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Log Cabin Learning

Environmental Science


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(Photos of the kids around the farm, working on env science projects)

Fall 1996: First Environmental Science course offered: 
Stream Monitoring

At a local geography Fair:  Student Matthew Lindberg-Work, age 15, 
in front of his 3-D model of  _____ Creek (to his left, in green-and-yellow)


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 The Envirothon --  
A National Environmental Science Competition Since 1979

The Envirothon is a nationally environmental studies competition for high school students aged 14 -18, created to help foster learning about the environment, and also for youngsters to explore careers in the field.   The Envirothon has levels of competition similar to the National Spelling Bee and National Geographic's Geography Bee.

The Envirothon was founded in Spring of 1979 by three Pennsylvania Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and soon caught on in Ohio and Massachusetts, leading to the first National Envirothon competition in 1988. Presently, the Envirothon consists of teams representing over 40 U.S. states and Canadian provinces, and has grown into the largest high school environmental education competition in North America.

The Washington County, Maryland Envirothon is an educational outreach program of the Washington County Soil Conservation District in cooperation with the Washington County Public Schools. Staff from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation and Maryland Department of Agriculture provide resource professionals for training and testing of participants.  Washington County's Envirothon is held at the Fairview Outdoor Education Center, northwest of Hagerstown near the town of Clear Spring. 

Teams are made up of 5 students plus one or two alternates, who choose a coach, a team name, and then enroll with county Envirothon officials. Then that year's study guide - - a three-inch thick notebook - - arrives in the mail with information on the following specialty areas: Wildlife, Forestry, Aquatics, Soils, plus the specialty-area-of-the-year.  In addition to these written materials, county agriculture resource specialists are available to personally train the teams in their area of work.

After months of study, in the Spring, teams in each county go to their local Envirothon location to compete with other local teams in the county-level elimination round. Awards are given in 8 categories: the winner in each of the 5 specialty areas, and the teams placing first, second, and third overall. The team winning first place overall on the county level goes to the state competition in the Summer, followed by the state champions going on to the North American competition. The winners of this last level receive college scholarship money.

1998 Washington County, Maryland's local round of competition:

"When we first got to the Envirothon competition site," remembers Log Cabin team Captain Matthew Lindberg-Work, "and saw all the other teams from other schools there and all the busses unloading, I was sure we would come in last."

As it turned out, this team from a wooded hillside on Maryland's Blue Ridge Mountain, came in almost as far from last place as possible.

The Testing Stations

Twenty teams participated in the three-hour examination in the five specialty areas, with the testing stations spread out over the extensive, wooded grounds of the Center. The teams followed a schedule of testing stations and time slots, having 30 minutes to complete each station's exam. At each station, each team as a group looked over the questions and materials presented, discussed possible answers, then filled in their decisions on the test form. When the horn blew to announce time's up, the teams handed in their test forms, then hiked to their next scheduled station.

Acquatics Testing Station

Excited to have completed all the stations, the Log Cabin team clusters around Coach Lynda Bell to discuss the event.

The Log Cabin Science Program's Cheering Section

An unusual aspect of the Log Cabin team was their cheering section:  they were the only team to have their whole families come out to watch them at this event. The local TV cameraperson was intrigued by this, and captured the phenomenon on film. During the testing time, the team was "all business," wanting no distractions from their supporters. But afterwards, they all relaxed together for a picnic while the test scores were being tallied. "It is so refreshing and encouraging to me to see parents so involved and supportive of their children," an Envirothon organizer told the Elementals' coach and parents. "Your kids are very lucky."

The Log Cabin Learning families -- the cheering section --  keeping their distance

Local TV station camera-person

The team having a picnic with their families during test-scoring time

Competition Results:  Log Cabin team places 2nd Overall

As stated at the beginning of this article, the Elementals came in almost as far from last place as possible:  they placed a very close 2nd place overall, and were first in this year's specialty area of Watershed Management.  Team member Adam Weidenhammer recalls being "completely astonished when the officials announced that our team had won second place overall. It took a few moments for the realization to sink in."

The team from South Hagerstown High School came in 1st place in the remaining four categories, and were 1st place overall. Some of the large high schools in the county sent multiple teams to this competition, drawing from student bodies with hundreds of potential team members. In addition, every school other than Log Cabin Learning had teams in previous years' competitions, giving the advantage of experience. For example, this was the South High team's 4th year at this event - - starting when the team members were freshmen. Teams that have competed in previous years' also have the benefit of having their resource materials to study for the entire school year starting in September.

On the other hand, this year was the Elementals' first time in this competition, their team of  5 members plus 2 alternates comprised 100% of the Envirothon-eligible-aged students attending the Log Cabin Learning program, and they had just enrolled and started studying at the end of January.  As Adam Weidenhammer expressed it, "I remember "looking at the size of the Envirothon study packet for the first time, and thinking 'How on Earth are we going to learn this stuff in two months?!'  I think that part of our team's success was due to the fact that we had such a great coach in Lynda Bell.  She was very supportive and had a lot of confidence in our abilities."

In addition, the Log Cabin team took full advantage of the offer by county resource specialists to come out and work with them, and learned a lot from those training sessions. "We noticed the Log Cabin team even before scoring their tests," said one of the Envirothon officials after the event. "We saw them really taking this competition seriously, and being outstandingly conscientious and enthusiastic workers. This team did a fine job."

Receiving 2nd place award, then posing for their their official portrait
  




... and The Future...

For next year's Envirothon, the Log Cabin Team will be on a more level playing field, as they will begin their year's work in September rather than in January. "I feel like this year everyone just got their feet wet learning about these areas," said Coach Bell. "They have a real feel for the Earth and for environmental studies. They worked very hard, and I'm extremely proud of them. Now in this upcoming year, they will really be able to deepen their knowledge and understanding of environmental studies."

This team's younger siblings have benefited from the opportunity offered them by being part of a homeschooling families network: multi-age and observational learning. In these past months, while the younger students have been working on their own projects at Log Cabin Learning, they have also been able to closely watch the older students working on their Environmental Science projects in preparation for the Envirothon. 

In addition, these younger ones also went along on the day of the Envirothon competition and observed the older ones go through the testing stations and receive their awards. Through this opportunity to absorb the entire experience, these younger students have learned a lesson of their own: that dedication, hard work, and diligence can pay off. 

And -- very significantly -- these younger students have seen the older students do their work with great enjoyment and relish. As a result, these younger students want to form a Junior team, and study along with the high school students.

To all the rest of the Envirothon teams in upcoming years' competitions: Watch out ! ! This year, despite this being a new team, they finished a very close second, with the County's first-place team going on to win third in the State competition. And in this upcoming year, they will be starting their work in September along with the rest of the contestants. . . . . And the younger students are in the warm-up zone. . . .

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1999-2006 Washington County Envirothon:
Log Cabin Teams Consistently Place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd



Photos & commentary to come