Hello, and welcome to Minnesota. 4-H. We're so glad you're thinking about joining us to help inspire youth to be creators, innovators, and leaders
We're here at the University of Minnesota to help you better understand
what participating in the science of agriculture challenge is all about and to hear directly from some of our awesome 4-H youth about their experiences
First, what is the science of agriculture challenge? The science of agriculture challenge is a team-based learning
opportunity where youth can explore their interests by identifying a problem related to agriculture by hypothesizing and testing solutions.
There's currently a shortage of people going into agricultural careers, so for this project
we are actually creating videos to try to make a difference in the amount of people that are going into agricultural careers.
What my team studied was the difference between
lambs that were on milk machines and lambs are being raised off the ewe.
Our team chose the topic of Honeybee being attacked by zombie flies because we saw that it was a problem
and we wanted to find a solution for it.
Let yourself out. No idea is a bad idea.
The team is evaluated based not just on their solution but the learning process in which they engage and how their work is
communicated publicly to create change and awareness in their own community.
At a state competition each year teams are recognized for their hard work, and top teams are awarded college scholarships.
You might be thinking that you don't have any interest in agriculture,
or that you live in an urban area where agriculture doesn't matter.
The clothes you're wearing might be made of cotton which is a field crop. The food you eat every day came from a farm somewhere planted by a farmer.
The rubber in your shoes and in the tires on your car comes from a tree.
You connect with agriculture in so many ways every day that you may not even realize.
Whatever your interests they probably have a connection to agriculture.
The science of agriculture challenge is a great way to dive deeper into those interests with supportive teammates,
learn from industry experts who will mentor you, learn how to effectively use the engineering design method,
hone your public presentation skills, and potentially earn a college scholarship.
Teams Form each fall in the science of agriculture season begins.
Teams are made up of three to five youth a coach who is a screened Minnesota 4-h adult Volunteer and
a mentor from the ag industry who most closely is related to your area of exploration.
It was really helpful to have our mentor who was knowledgeable in the field
because he was able to give us a lot of feedback and
able to help us with where to take our project once we got our results.
Teams identify the problem they want to address and utilize the eight science and engineering practices that closely mirror those used by professional engineers and scientists
Once we finished our research, we got to meet with our coach, and we worked on taking all of our data
We learned about "T" testing and other statistical tests that helped us with our data and what to do with it, seeing what works what didn't, making changes, testing.
Problem-solving will get you farther in life and this challenge gives you that opportunity to fine-tune your skills.
Teams hypothesize and test solutions.
Teams Determine how often they need to meet how they will work together and communicate,
And who will complete which tests.
To start our project our team met with a breeder and decided that we were going to meet weekly, so we could do weigh-in's on the lambs
We met weekly for three months
And then once that was over we would meet every other week to work on our research and putting our data together.
Teams then determine how to best communicate the information gathered, in addition to preparing a formal 20-minute presentation
that will be evaluated in competition by industry professionals.
You go in dressed up, you have interviews, you do a presentation. In the workforce,
when you're older you'll have to do the same thing, so this is just
preparing you for your life,
your real-world life. In order to communicate their work and create change in their own communities,
teams practice by giving their presentation
in a variety of settings. The team is also encouraged to publicize their work in as many ways as possible through social media, newspapers,
radio, or other media outlets.
Each time the team presents or communicates its work publicly it earns additional points toward a special community engagement cash award. The
culmination of the science of agriculture challenge happens early summer at our state event, where industry experts evaluate
presentations and provide feedback to teams. These industry leaders then choose the top three teams, who are awarded scholarships.
Now that I have gone through science of ag I'm definitely more open to different careers, like farming and agricultural related
careers. It was actually pretty fun to try to think of what we could come up with that was new and different and that hadn't
been done before. It's not just like farming or trying to figure out how to grow corn better. It's more than that. It's about
making relationships with people that might employ you. It's making relationships with people on your team.
Meeting more people. It's so much fun! Now that you've learned more about the science of agriculture challenge,
please connect with your local 4-H staff to get started.
I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands for larger service, and my
health to better living. For my family, my club, my community, my country, and my world.
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