WILLOW WOOD – Lawrence County students are getting ready to put their environmental knowledge to the test.

Thursday, March 28, 2002

WILLOW WOOD – Lawrence County students are getting ready to put their environmental knowledge to the test.

This year’s "Envirothon" is scheduled for May 2 in Adams County. Teams from St. Joseph High School and Collins Career Center were on hand at the Lawrence County Soil and Water Conservation office yesterday to practice some of the skills needed for the test.

The exam, said LSWCD education coordinator Carrie Cheeck, covers topics in forestry, wildlife, soils, aquatic ecology and a current environmental issue. Each section contains 25 questions and this year, students will answer questions regarding the special topic, "Introduced species and their effects on biodiversity."

If the students succeed at the district competition, the school will then advance to the state-level Ohio Envirothon, which is held in a different part of Ohio each year. The top-scoring team in the Ohio Envirothon is eligible to compete in the National Envirothon, sponsored by Canon and hosted by a different state each year.

In Ohio, the Envirothon is sponsored by the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Natural resource and environmental specialists from many agencies, organizations, colleges, universities, park districts and businesses devise the Envirothon questions and staff the various test stations.