The 2004 Area IV Envirothon Winners are: 1st Place: Franklin H.S. #1, 2nd Place: Miami Valley CTC #2, 3rd Place: Riverside H.S. #2, 4th Place: Milton H.S. #1 -  We would like to thank all teams for participating and helping to make this year's competition a success!

An Introduction

Environmental interest has shown steady growth in the past years. More and more people of all ages are taking the time to get educated and to get involved in activities to protect and promote our natural resources.

The Envirothon, designed to take youthful curiosity one step farther, is all about getting involved and getting educated. It is our hope as resource professionals to push the minds of young people to realize the interrelationship of all living things, and to look toward the future of resource management.

The Area IV Envirothon is one of five Area Envirothons to be held throughout the state. From here, winners proceed to the State Envirothon where they are given the opportunity to advance to the National Envirothon.

Test Questions and study material for the Envirothon are prepared and assembled by natural resource professionals from a variety of agencies, organizations, universities, and businesses. These individuals also staff the various resource stations at each competition.

Purpose

The Envirothon is a competitive, academic outdoor event for high school students. The program has a number of goals and objectives, including:

• to promote greater awareness of natural resources and environmental issues
• to heighten understanding of the interrelationships between plants, animals, humans and the environment they share
• to increase student interest in further environmental and natural history study
• to celebrate the spirit of competition and excellence
• to encourage young people to become action oriented members of society
• to interest students to explore natural resource environmental careers

By preparing for and participating in the Envirothon, students will develop interpersonal skills by working with other student team members in cooperative decision making and problem solving.

Students will also meet professionals from a variety of federal, state, and local natural resource conservation and management agencies and organizations and private industry. Students will benefit from exposure to various approaches to environmental questions. They will also have an opportunity to learn more about environmental career opportunities and responsibilities.

Area IV Envirothon Rules & Regulations

1. Team members must be registered in grades 9-12 for the current school year.

2. Teams will consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of five members. Except for teams from joint vocational schools, team members may not be drawn from different schools.

3. Alternate team members may substitute for regular team members if properly registered. All alternates must be registered properly at the Area level to be permitted to fill in at the State level. Alternates may not attend the competition if they are not needed on the team the day of the contest.

4. Each school is permitted to send a maximum of two teams to the Area Envirothon.

5. Teams must be accompanied to any Envirothon competition by an adult advisor or SWCD representative. During the competition the advisor may accompany the team but shall not assist the team by answering questions, either directly or indirectly.

6. The Envirothon shall consist of five competitive events based on soils, aquatics, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues.

7. Team members are not to use or be in the possession of electronic recording devices such as tape records or video tape cameras, etc. during the competition.

8. Team members are not to use or be in the possession of electronic recording devices such as tape recorders or video tape cameras, etc. during the competition.

9. The top four scoring teams from each of the five Area Envirothons will be eligible and expected to compete in the State Envirothon. An Area Envirothon will consist of a minimum of two schools.

10. Judge's decisions are final on all events. Any questions regarding decision must be directed to the Grievance Committee for a decision prior to the final test session the day of the event. Claims registered subsequent to event will be disregarded.

11. Transportation and food will be the responsibility of each participating team unless otherwise specified.

12. Registration forms must be typed and received by the announced deadline. All late or illegible registration forms will be rejected. It is suggested that advisors bring a photocopy of the school medical release form for each team member to the Envirothon competition.

13. The winning team will be the team with the highest cumulative point total at the end of all five events.

14. In the event that the winning team(s) cannot represent their Area or State at the next higher level of competition, the team with the next highest score will be eligible to compete.

15. Rules and regulations of the Envirothon are subject to change. Any and all relevant changes will be explained to all teams and advisors at an affected Envirothon competition.

16. Any suggestions for improvement of these rules and regulations will be considered by the Area IV Envirothon Committee. Changes will be made only upon general consensus of the committee.
     

Area IV Grievance Policy

During the course of the competition, an event may occur that gives one team an unfair advantage over another. These may be, but are not limited to, exchanging information in transit between stations, not enough references, materials at a site, etc.

If the team advisor feels that someone or something has created an unfair advantage over his/her team, (s)he needs to approach the grievance committee stationed near the scoring area. There, the team advisor will complete a written grievance form and the form shall be handed directly to a member of the grievance committee.

Grievances shall be filed only by team advisors, and must be filed before the final test session on the day of the competition.