Long Island Regional Envirothon

The Long Island Regional Envirothon is an environmental education competition for high school students. This is the local component of the international competition that culminates mid-summer when state champs compete for over $50,000 in scholarships and other prizes. Additionally, students competing in the Long Island Envirothon have the opportunity to win scholarship funds and prizes, as well as, represent their county at the state level in May. All students are recognized for their dedication, hard-work, and participation.h schools in Nassau & Suffolk counties are eligible to participate by registering  a five-member team.

The program is geared towards supporting teachers/schools in the area of natural sciences. The Envirothon directly correlates with the New York State Department of Education's Learning Standards in the areas of Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies and English Language Arts. A comprehensive list of specific NYS Learning Standards that the program focuses on is available for review.

How it all started…
The Envirothon began in Pennsylvania in 1979, then known as the Environmental Olympics. Its popularity quickly grew as a national event with more states becoming involved each year. New York State held its first Envirothon in 1990 and Long Island joined the excitement in 1999. Today, most states and provinces participate in the Canon Envirothon, reaching more than half a million students. Thanks to volunteers, teachers, students, and supporters, the Envirothon continues to prove itself as a useful tool for integrating environmental studies into science curriculums.

How it works?
The Envirothon is based on five subject areas: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and the current issue - which changes annually. In past years, the current issue has covered topics such as: invasive species, non-point source pollution, wildlife management, and wetlands.

A "Stationmaster" manages each of the five subject areas. They are dedicated professionals who volunteer to coordinate their area of expertise by developing a reference list and learning objectives under the guidelines of the New York State Envirothon. They, also, prepare the exams, supervise their station during the competition, and are available to answer questions during the preparation period.

At the competition, the students rotate between the stations and answer questions as a team. The tests are made up of 25 multiple-choice problems with three built-in tiebreakers. Many of the questions are hands-on, involving the use of equipment, maps, and audio/visual recorders.

The sixth category, the oral presentation, is devoted to the current issue. A scenario involving an environmental issue is available on this website on or around February 1st. The teams are required to prepare a ten-minute solution and present their results to a panel of judges at the competition. The oral presentation rules and a copy of the judges score sheet are posted for your convenience. The oral presentation score is averaged into the final scores each counting one sixth of the total. This portion of the Envirothon is based on the state and national format and is an important learning tool for the students.

Who are we?
The Long Island Regional Envirothon is coordinated by the Soil & Water Conservation Districts of Nassau and Suffolk Counties with support from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. In addition, we are thankful for the generous financial support from our sponsors Canon USA, National Grid, New York Power Authority, Suffolk County Water Authority, H2M Group, Nassau County Parks, Recreation and Musuems, and the USDAN Center for the Creative & Perfoming Arts.

We are also grateful to our outstanding volunteers who help us on the day of the event; along with assistance from our sponsors, partners, and supporters.