STATE FFA
ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
CAREER DEVELOPMENT EVENT
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please thoroughly read the Introduction Section at the beginning of this handbook for complete rules and procedures that are relevant to all State FFA Career Development Events.
1. PURPOSE
Environmental and natural resources education is necessary to ensure an educated public and to prepare students to enter careers in the environmental and natural resources fields. The purpose of the environmental and natural resources career development event is to stimulate student interest, promote environmental and natural resources instruction in the agricultural education curriculum and provide recognition for those who have demonstrated skills in this area.
2. EVENT RULES
1. No team, team member or team coach shall visit the event location to observe materials and facilities after March 1st. If any team, team member or coach is reported and proven to do so, the team will be eliminated and not allowed to compete in the State FFA Environmental and Natural Resources Career Development Event.
2. Teams will be assigned to group leaders who will escort them to various event-staging sites. Each team is to stay with his or her assigned group leader throughout the event or until told to change leaders by the event superintendent.
3. All teams will be given an identification number by which they will be designated throughout the event.
4. Participants must come to the event prepared to work in adverse weather conditions. The event will be conducted regardless of the weather. Participants should have rainwear, warm clothes and appropriate footwear.
5. Written Materials: All written materials will be furnished for the event. No part of the contest written materials will be available before team registration on the day of the contest. Any team acquiring a copy of such materials and/or filling out contest materials prior to the actual start of the contest will be disqualified. No written materials such as tests, problems and worksheets shall be removed from the site.
6. The event will include the following 6 stations:
a. Soils Analysis
b. Water Quality/Aquatics Identification
c. Plant and Tree Identification
d. Michigan Wildlife Identification
e. GPS/Environmental Tools Identification
f. Ecosystem Analysis
3. EVENT FORMAT
A. Equipment Provided
Students will be provided with a series of six test stations. All necessary test kits, score cards, and GPS meters will be provided. There will be waders provided at the Aquatics site if necessary.
B. Equipment Not Provided
Suggested materials for students to bring- each team should bring a clipboard and a least two pencils. Teams will have access to writing materials at the contest site if needed.
C. Optional Equipment
Teams may use their own GPS meter and clinometer.
D. Contest Overview
All resources from this contest can be found on the MI FFA website, including photos of all plant and animal species used in this contest. This is a team event. Teams are required to stay together as they rotate through six eco-stations. The contest chair will notify teams when to move to the next station. Teams are also required to complete an Ecosystem Analysis of the contest site. It is recommended that one member of the team complete the Ecosystem Analysis questions as the team works through the other event stations. Each team will be allowed fifteen minutes per station. Except for the water chemistry section, all answers are to be recorded on the Scantron multi-purpose form B answer sheet Answers to the water chemistry analysis section will be recorded on a separate sheet provided in the contest packet. At the end of the competition teams will turn in their score card and additional water chemistry answer sheet to the contest chair. Teams will be required to submit all contest materials prior to departing the site.
The eco-stations are described below.
Section 1 Soils (50pts)
· Physical Properties
· Soil Erosion
· Soil Analysis
· Environmental Impact of Soil Degradation
For training please refer to the Land Conservation Contest guidelines found on the Michigan FFA web site. Students will be instructed to use a sound environmental perspective as they evaluate a soil pit. They will be provided all of the information about soil test data at the site. Students MUST fill out the soil portion of this contest as instructed on the Scantron answer sheet. The Michigan Land Judging Card will be used at this site and it has been formatted for bubble sheet responses.
Section 2 Water Quality/Aquatics (50pts)
· Identify Aquatic Organisms (see MI FFA website for resources)
· Identify Aquatic Plants (see MI FFA website for resources)
· Identify Invasive Species
· Test Water Chemistry
In this section there will be two components. The first will be an identification section which will be recorded on the Scantron sheet provided. Students will be instructed as to where there responses will be recorded. Real specimens will be used whenever possible and if they are not available photos from the training materials will be used. The second portion of this section will be the water chemistry station. Students may need to use waders to gather samples as instructed at the site. It is recommended that students try to use their time wisely as 15 minutes is allotted at each site. They may split up at this station to allow more than one activity to be done at the same time. NOTE: there are 2 answer sheets for this station. The first is the Scantron sheet for the identification of specimens. The other sheet will be included in the contest packet, on which the students will record water chemistry test results. ALL chemistry will be monitored by the station supervisor and retested throughout the contest to help verify results and natural changes that occur in the environment over time.
