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November 4, 2008

Laurel takes second in watershed challenge

Laurel students captured second place in the Pymatuning/Shenango Watershed Challenge.

Students from that district and Ellwood City were among teams from four counties competing in this year’s event.

The outdoor environmental competition was hosted by the Penn Ohio Watershed Association at the Munnell Run Farm in Mercer County.

Members of Laurel’s second-place Team Green are Marlon Tanner, Savanna Hovis, Jesse Litzenberg, Justin Kennedy and Nolan Firmi.

The event involved 11 middle school teams from Trumbull County in Ohio and Crawford, Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania.

Teams were tested in five resource categories — aquatics, forestry, soils, watershed and wildlife. Each category was presented by natural resource professionals from various local, state and federal agencies.

Team members — sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders — worked together to complete 20-point tests at each station.

Teams interacted with the natural resource professionals to answer site-specific and hands-on questions.

Aquatics featured questions related to water quality and its impact on fish, amphibian and macroinvertebrate populations.

Forestry featured identification of tree species by matching the needles. The soils portion of the competition required identifying the major horizons. An enviroscape demonstration was part of the watershed session, and mounts and pelts were displayed at the wildlife station.

A luncheon and awards ceremony followed the competition.

The event was co-sponsored by Pennsylvania’s departments of environmental protection and conservation and natural resources, Friends of McConnell’s Mill State Park, the Munnell Run Farm Foundation, Marsh Farms, Pymatuning State Park, Trumbull Soil and Water Conservation District, and the conservation districts of Mercer, Crawford and Lawrence counties.

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