Goodhue High School Envirothon
State appearances in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, COVID (20,21), 2022
This year's topic is...green design of city and city infrastructure.
What is Envirothon?
This is for students in grades 9-12, male and female, who have an interest and knowledge of the outdoors. New this year is junior Envirothon for grades 7-8. Teams consists of five people which you work with together during the whole competition. Envirothon is somewhat of a nature/outdoors knowledge bowl. It takes a look at five main categories or competitions: Soil, Water, Wildlife, Forestry and Special Topic. Participants in junior envirothon go through all the stations but DO NOT have to complete an oral presentation.
Regional competitions are held every year in May, this year it is near Byron, MN. At the regionals you compete against other schools, if you are in the top three in the region you are awarded to go to the state competition.
This is not a huge time commitment, like a sport or other extra-curricular, but we will generally have short Wednesday morning and Sunday night practices where we will go over practice tests, work on our oral presentation, and research the special topic. To be "good in envirothon", you just need to do a bit of reading and visit this website a lot!
The state and national sites for envirothon provide quite a few resources on their websites, you can visit the national envirothon website at
www.envirothon.org or the Minnesota State Site by clicking
here.
Also below are various powerpoints and tests that are similar to what you may encounter at an envirothon competition.
Wildlife Things to Know
ULTIMATE SOURCE FOR WILDLIFE: HERE
SOURCE FOR WILDLIFE: WETLAND ANIMAL POWERPOINT
Mammal ID Powerpoint
MN Fur and Tracks ID Powerpoint
Also see mammal videos (link on left)
Fur and Tracks Powerpoint
Insect ID
Bird ID
Also see bird video (link on left)
Fish ID
Bird, frog sounds
Food chains and food webs
Carrying Capacity
Predator-prey relationships
Waterfowl ID
Skull and Teeth ID
Wildlife habitats
Native/Non-native species
Multiple Choice Wildlife Test Question Bank
Multiple Choice Wildlife Test Question Bank Answer Key
Soils Things to Know
ULTIMATE SOURCE FOR SOILS: HERE
Soil ID
Using a Clinometer
Soil Triangle
How to texture soil
Horizon measurements
Platt Book
Topographic maps
Characteristics of Soil: pH, nitrogen cycle, porosity, phosphorus, humus
Organisms in soil (decomposers)
Humus and organic material
Water Things to Know
ULTIMATE SOURCE FOR WATER: HERE
WATER POWERPOINT HERE: HERE
Seaweed ID
Aquatic Organisms
Invertebrates
Watersheds/runoff
Rate of flow and stream cross-sections
Clarity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen
Fish/wildlife habitats
Invasive species (watermilfoil, zebra muscles, etc.)
Aquatic plants
Benefits of wetlands
Special Topic Things to Know
Government agencies
Funding and grants
Current studies and research
Recreational, Social, Economic and Natural Impacts