On a sunny Saturday morning in April, we found New Hampshire high school students measuring trees, digging in soil pits, and identifying aquatic wildlife. They were training for Envirothon, the natural science competition sponsored by the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts. Every year, teams are given a real world problem to solve. This time it was a milfoil chocked a lake. The state results are in. And as NHPR?s Dan Gorenstein reports, New Hampshire?s Envirothon powerhouse, Team Keene has won again.
:35 I have been doing this for ten years now, and I have never seen a better group?
Cliff Lerner coaches Keene High School?s Envirothon team.
?in terms of their poise, their maturity, their ability to work well, they ask great questions, their analytical ability, and just to have fun.
An example of fun, the students trying to come up with a theme song for the team. Keene High Senior Chris Lord.
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If we had a theme song some random guitar wailing in the background?laughter
The sound effects come courtesy of senior Emily Jacobs Palmer. Apparently, frog sounds found their way into some late night study sessions. Junior, Joy Stronk.
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:42 we pulled a couple of late, late nights, people would just get really silly, going thorugh the same things.
But that silliness says Senior Kelly Hayes seemed to help keep the team together.
:57 I think we are just a really good tight group, I think we all became good friends during this process and we worked well together. Even though it was stressful and sometimes it was hard to get together, but we made it, and we won.
Last fall, in addition to their regular school work, Keene?s Envirothon team began studying water resources, forestry, soils, and wildlife. They attended town meetings, a watershed conference, and an environmental competition. All that was in preparation for the real life problem they would have to solve for the competition. And here?s the problem. A lake is threatened by milfoil, but it also is home to an endangered plant species. The team?s task was to come up with a plan to eradicate the milfoil, protect the plant, and keep property owners, recreationists and politicians happy.
The five students did research and talked with experts. Senior Emily Jacobs Palmer
1:14 And that is a lot of what we did spending time together, we would look at the problem, what is wrong with our solution, what doesn?t seem right, what are we unsure about. We made a list of questions, and then we would make calls.
Envirothon rules say team members have to adopt real life roles to play, lakes biologist, fisheries biologist, recreationist, lake resident town selectman. Emily says it was one of the teams? strengths.
:17 one of the best things about our solution this year was the different roles of people who would be affected in different ways. Actually Nick was kind of our citizen lake recreationist, he was the one who asked all the questions like?
:30 what about residents, is this going to get into the town?s water supply, or the private wells around the lake?
Nick Pamilliga at the team?s presentation on May 21st in West Franklin.
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:00 that?s a very good question Mr. Pamilliga. Dyquat binds very quickly to soil particles if not taken up by plants. SO there is almost no chance of it getting into the groundwater?we have considered other options and found that aquatic herbicides are the best solution. (FADE this OUT)
That was Joy Strunk playing the role of Lakes Biologist. The team presented their solution to a panel of judges. Emily sums up the team?s 15-minute presentation.
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Summary of their solutions
:05 for the large infestation, we plan to use an herbicide?we will send a pamphlet?for smaller infestations, handpulling, to monitor our success weed watchers will monitor.
Then came questions from the judges. Bob Snelling.
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2:02 I was interested in your choice of dyquat, versus some of the other herbicides that have been applied, like 24D, floradone, what led you to choose dyquat over some of the others?
2:17 begin response-
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:59 end response
Just listening to four of the kids explain why they choose the herbicide dyquat over others, was like watching a basketball team effortlessly pass the ball around. Almost like showing off, but actually just doing what they do. In this case it wasn?t hoops, it was environmental problem solving. And prompted one judge to say?
1:28 I would have to say they nailed the question and answer.
It also impressed judge Snelling, who had asked the herbicide question.
:45 ?when it came to questions and answers it became obvious that they had done their homework. They knew what they were talking about. It was obvious they put a lot of thought into what they have done. There was some depth there.
Senior Chris Lord.
:43 it definitely raises your awareness level about environmental issues. I would like to think these days people are becoming more aware of problems that are coming up like invasive species, and the Envirothon team, and solving hypothetical problems really gives you an appreciation for the process. And how difficult it is to meet the concerns of politicians, landowners, the laws you have to abide by, people will say we need this fixed, but the team has allowed me to see how the process evolves of fixing the problem. It?s a lot harder than I even imagined before I got on this team.
For senior Kelly Hayes, Envirothon has helped give meaning to multiple perspectives.
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2:20 I think as far as looking at the complexity of things, I think after Sept 11, you are looking more at the complexity of things, you can?t just say this group is bad. You can?t just dismiss them. I think that happened a lot?I think with Envirothon you are looking at the complexity of everything and how it comes together and how it?s different.
Listening to his team talk about their Envirothon experiences, Coach Lerner looked like a proud father. And he quickly admits the kids, and Envirothon deserve much of the credit.
1:41 much of the typical learning in school today is distributed in discrete packets of knowledge, science, math, social studies, and the students are given too few opportunities to integrate all those. This is a perfect example of an activity that forces them to integrate their learning from different fields. And as such, I feel this is real authentic learning.
But don?t accept the teacher?s words. Listen to Nick. He wasn?t even sure he wanted to be on the team initially.
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:40 ? Once I understand what kinds of trees are around here, the diversity of wildlife, how the soil is formed over time, and once I know about it, I can apprecitate it a little more. That?s true for the enviroment, and any situation or society you are in. You need to know something about it to understand it and apprecitate. The knowledge has helped me gain that.
But for Nick and his teammates, Chris Joy, Kelly and Emily, getting the knowledge came easier by enjoying the company.
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Keene High School?s Envirothon team is expected in Massachusetts at the end of July for the National Envirothon Competition. For NHPR News, I?m DG.
