4-H School Enrichment In the Classroom

Ashtabula County's 4-H Youth Development program offers science curriculum to meet our local Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) initiatives. Curriculum meets the targeted performance and instructional objectives from "Ohio's Model Competency-Based Programs for Science," Ohio Department of Education, 1994, which includes scientific inquiry, scientific knowledge, conditions for learning science and applications for science learning

Programming and materials on the topics below are available at the Ashtabula County Extension Office at 440-576-9008.


Science-based Programs offered by the Ashtabula County OSU Extension Office:
  • Robotics - Empower students, turning their natural curiosity into creative exploration, can use LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 as an instant engagement tool.
  • The Incredible Egg - Eggzactly how does an egg become a chick? Students can learn by exercise or observation with this popular teaching package. Designed to be used either independently or sequentially, the four lessons in the curriculum also address the parts of an egg and its nutritive value, all in fun-filled lessons that incorporate science, language arts, and math skills.
  • Rockets Away! - The Rockets Away educational program teaches about the science of rocketry through the use of hands-on experiments, computer software and the building and launching of 2-liter bottle rockets.
  • Weather Together - The 4-H Weather Together project engages learners in the exploration of weather through a variety of classroom-based and self-guided activities.  The teaching strategy reflected in this unit encourages inquiry-based learning, the active use of science skills, and the use of creative and critical-thinking skills.  Students will explore the influence of sunlight, gravity and moisture on the atmosphere, and the interaction of these influences which creates weather.  Students will learn to predict the level and intensity of these interactions on local weather conditions.
     
    Weather Together activities are designed with the busy teacher in mind.  This five-week, five-lesson unit is designed to be taught in 60-minute intervals, with the potential to expand to 120 minutes if optional Digging Deeper and Going Beyond Activities are conducted.  The book includes photo-ready transparencies, cut and assemble teaching posters, end-of-lesson review tests, read and do worksheets, a glossary of weather-related terms, a shopping list of equipment and consumables, and web page support for predicting local weather conditions.
  • GO Plants! - A Plant Science Unit 3rd-4th Grade Classrooms.  The 4-H GO Plants! - Growing opportunities with Plants program engages third- and fourth-grade students in the exploration of plant science topics through a variety of science skill-building activities. The teaching strategy reflected in this unit encourages inquiry-based learning, the active use of science skills, and the use of creative and critical thinking skills. This includes planting, growing, and maintaining plant materials in the classroom under grow-lights or in a window-garden situation.
  • Junior Master Gardeners - http://www.jmgkids.us/    The JMGsm Junior Master Gardener program is an international youth gardening program of the University Cooperative Extension network. JMGsm engages children in novel, "hands-on" group and individual learning experiences that provide a love of gardening, develop an appreciation for the environment, and cultivate the mind.

    JMGsm also inspires youths to be of service to others through service learning and leadership development projects and rewards them with certification and recognition. Youth can explore their world through meaningful horticulture and environmental science activities that encourage leadership development, personal pride, responsibility and community involvement. The program incorporates service learning and volunteerism, which enables youth to make a positive contribution to their community.

    Peer and cross generation mentoring occurs when JMGsm groups interact with Master Gardeners, community leaders and other volunteers. JMGsm youth can be mentors to younger youth, by teaching them about horticulture.  JMGsm provides an opportunity for youth to interact and bond with nature. As they go through the JMGsm program, they can learn how to conserve our natural resources and make knowledgeable decisions about the environment.
  • Science Fun with Airplanes - Learn about the principles of flight and why planes fly the way they do with our Science of Flight 4-H Project Book. This manual provides over 20 hands-on experiments to help youth learn about this fascinating subject.
  • Breads of the Harvest - What sustained the Pilgrims during their long ocean voyage to the New World? What did they eat to celebrate their first harvest in the American wilderness? What European delicacies did they learn to adapt to their new homeland? Breads. This three-unit curriculum integrates science, language arts, and math concepts in a study of the role of breads in shaping the history of this nation.
  • Fishy Science - Water, water everywhere-and yet fish get thirsty. Why? Through observation and experimentation, students learn the answers to that question and many others in this four-lesson curriculum on how fish swim and breathe, their sensory features, and their adaptation to water. Units can stand alone or work as a progression.

Other Programs offered by the Ashtabula County OSU Extension Office:

  • Real Money, Real World - Are your students ready for a real life experience? Are you ready to introduce your students to the problems mom and dad face every day and the student will soon face? The Reality Day Program can be accomplished in just three or four class periods. Students will learn how to manage a budget and balance a checkbook, students will learn that their future earning ability is in direct proportion to their present learning.
  • Ag Day -In May, nearly all the county first graders descend on the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds to participate in Ashtabula County’s “Ag Day.” Coordinated by OSU Extension and the Ashtabula County Farm Bureau, the primary goal of this event is to educate first graders on where their food comes from and to showcase the different types of agricultural commodities which are being produced in Ashtabula County. During this interactive day, students were able to get up close and personal with farm animals, crops, fruits, and vegetables at interactive stations relating to our county’s agriculture.

    During the day, the students:

    • Learned the importance of healthy nutrition and exercise.
    • Learned what type of machinery is used in agriculture.
    • Learned how seeds are planted to give us an array of tasty fruit and vegetables and how they are processed into foods that we enjoy.
    • Made their own home-made butter and tried their hand at milking a cow.
    • Learned about bees, dairy cows, sheep, horses, beef cows, goats, pigs, alpacas, chickens, ducks, and turkeys.
  • Teamwork & Teamplay - Visit this link to see what Team Building is all about!  Great Web site!  Teamwork & Teamplay. A workshop based on the title of the best selling adventure-based book, appropriate for all levels of experience. This presentation is intended to acquaint the audience with a variety of new, ground level, portable challenge and adventure-based educational activities that can be used to build confidence, cooperation, teamwork, creativity, trust, communication, decision making and problem solving skills within groups. Call the office for more information about our teambuilding sessions and opportunities.

 

For more information about these programs or to design a program right for you:

 Call 440-576-9008