Envirothon combines in-class and hands-on environmental education[2] in a competition setting which involves a problem-solving presentation as well as written field tests.

The competition tests students on five core subjects — aquatic ecology, forestry, soils and land use, and wildlife — along with a fifth annually-changing subtopic which focuses on relevant environmental issues.

The organization also relies heavily on volunteers across North America to advise individual teams from each participating state and province.

[4] Governing the program is the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Executive, along with a NCF-Envirothon Operating Committee which is made up of representatives from participating states and provinces.

[6] Individual teams are often sponsored by school clubs or classes, local businesses and governments, or 4H and other such non-scholastic organizations.

At the North American Competition, teams that rank first through tenth receive prizes and scholarships of various values.

[3] Competition week at the NCF-Envirothon level includes various workshops, field trips, and seminars led by professionals and educators for both the students and their advisors.

[5] Expanding rapidly to include forty conservation districts by 1987, it gained attention from other states, and in 1988, the program became the National Envirothon, with participation from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Ohio.