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 2009  Envirothon  Champions

 West Kings  Regional High School !  

 

Dominik Kiss, Christa  Skinner, Bronson Joudrey, Brianna Coombs, Catherine  Crook, Teacher/Advisor

West Kings Envirothon students will represent   Nova Scotia  at the North American  competition - Canon Envirothon in  Asheville, North Carolina, in August   2009.     www.envirothon.org


The Nova Scotia ENVIROTHON is a hands-on  high school environmental education program of the Nova Scotia Forestry Association.The Nova Scotia program is open to students  enrolled in grades 9-12, public private and home schools or community youth groups with natural resource/environment focus

The ENVIROTHON program emphasizes the importance of natural resource sensitivity and stresses a need to achieve a social, ecologic and economic balance in life. The learning objectives are designed to help increase participants knowledge, awareness, attitudes and application.

The students involved in the ENVIROTHON program will focus on the major topics and a current issue each year to help develop their skills in the natural resources world.

Aquatic Ecology
Forestry
Energy
Wildlife
Soils /Land use     

 

2010  Current Issue:  Protection of Groundwater through Urban, Agriculture and Environmental Planning

 

 Click Here to see the Photo Gallery
 

 

 

Nova Scotia ENVIROTHON Goals

The goal of the Nova Scotia ENVIROTHON is to help students and educators understand the difference between renewable and non-renewable resources, realizing natural resource interactions and interdependencies, and knowing where to turn for facts concerning natural resource matters/issues are all part of the ENVIROTHON experience. Not only does the program teach natural resource facts and realities, but also to instill an understanding of the ecological and community factors that are involved in environmental decisions and actions.

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Field Test  Samples :

Station 1 – By the bridge

1. (a) Write in the full common name for each twig samples

Twig 1 __________ Twig 2__________ Twig 3__________

2. (a) Write in the full common name for each twig samples

Needle 1 __________ Needle 2__________ Needle 3__________

Bonus:  Give the full Latin, French or Mi’kmaw name for any one species above

English name__________ Latin, French or  Mi’kmaw name_________
                                                                                          

Plantation Stand

Standing over the point marked by the stake, identify the largest tree that  is “in” when viewed through the prism and measure its diameter and identify its species.      (Value 15 points) – 3 points each.

Diameter   ______     Has to be within 2cm
Hardwood  ______  or    Softwood     ______ 
Species  ________________________
Age __________  (within 2 years)

Bonus:  The prism is used to determine the “basal area” of a forest stand.What does “basal area”    represent?  Circle the correct answer below
A.  The average diameter of the trees on a hectare of land
B.  The number of trees per hectare
C.  The total surface area in square meters of the tree “stumps” on one hectare at breast height.
D.  The volume of wood  per hectare that is growing at one period of time.
       Bonus (Value 5 points)

After answering question (A) above – briefly explain one management technique
you could do to accelerate diameter growth of the stand?  Briefly explain your answer.

Commercial thin – removing portion of trees, release crown, allow them to fill in.

(Value 4 points) – 2 for treatment, 2 for correct explaination

(C) Observe the trail that transects the Norway spruce stand.  Assuming
that the trail is used actively by recreationalists (bikers, hikers, etc.) list two impacts that this use could have on this site?

Acceptable answers:  garbage, soil compaction,

2.  What is the depth (thickness) of the " A"  horizon?   Using the soil texture key, identify the texture of the  "A"  horizon      in your  soil pit.    

Answer:  (West Kings  High School )   The   "A" horizon is   33.75 in depth.  The   "A" horizon is clayey loam because it  is smooth indicating clay , it sticks together yet is not  all clay, so the  texture is  clay loam

3. What color would soil be that is found in a wetland?  

       a)  reddish yellow 
       b)  brown 
       c)  grey 
       d). none of the above  

       
4. Which three factors directly affect the solubility of gas in water?  temperature, pH and conductivity  
       pressure, colour and temperature  
       alkalinity, temperature and pressure  
       pressure, temperature, and TDS(total dissolved solids) 

5. Define the following  terms and give one Nova Scotia  Example for  each: 

 Vulnerable  - a species that may become endangered if one  of their specific needs are changed
 Endangered - a species that is in danger of  become  extinct  - piping plover

6.  Which of the following  habitat types is the most biologically productive?

       bog 
       swamp 
       stream 
       lake 

7. List 3  ecological, social and/or economic benefits provided by wetlands.

      filters water 
      creates habitant for  different species of  wildlife 
      unique recreational facility