Grygla Science

The 2011 State Envirothon competition was held at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN on Monday, May 16th. One team placed high enough at the local competition to qualify for the state competition (see post below for more info). Click here to see a photo gallery of the trip.

State Envirothon Team at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN. Pictured from left to right: Sadie Olson, Kaylani Kiesow, Jake Saurdiff, Heather Klamar, and Drew Monson. (The St. Louis River/Lake Superior Estuary is seen in the background.)

Getting situated to take the forestry test.

This years Area 1 Envirothon competition was held at Lake Bronson, MN. We took 6 teams, for a total of 28 students to the event. Several of the teams placed within the top 10 (out of 21 teams), and one team achieved 3rd place which advances them to the state competition in Duluth on May 16th. Members of the 3rd place team are: Kaylani Kiesow, Heather Klamar, Sadie Olson, Drew Monson, and Jake Saurdiff.

3rd Place Team - (From left to right) Jake Saurdiff, Drew Monson, Heather Klamar, Sadie Olson, Kaylani Kiesow, Isaac Kvasager (Advisor)

All the Grygla Envirothon participants

Envirothon is an outdoor environmental learning competition for high school students. Area competitions are administered by the state's Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in partnership with conservation organizations, educators, and other natural resource agencies.

Envirothon promotes a desire for students to learn more about Minnesota's natural resources, as well as public policy and roles of government and landowners in managing the state's resources. The program helps students develop critical thinking skills, cooperative problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills.

Schools and teachers benefit by providing a learning opportunity to students who excel in the sciences and ecology. The community and state benefit by having concerned and well-informed citizens who can make good decisions about the environment.

Teams of students compete by visiting five learning stations and taking a 20-point exam on an environmental topic. The topics are:

• Aquatics, Foresetry, Soils, Wildife, and Current Events

The exams are administered by a local natural resource professional, who also gives the students a brief overview of the topic and explains some of the core concepts. Teams also prepare and give an oral presentation on the current events topic.

Teams compete at an Area Envirothon, and the top 3 teams from each area advance to the State Envirothon. The winning team at the State Envirothon advances to the Canon Envirothon and competes against teams from across the USA and Canada. (Information from the MASWCD)