “Comings and Goings of Water on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast”. Tom Michel of the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District and Greg Ellis of the Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts presented on “Groundwater Around Texas and Here in Houston”. After the field testing on Sunday, the students were then sequestered for three hours to work on their presentations. The presentations were delivered to a panel of five judges on Monday morning.
Sponsors of the 2010 Texas Envirothon include: Eastman Chemical Company, Entergy Corporation, University of Houston-Clear Lake and the Office of the Provost, Environmental Institute of Houston, Canon USA, Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, American Acryl, Texas Association of Environmental Professionals, Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas Association for Environmental Education, Richardson Environmental Action League, Chevron Matching Gift Program, Blue Bell Ice Creameries, Harris County Soil and Water Conservation District, Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District, Freestone County SWCD, Walker County SWCD, Piney Woods SWCD, Upshur-Gregg SWCD, Bedias Creek SWCD and Alamo SWCD.
For more information about the Texas State Envirothon,
contact Wendy Reistle, Environmental Institute of Houston/UHCL,
at (281) 283-3045 or visit www.texasenvirothon.org.
We want to know what informational programs
you would like to attend as residents and landowners in Harris
County. Would you prefer evening short programs, would a Saturday
program be something you would attend? Would you support a tree
seedling sale or other fund raising event? (proceeds go to such
programs as Texas Envirothon) What topics would you like more
information on - such as erosion, landscape, pest control, etc.?
We are here to serve you and welcome all suggestions for planning
our events in the future.
IF
YOU HAVE AN EVENT TO BE ANNOUNCED HERE, OR HAVE AN IDEA THAT YOU
WOULD LIKE INFORMATION ON, EMAIL
Cathy
McCoy. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SEND
US AN EMAIL WITH YOUR COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS -
