Catawba College News Service
Did you know fringed owls make no noise? How about that plant-eating animals such as beavers have very different teeth from meat-eating animals like bobcats?
The more than 220 students who gathered this week at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College do.
The students, as well as advisors and volunteers, came to Catawba for the Area 8 Envirothon, an event in which high school and middle school teams compete in natural resources knowledge and ecology.
In addition to the lessons about silent owls and food-specific teeth, environmental educator Gail Lemiec brought the tools of her trade ó coyote furs and bobcat skulls, owl wings and hawk talons ó to the Envirothon.
The Area 8 Soil and Water Conservation Districts sponsored the competition held Tuesday and today. The top seven teams qualified for the state competition, which will be held April 24-25 at Cedarock Park in Alamance County.
During the Envirothon, five-member teams attended informative presentations in the morning and were tested on their knowledge in the afternoon. Topics ranged from aquatics and current environmental issues to forestry, soils and wildlife.
Area 8 includes Rowan, Cabarrus, Davie, Stanly, Davidson, Iredell, Anson, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Union counties. The competition is open to ecology clubs, Girl and Boy Scout troops, FFA chapters, 4H clubs and home-study, environmental and vocational agriculture groups.
The purpose of the Envirothon is to help young people become more aware of their impact on the environment.
“If they are more knowledgeable, they will make better decisions about complex environmental issues,” said Andy Miller, chairman of the Southern Piedmont Envirothon Committee.
Kurt Cribb, special projects coordinator at the Center for the Environment, said the center is pleased to host the annual competition.
“We are glad to be involved with an event that helps to connect young people with the natural world,” he said. “If they know about it and care about it, they will be more likely to preserve our natural resources and recognize the value of a healthy environment.”