4-H’ers participate in science day; Local youth use aerospace engineering to solve simulated global crisis
Published 9:41 am Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Enterprise 4-H members participated in the 4-H National Youth Science Day project as part of the National 4-H week celebrated Oct. 5-11. “Rockets to the Rescue” challenged 4-H members to become aerospace engineers to meet the challenge of a rescue mission by creating a paper rocket launched by a device made from PVC pipe and an empty 2L bottle. Photo provided
On Oct. 12, members of Mower County’s Enterprise 4-H Club got to see ways they could use their science skills to help people around the world.
Club members designed and built an aerodynamic craft designed to deliver a payload of food to natural disaster victims as part of 4-H National Youth Science Day, the world’s largest, youth-led science experiment. The activity, called “Rockets to the Rescue,” was designed by the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension and selected as the winning experiment for the seventh annual Youth Science Day. Youth across the nation, and some globally, conducted the same experiment at hundreds of local events in all 50 states.
Youth Science Day aims to get youth excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and spotlights many ways millions of children are engaging in 4-H science programs.
“Our nation is falling behind other countries in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Kaye Hansen, Enterpise 4-H club leader, in a press release. “However, participation in high-quality positive youth development programs like 4-H NYSD offers youth and adults the opportunity to engage in scientific exploration and work together to build the next generation of our nation’s scientists, engineers and mathematicians.”
Enterpise 4-H members conducted their experiment at the Mower County Fairgrounds and responded to a fictional scenario: A natural disaster left people without food on a remote, isolated Pacific island, and the youth were asked to build a rocket that could be launched from the mainland, travel over the ocean and deliver high-energy food to the population.
The experiment combined two 4-H issue areas — science and food security — and incorporated aerospace engineering concepts to help youth design a rocket out of everyday materials, including recyclable 2-liter bottles, cotton balls, pipe cleaners, rubber bands and a protractor.
People interested in more information about joining 4-H in Mower County, please contact the extension office at 507-437-9552.
