In conjunction with National 4-H Week, Rowan County 4-H will be participating in the fifth annual 4-H National Youth Science Experiment on Thursday, October 11, at 5:30 p.m. This year’s experiment, 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge, will introduce youth to robotic engineering concepts as they program an autonomous robot to clean up a simulated environmental spill. The Ohio State University Extension has designed the 4-H Eco-Bot Challenge.
Youth will work in teams to assemble an Eco-Bot and use 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.
As the nation looks to address important environmental issues, youth are at the forefront of the discussion. In 4-H, young people are taught the skills they need to become the nation’s future leaders. Consequently, it is important for youth to understand the challenges faced by the global community, and the opportunities to make a positive impact on communities and ecosystems.
For more than 100 years, 4-H has been at the forefront of teaching youth about science, engineering and technology. The 4-H National Youth Science Experiment is an important annual part of 4-H’s One Million New Scientists, with a bold goal of attracting one million new youth to science, engineering and technology programs by the year 2013.
Now entering its fifth year, the 4-H National Youth Science Experiment seeks to spark an early youth interest and leadership in science. 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, water quality and biofuels. For more information about 4-H National Youth Science Day, visit www.4-H.org/NYSD.
For those wanting to participate in Rowan County 4-H’s National Youth Science Experiment, you must call 704-216-8970 by Tuesday, October 9, to register.