Each year Oregon Envirothon hosts a competition for Oregon High School Students to test their knowledge and skills of environmental sciences.
Teams of five students compete at the event which is held the first Friday of May at The Oregon Gardens in Silverton, Oregon. Teams usually register by the February prior.
Oregon Envirothon is an affiliate of National Envirothon which hosts a similar competition for the top team from each U.S. State and Canadian Province. Oregon Envirothon also serves as the Environmental Sciences CDE for Oregon FFA.
Competition Structure
Teams compete by completing a series of exams at stations. Each station covers a different ecological subject and are located at relevant locations in The Gardens. Students moving from one station to the next resembles a race or “marathon” of environmental testing, hence the name “Envirothon.”
There are five ecological stations, including:
- Aquatic Ecology
- Forest Ecology
- Soils and Land Use
- Wildlife Ecology
- Current Issue
The first four stations are considered the “core four” because they remain consistent each year while the Current Issue topic changes.
In addition to the testing stations students also prepare and present a comprehensive plan to address a specific problem designed around that year’s Current Issue. This Oral Presentation is done in advance by students sending in videos of their presentations before the day of testing. The top two scoring teams will then deliver their presentations live at the competition for all the students to see.
Awards and Prizes
Oregon Envirothon recognizes the hard work and achievements of all the students by providing T-shirts and other prizes.
The winning team in Oregon earns the privilege of representing Oregon and competing at the National Envirothon Competition. The winning FFA team earns the privilege of competing at the National FFA Convention.
The highest scoring teams also receive numerous awards. Plaques are awarded to teams for the following:
- 1st place Overall
- 2nd place Overall
- 3rd place Overall
- 4th place Overall
- 5th place Overall
- Best Aquatics Test Score
- Best Forestry Test Score
- Best Soils Test Score
- Best Wildlife Test Score
- Best Current Issue Test Score
- Best Oral Presentation
- Best Rookie Team