Section 3 Plants/Trees (50pts)
· Identify Common Plants (see MI FFA website for resources)
· Identify Common Trees (see MI FFA website for resources)
In this station students will identify a total of 25 plant and tree species. ALL 25 responses will be recorded on the contest Scantron sheet. On-site specimens will be used when possible, and trees/plants will be flagged for identification. If there are not 25 usable specimens, photos will be used from the training materials posted on the contest web site.
Section 4 Wildlife (50pts)
· Identify Common Mammals
· Identify Common Snakes
· Identify Common Amphibians
· Identify Common Fish
· Identify Common Turtles
· Identify Common Birds
At this station students will be identifying animals found in the contest guide on the web. Many of the photos were taken from Department of Natural Resources posters. Actual specimens will be used wherever possible. If animals are not available photos will used. ALL responses will be recorded on the contest Scantron bubble sheet.
Section 5 GPS/Environmental Tools (50pts)
· Identify Latitude and Longitude of Course Markers
· Identify Common Environmental Tools (see MI FFA website for resources)
At this station, students will determine the latitude and longitude coordinates of marked locations using provided GPS units, and answer questions about the locations. Students may bring their own GPS unit if they wish. In addition, students will identify environmental tools. A combination of actual tools and photographs will be used at this station. All answers for this station will be recorded in two separate sections of the Scantron sheet.
Section 6 Ecosystem Analysis (62pts)
· Site Overview
· Products of Environmental Site
· Signs of Environmental Quality
Students will use the question sheet provided in the contest packet to assess the site. The responses will be recorded on the Scantron bubble sheet. Instructions will be given to help students understand how to mark their responses.
E. Contest Scoring and Tie Breakers
The comprehensive list of species that will be used at the various stations is located on the back of this packet. IMPORTANT NOTE: The three- digit number assigned to each species will be used during the contest to fill in the correct responses on the Scantron score sheet. This will be explained to students on the day of the contest to eliminate errors.
This contest has a total of 312 possible points. The tie break will be as follows: To break a tie the contest chair will examine the total points scored by each team in the Ecosystem Analysis station. The team with the highest points will be the State winner. If the tie remains the team with the highest score in the Aquatics Identification section will win. As a final tie breaker the total score in the Soils Analysis section will determine which team will win the State Environmental Skills Contest.
Environmental and Natural Resources Skills Contest
SECTION 1 SOILS (50 POINTS TOTAL)
RECORD ALL ANSWERS ON THE SCANTRON SCORE SHEET
Soil Profile Score Card
Part 1
Soil Factors-Part 1 / Interpretation of Soil Factors1. Surface Texture
A. Coarse
B. Moderately Coarse
C. Medium
D. Moderately Fine
E. Fine / 5. Slope
A. Nearly Level 0-1%
B. Gently Sloping 1-3%
C. Moderate Sloping 3-5%
D. Strongly Sloping 5-8%
E. Steep 8-15%
2. SubSoil Texture
A. Coarse
B. Moderately Coarse
C. Medium
D. Moderately Fine
E. Fine / 6. Erosion-Wind & Water
A. None to Slight
B. Moderate
C. Severe
D. Very Severe
3. Color of surface layer
A. Dark
B. Medium
C. Light / Problems affecting this site and management
7. Soil Structure Y=A, N=B
8. Droughty Y=A, N=B
9. Stony Y=A, N=B
10. Drainage Y=A, N=B
11. Wet Spots Y=A, N=B
12. Seasonal Flooding Y=A, N=B
13. Slope Y=A, N=B
14. Wind Erosion Y=A, N=B
15. Water Erosion Y=A, N=B
16. Organic Matter Y=A N=B
17. Permeability Y=A, N=B
4. Color of subsoil
A. Bright
B. Mottled
C. Dull
Environmental and Natural Resources Skills Contest
Soil Profile Card
Part 2
RECORD ALL ANSWERS ON THE SCANTRON SCORE SHEET
Part 2 Recommended Management18. Grass waterways (Yes=A, No=B)
19. Contour tillage (Yes=A, No=B)
20. Strip Cropping (Yes=A, No=B)
21. Conservation tillage (Yes=A, No=B)
22. Terraces or diversions (Yes=A, No=B)
23. Windbreaks and/or vegetative barriers for erosion control (Yes=A, No=B)
24. Install and/or maintain artificial drainage (Yes=A, No=B)
