Area 4 Envirothon

Rules and Regulations

These rules and regulations were updated and adopted by the Area IV Committee on

December 11, 2012.

1. Team members must be registered in grades 9-12 for the current school year.​

2. Teams will consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of five members. Only five member teams will be able to go on to State competition. If a 3 or 4 member team places at the Area Envirothon, they may compete at the state competition only if they have 5 members registered at the Area competition. Except for teams from joint vocational schools, team members may not be drawn from different schools.

3. Alternate team members may substitute for regular team members if properly registered. All alternates must be registered properly at the Area level to be permitted to fill in at the State level. Alternates may not attend the competition if they are not needed on the team the day of the contest.

4. Each school is permitted to send a maximum of three teams to the Area Envirothon.

5. No more than two teams from any one school can advance to the state competition. This is true even if three teams from one school place within the top four at the area competition.

6. Teams must be accompanied to any Envirothon competition by an adult advisor or SWCD representative. During the competition, the advisor may accompany the team but shall not assist the team by answering questions, either directly or indirectly.

7. The Envirothon shall consist of five competitive tests based on soils/land use, aquatics, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues.

8. Team members are not to be in possession of bags, backpacks or electronic devices including, but not limited to, cell phones, cameras, tablets, video cameras, music players, etc. during the competition (defined as the time from when the orientation begins at the orientation site until all testing is completed AND teams return back to the orientation site for lunch). Although it is highly discouraged for students to bring electronic devices, bags or back packs with them to the event, advisors will be given a bag in which to collect and store all electronic devices, bags or backpacks of students during the competition.

9. If a participant must have medication or personal supplies available to them during the event, he/she should notify the Traveling Monitor prior to departing the orientation site for testing.

10. The top four scoring teams from each of the five Area Envirothon competitions will be eligible and expected to compete in the State Envirothon.

11. The Area IV Envirothon Committee will provide monetary assistance to each winning team through the team's local sponsoring Conservation District.  If the obligation of competing at the state competition is not met, the team then forfeits all rights to any assistance monies.

12. Judge's decisions are final on all events. Any questions regarding decisions must be directed to the Grievance Committee for a decision within 30 minutes following completion of the final test. Claims registered subsequent to the event will not be considered.

13. Transportation and food will be the responsibility of each participating team, unless otherwise specified.

14. Registration forms and release forms must be typed or neatly printed and received by the announced deadline. All late or illegible registration forms will be rejected. Advisors should bring a photocopy of the school medical form for each team member to the Envirothon competition.

15. The winning team will be the team with the highest cumulative point total at the end of all five events. In the event of a tie, a pre-selected order of tests will be randomly chosen the day of the event.

16. In the event that the winning team(s) cannot represent their Area or State at the next higher level of competition, the team with the next highest score will be eligible to compete.

17. Home school students currently in grades 9 through 12 or equivalent home school ranking when the Envirothon is held are eligible to participate. All team members must be students from the same school or the same home school association. 

18. Rules and regulations of the Envirothon are subject to change. Any and all relevant changes will be explained to all teams and advisors at the affected Envirothon competition.

19. Any violation of these rules and regulations as witnessed by an Envirothon official (i.e.: traveling monitors, station monitors, resource personnel, etc.) may result in team disqualification.     

20. Reasonable accommodations will be made to assist those with disabilities; unfortunately, the time allotted for each test cannot be changed.

21. Any suggestions for improvement of these rules and regulations will be considered by the Area IV Envirothon Committee. Changes will be made only upon general consensus of the committee.

​

​

Weather Policy

In the Event of Rain: If rain occurs, without lightning, the contest will continue until the closing announcements.

 

In the Event of Lightning: At the first sign of lightning, all exams are collected and students will be dismissed to their buses for shelter. Teams may keep their scoring sheets. Envirothon volunteers are asked to go to a bus as a means of shelter and to monitor the teams. While on the bus, there is the temptation to review study materials; however, the volunteer should keep this from occurring.

 

If the lightning subsides quickly (within 30 minutes); the test session that is interrupted will not be counted. Teams will move on to their next session where time will be reset to allow them the full 25 minutes. If the lightning continues, keeping teams from an additional two exams, the event is cancelled.

 

In the Event of a Tornado: Local sirens or other warning devices will be triggered. Students will be immediately dismissed to the nearest shelter. All volunteers, event coordinators and visitors will be directed to follow the students to safety. Due to the shock of this experience and condition of the testing areas, the event will be cancelled and teams are excused after the all-clear has been given.

 

If the event is cancelled, a phone tree beginning with the Envirothon committee will begin no later than 7:30 a.m. on the day of the event. If the event cannot continue for whatever reason, a make-up test will be given. The make-up test should be compiled before the event. The make-up test should consist of 60 non site-specific questions. The soil survey still may be used to answer questions.

 

The make-up test should be administered by a soil and water district employee and must be completed in 60 minutes.

​