THE DAY OF THE COMPETITION

Each year Oregon Envirothon hosts a competition for Oregon high school students to test their knowledge of and skills in environmental sciences.

Teams of five students compete at the event, which is held the first Friday of May at The Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon. Registration will typically be available in February. 

Oregon Envirothon is an affiliate of NCF-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 Career Development Event (CDE) for Oregon Future Farmers of America. 

 

COMPETITION STRUCTURE

Teams compete by completing a series of themed tests. Each testing station covers a different ecological subject at a relevant location in The Oregon Garden. Students moving from one station to the next resemble a race or “marathon” of environmental testing, hence the name “Envirothon.”

 

FIVE COMPETITION STATIONS

The first four stations are considered the “core four” because they remain consistent each year, while the current issue topic changes.

The station tests contain multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, diagramming and short answer questions, and typically also include hands-on or site-based elements. Teams have 25 minutes to answer the test questions at each station, completing one collective answer sheet. Collaboration, cooperative decision-making, free exchange of ideas and information pooling within teams is encouraged. 

 

ORAL PRESENTATION

In addition to the testing stations, teams also prepare an oral presentation in which they recommend how to address a specific scenario related to that year’s current issue. Teams submit a video of their presentation in advance of the competition day (usually by mid-April). The teams who receive the top two scores on their videos will be invited to deliver their presentations at the competition in front of judges and the student audience. 

 

AWARDS AND PRIZES

Oregon Envirothon recognizes the hard work and achievements of all the students by providing T-shirts and other prizes.

To determine the overall winner, each team’s test scores are combined with their oral presentation video score. The winning team in Oregon earns the privilege of representing Oregon and competing at the international NCF-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