The name is Earth Day but related events are underway across Iowa all week. Erin Jordahl, director of the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, is a judge at the daylong Iowa Envirothon Contest which involves 15 teams of Iowa high school students. The goal of the event is to develop students into knowledgeable people about the environment.Students will be tested on their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and environmental issues at Springbok State Park near Guthrie Center. Jordahl says each team will have to give a presentation on the complicated-sounding subject of “Invasive and Introduced Species and Their Effect on Biodiversity.”Jordahl says the students will have to do a lot of research beforehand.Competing high school teams include: Bennett, Grundy Center, Marshalltown, Northwood Kensett, Orient-Macksburg, Van Buren, Waverly-Shell Rock and Winterset. There are also two teams each from Western Christian, Terril, and Decorah, and a F-F-A team from St. Ansgar. The winning team will represent Iowa in the national competition in Massachusetts this summer.
