Fourteen Envirothon teachers from Pennsylvania and Virginia went paddling, turned over rocks, and studied forestry and soils during a two-day workshop this week, co-sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Lancaster County Conservation District.

Envirothon is a natural resource environmental education program that combines classroom learning and outdoor activities. Teams of five high school students compete at the county and state levels, testing their knowledge of soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues.Forestry and soils were subjects for the teachers on the first day of the workshop at the Masonic Village Pavilion in Elizabethtown with presentations by Ed Dix of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, and John Chibirka of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.On the second day, teachers paddled canoes on the lake at the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and learned about factors that contribute to the lake's health, from LCCD watershed specialist Matt Kofroth. The teachers then conducted water tests, and collected and surveyed macroinvertebrates in nearby Elder Run. In the afternoon, the group learned about waterfowl and mammals of Pennsylvania, and heard from Theresa Alberici, who coordinates the Envirothon on behalf of the Game Commission.This the 25th year for CBF's Susquehanna Watershed Education Program, which conducts summer training for adults, as well as day-trips for students during the school year. The 2015 fall season goes until Thanksgiving and Parke said the schedule is full with 45 student day-trips planned.