Upper Moreland School District holds Ninth-Annual Envirothon

Over 200 second-grade Upper Moreland students took to the filed in front of the high school, where they eagerly awaited the start of the ninth-annual Upper Moreland School District Envirothon.

The Envirothon, which took place throughout the morning and afternoon of April 19, featured  eight science-education stations. The stations were arranged throughout the field, as well as along the creek by Fitzwatetown Road. Classroom teachers led groups of students to each station, where Upper Moreland High School (UMHS) LEAP (Leadership Enrichment Academic Program) gifted students taught the second-graders lessons about the world around them.

“We try to keep it around Earth Day each year,’ Dan Sullivan, an Upper Moreland second-grade teacher, said.

Sullivan, who is the district’s kindergarten through second-grade Framework leader, said that he has been helping to organize the event for the last two years. He said that the idea behind the district’s Envirothon is to help inspire a life-long interest in science, as well as to pursue their own personal sense of conservation responsibilities.

“All the lessons are really hands-on, so they can have a better grasp about the environment,” Sullivan said. “So, they can see how they can help.”

According to Linda Christensen, UMHS gifted students teacher, the school district’s Envirothon is based off of the long-running county, state and international science competition of the same name.

The Envirothon in Montgomery County is run through the county’s Conservation District. The competition, pits teams of high school students against teams of other high school students in a problem-solving competition about environmental issues.

In the past, the county’s Conservation District has re-designed the Envirothon to include elementary and middle school versions, all of which take place at a centralized locations.

When Christensen attended such an event, nine years ago, she recalled only being able to take 10 of her fourth-grade students to the county Envirothon.

“I wanted to bring it back to our district, so everyone could participate,” Christensen said. “It can be a nice event for them to participate, and they’ll know how to interact with their environment.

Each station addressed a specific lesson about the environment, from the life-cycle of plants, using a soil from the creek and planting a seed in it; to learning how to separate recyclable materials via a relay race.

“My favorite was the recycle race, because it basically teaches you which goes where,” Jorja Quirk, second-grade student said. “I learned about paper, plastic and aluminum.”

“It’s a reinforcement with our curriculum,” Jorja’s teacher, Leighanne Hall said of why she likes the Envirothon. “It’s an all-around fun day.”