25. Barnyard manure if available (Yes=A, No=B)
26. Liming materials (Yes=A, No=B)
27. Apply phosphorus or potassium fertilizer (Yes=A, No=B)
28. Cover and green-manure crops (Yes=A, No=B)
29. Return all crop residues to the soil (Yes=A, No=B)
30. Establish and/or maintain legume-grass mixture for continuous sod crops or pasture, reseeding only when necessary (Yes=A, No=B)
31. Establish and/or maintain grasses for permanent cover, reseeding only when necessary (Yes=A, No=B)
32. Managed grazing of pasture for erosion control (Yes=A, No=B)
33. Top dress established legumes with phosphorus (Yes=A, No=B) / 34. Top dress established legumes with potassium
(Yes=A, No=B)
35. Top dress permanent grass vegetation with commercial nitrogen (Yes=A, No=B)
36. Eradicate brush (Yes=A, No=B)
37. Special plantings for wildlife food and cover (Yes=A, No=B)
38. Plant adapted species of trees (Yes=A, No=B)
39. Protect trees and shrub areas from grazing and burning (Yes=A, No=B)
40. Manage woods – prune, harvest, cull (Yes=A, No=B)
Suitability for Alternative Uses
41. Septic tank disposal field (Yes=A, No=B)
42. Residential development without sanitary or storm sewers. (Yes=A, No=B)
43. Residential development with sanitary or storm sewers. (Yes=A, No=B)
44. Streets and roads. (Yes=A, No=B)
45. Playgrounds (Yes=A, No=B)
46. Paths and trails or golf courses (Yes=A, No=B)
47. Woodland wildlife area (Yes=A, No=B)
48.Open land wildlife area (Yes=A, No=B)
49. Wetland wildlife area (Yes=A, No=B)
50. Excavated pond (Yes=A, No=B)
SECTION 2
WATER QUALITY/AQUATICS (50 POINTS TOTAL)
Part 1. In the Aquatics section you will identify 25 aquatic and invasive species. Photos of these items can be found in the contest resource materials. Photos are identified with a three digit number which is to be transferred onto the provided Scantron score sheet. (25 points)
Part 2. Students will test water using the equipment provided. A score sheet like the one below will be provided, on which students will record their answers. (25 points)
SITE COMPONENT: WATER CHEMISTRY
1. Type of Surface Water: 4 points for correct answer. (Circle your answer)
Lake River-Stream
Pond Spring
Swamp Drainage
Bog Other ______
2. Temperature of Water (7 points possible):
3. Dissolved Oxygen (7 points possible):
4. pH of Water (7 points possible):
SECTION 3
PLANTS/TREES (50 POINTS TOTAL)
Students will identify 25 basic plants and trees provided at the contest. The list and photos of these species are available in the resources provided. If available, there will be plants and trees that are marked at the actual site or photos/samples (including bark and leaves) will be provided. The students will record the three digit number of each species onto the score sheet. Note: The Scantron Sheet is numbered 26-50 for this section.
SECTION 4
WILDLIFE (50 POINTS TOTAL)
Students will identify 25 animals provided at the contest. The list and photos of these species are available in the resources provided. There will be actual furs or mounted specimens that are marked at the actual site or photos will be provided. The students will record the three digit number of each species onto the score sheet.
SECTION 5
GPS/ENVIRONMENTAL TOOLS
(50 POINTS TOTAL)
Students in this section will be required to follow a course set up in advance by the contest chair. Students will locate and determine the latitude and longitude coordinates of marked locations using provided GPS units. Between 5 and 7 locations will be marked in an open area. Only one group may be at a marker at a time. The students will also describe the geographic relationships between the coordinates such as distance and direction. Students will also identify tools commonly used by professionals in environmental careers, recording the three digit number corresponding to each tool on the Scantron score sheet. The answers to the GPS questions and the Tools Identification will be recorded on separate sections of the Scantron score sheet. Note: Environmental Tools Questions are numbered 26-38 on the Scantron Scoresheet.
SECTION 6
ECOSYSTEM ANALYSIS (62 POINTS TOTAL)RECORD ALL ANSWERS ON THE SCANTRON SCORE SHEET
Site Overview:
Answer the following as (A) or (B). In addition, (A) can mean yes or true and (B) can mean no or false. Record all answers on the Scantron score sheet. 2 points for each correct response.