Envirothon is an annual environmentally themed

Environmental movement

The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

 academic competition held by the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 on a regional, state, and national level. It is sponsored by Canon, conservation districts, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Association of Conservation Districts. The competition is open to students in grades 6-12, testing them on four core subjects- forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

, soils and land use

Land use

Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...

, aquatic ecology, and wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

- along with a current issue environmental subject, which changes every year. Currently, forty-four U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces for a collective of over 500,000 students participate in the competition.
States and provinces across the United States and Canada each have their own competitions from which the champion team earns the privilege of representing their state/province at the Canon Envirothon competition, held each summer in a different U.S. state or Canadian province. In areas with a considerable number of teams, subdivisions such as county, regional, or district competitions are also held. Teams must win these intermediary competitions in order to move on to the state/province levels.

History

In 1979, the Pennsylvania Soil and Water Conservation Districts set up the Environmental Olympics, later renamed Envirolympics, to encourage interest in environmental issues through hands-on competition. The first official state competition was hosted in 1984 with six competing counties. Expanding rapidly to include forty conservation districts by 1987, it gained attention from other states, and in 1988, the program became the National Envirothon, with participation from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Ohio. In 1992, Nova Scotia became the first Canadian province to join the competition. Prior to Canon's sponsorship whereby the program was again renamed to Canon Envirothon, the competition was sponsored by various state, local, and provincial conservations programs and associations. Canon began its support in 1997, and in 1999, became the title sponsor of the competition between the U.S. states and Canadian provinces, local sponsors still sponsor lower level competition.

Competition

Competition participants are generally composed of teams sponsored by school clubs or classes, but also includes teams sponsored by 4H and other such non-scholastic organizations.

Competition week at the North American Canon Envirothon level includes various outings and seminars for both the students and their advisors. Most of these outings are linked to the current issue topic and provide information on the area in which the competition is being held.

During the competition, each team must complete five written tests consisting of various question types, including identifications and hands-on assessments, and also must prepare an oral presentation on the current issue topic, which the team presents to a panel of judges. Each test is scored out of 100 points and the presentation is scored out of 200 points. The team with the highest cumulative total of points at the end of the scoring is the winning team. Recognition is also given to teams with the highest scoring in each of the categories.

Results

The 2010 Canon Envirothon competition took place in Fresno, California in the first week of August. The California team won the competition, with the team from Delaware coming in second, Minnesota in third, and Florida in fourth.