Three high school teams broke the summer doldrums today as each tackled questions about wildlife, forestry and ecology during Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 first environmental contest.
Envirothon, which pits high school teams against one another in preparation for a national competition was held at the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Cade Farm on June 8 and 9. The contest, sponsored by the Governor小蝌蚪APP檚 Environmental Education Commission, is the state小蝌蚪APP檚 only competition for the national Canon Envirothon.
The three teams competing at Cade Farm were Acadiana High School, Lafayette Parish 4-H and Opelousas Catholic High School. Each team included five members, one alternate and two advisors. The team from Lafayette Parish 4-H including Cooper Battle, Rebecca Jurek, Daniel Jurek, Josh VanderMolen and Kendall Lemelle will move on to compete in the national Envirothon.
小蝌蚪APP Any time we get children involved in the environment it小蝌蚪APP檚 wonderful,小蝌蚪APP said Mary Wilson with the state commission. 小蝌蚪APP淲e have to nurture our environment and children have to have knowledge of it to respect it.小蝌蚪APP
At both the state and national levels, teams are evaluated on their performances at five training and testing stations which cover soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and current environmental issues.
小蝌蚪APP There小蝌蚪APP檚 so much here for the kids to learn,小蝌蚪APP said Marie Trahan, advisor for the Opelousas team. 小蝌蚪APP淭hey are actually having to deal with these environmental issues and not just read about them in a textbook.小蝌蚪APP
Another advisor agreed. 小蝌蚪APP淭here小蝌蚪APP檚 so many things that I can incorporate in the classroom after participating in this contest,小蝌蚪APP said Denise Ortego, advisor for Acadiana High. 小蝌蚪APP淚t小蝌蚪APP檚 a wonderful educational opportunity for the students.小蝌蚪APP
Leaders in the College of Applied Life Sciences at UL Lafayette learned about the national contest while attending a recent conference. The basis of the national contest is the same as the college小蝌蚪APP檚 Agricultural Challenge in which teams of school students train and test at various environmental stations at Cade Farm. The winners of these challenges receive UL Lafayette scholarships.
小蝌蚪APP The College of Applied Life Sciences found out about this program while we were attending a conference for science teachers. We knew we had the perfect location to host this type of contest,小蝌蚪APP said Linda Vincent, dean of Applied Life Sciences. 小蝌蚪APP淲e小蝌蚪APP檒l be in attendance at the national competition in July to see how we can improve for next year小蝌蚪APP檚 contest. We want to be even better prepared than we are this year and we want to help students in Louisiana be their best in the national competition.小蝌蚪APP
The teams had a day of training on June 8 during an agricultural challenge at Cade Farm. The next day teams conducted tests at different stations for the competition. The state Wildlife and Fisheries Office, the Department of Environmental Quality and the Forestry Department compiled the tests for each station.
In addition to the testing stations, each team made oral presentations on specific environmental issues currently facing society.
The winning team will go on an expense-paid trip to West Virginia for the national contest on July 26 to August 1. Each member of the first place team in the national competition receives a $3,000 scholarship plus a variety of Canon products. The second place team will receive $2,000 scholarships and the third place team receives $1,000 scholarships.