4-H Leads the Nation in Generating Youth Interest in Science Education and CareersDonald T. Floyd, Jr., President and CEO, National 4-H Council
Millions of young people across the nation will become scientists for the day during the fifth annual 4-H National Youth Science Day (NYSD) on Wednesday, October 10, 2012. This annual event seeks to spark an early youth interest in science and future science careers and to reclaim the nation’s position of leadership in scientific exploration. As part of 4-H NYSD, youth will participate in the 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge: the 2012 National Science Experiment.
Designed by The Ohio State University Extension, this year’s experiment will introduce youth to robotic engineering concepts as they program a robot to clean up a simulated environmental spill. The 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge will demonstrate that by utilizing engineering principles, youth can have a positive impact on communities and ecosystems.
4-H’ers will enhance their engineering skills by assembling their own Eco-Bots and surface controls to manage an environmental clean-up. Youth will then test the interaction between the Eco-Bot’s design features and various surface control configurations to determine the most effective clean-up solution for the simulated spill.
To combat a national shortage of young people pursuing science college majors and occupations and to enhance the nation’s contribution to the sciences, 4-H National Youth Science Day demonstrates that science, engineering, math, and technology are fun and attainable options for college degrees and future careers.
Currently, more than five million young people across the nation participate in 4-H science, engineering and technology programming in topics as varied as robotics, rocketry, wind power, GPS mapping, agricultural science, filmmaking, water quality, and biofuels.
4-H’s robust, university research-based science curriculum, combined with new initiatives like 4-H National Youth Science Day, will arm young people with the necessary technical skills to help America maintain its competitive edge in the global marketplace.