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Summer 2009
Using
Teens to Help Lead Science & Engineering Experiments with Cloverbuds
Science
and Engineering experiments often require more hands than a single advisor
has. If you would like to lead a science or engineering experiment with
your Cloverbuds, but need more hands-on help, consider using teen volunteers.
Teens are an excellent option for extra help, provided they are trained
and supervised in their new role.
Finding Teens
If your Cloverbud Club is part of a larger project-based club with older
members, you may already have teens available. However, if those teens
are busy with their own club work during your meetings, or if your club
doesn’t have many older members, ask your Extension Office if there
are other teen groups which may be available to help, such as:
 Junior Leadership
Club members
County Camp
Counselor Teams
Training Teen Volunteers
Every volunteer should receive at least some basic instruction, so that
they understand what is expected of them. Be specific about your expectations:
 When
do they need to be there and how long will it take?
Where
is the meeting? (Send a map if needed.)
What
will they be doing?
Give them written instructions for the
science or engineering experiments ahead of time so they may practice
them on their own before they get there, or set up a time to go through
the experiment with them. This will help them become more comfortable
with what the Cloverbuds will be doing and where the young members may
need extra help.
Supervision
Someone who understands the experiments should be nearby to help if something
unexpected happens and the teens need help with what to do next. This
also allows you to make some observations about how well each teen works
with the younger members. So, next time you see an interesting science
or engineering experiment you’d like to try, consider asking some
teen members for help. They can be the extra hands you need to try something
new and exciting with your Cloverbuds!
Gwen Soule, Extension Educator
4-H Youth Development
OSU Extension, Sandusky
County, Ohio.
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Engineering
Idea for Cloverbud Meetings
For many Cloverbud Volunteers, the idea of teaching about engineering
sounds much too complicated for young minds. However, engineering is simply
applying science and mathematics principles to design and create things
more useful to people. Here are a few activities to try with your Cloverbuds
that you can connect to engineering.
Do Different Colors Absorb Heat Better?
Materials
4 sheets of colored paper (white, yellow, red, black)
Newspaper
Scissors
4 Ice cubes
Sunny day or heat lamp
Notebook to record observations
Directions
1) Ask youth to imagine that it is 100° outside. What kinds
of thing will they do to stay cool?
What kinds of clothing will they wear? What about the color of
the clothing?
2) Have pre-stenciled 5 sided boxes ready to cut out and assemble.
You will need one per
color for a total of 4 colored boxes. See example above.
3) Lay newspaper down under the sunlight and place color boxes side
by side with the
opening facing away from the sunlight so the youth can see inside.
4) Place 1 ice cube in each of the colored cubes.
5) Have the youth check the ice cubes every few minutes and record
on a notebook which
melted first, second,third and fourth.
Discuss with the class their observations.
Why do ice cubes melt? How does the sun affect ice? Which color absorbs
heat the quickest in the sun? What kinds of clothes do people wear outside
in winter/summer?
Engineering Connection
The study of light and its behavior is a major
component in design of optical instruments such as cameras, microscopes,
CD players and medical systems. Different sources of light carry different
quantities of energy. For example, lasers are very powerful and can cut
through stone or even metal. Using this information, engineers can improve
existing equipment designs.
Source: Do Different Colors Absorb Heat Better? Retrieved May 19, 2009
from http://teachengineering.comview_activity.php
url=http://www.teachengineering.org/collection/wpi_/activities/wpi_colors_absorb_heat_better
colors_absorb_heat_better.xml
Michelle Fehr, Program Coordinator,
4-H Youth Development,
OSU Extension, Belmont County, Ohio.
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Building
a Ski Jump
Background &
Preparation
Gather the materials for this activity.
Slit the insulation tubing down the middle to make two half-round troughs
from each. You will see that there is already a slit down one side. Open
this up with your fingers and use sharp scissors or a craft knife to cut
the other side. Try to make the halves as even as possible. Make your
own ski jump before doing the activity with the children. See what works
and what problems arise. By doing a test run you can anticipate any problems
the children may experience.
Before the children begin, think about
how to arrange the teams within the space you have available. Each team
will work with 6 feet of track. The marble may jump almost 3 feet beyond
that, so you need about 10 feet of floor space for each team to be comfortable.
Each team should attach the high end of their track to a table or chair
and use other furniture or books to support the rest of the track.
Introduction of Activity
Ask the children if they have ever seen
a real ski jump in the Winter Olympics, either on TV or in person. If
you have you know that ski jumpers become airborne if they get enough
speed. (If you can, find a picture in a magazine or on the Internet of
a skier flying through the air.) Ask the children, “What’s
pushing this person through the air?” and “How does he or
she get going so fast?”
Your challenge is to see if you can make
a marble do the same as a ski jumper with the track and materials provided.
The challenge is to design a ski jump that makes your marble jump into
a can without bouncing on the floor.
Materials Needed
 Foam
insulation tubing (6 feet total length)
Glass
marbles
Empty
coffee cans (or similar) to use as
targets
Yardstick
or measuring tape
Masking
tape and string
1 large,
empty cardboard box
Processing Questions
 After children have
had sufficient time to build and test their ski jumps, have them look
at
the
other team’s ski jumps. Have them list one thing they really like
about their own
team’s design
and one thing they really like about another team’s design.
How did you stop
the track from wobbling?
How did you aim the
marble for the can?
What makes the marble
go faster or slower?
What will happen
if you make the track steeper?
Where is the best
place to start the marble rolling?
Source: Adapted from Center for Science Education. http://cse.edc.org/curriculum/designit/pdfs/ballstracksact1.pdf
Bruce Zimmer,
Extension Educator, 4-H Youth
Development
OSU
Extension, Monroe County, Ohio.
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Campus
Connections
Hello
Ohio 4-H Cloverbud volunteers! It feels good to make another 4-H Cloverbud
Connection with you!
We will be in the dog days of summer soon
and 4-H Cloverbud children are heating up! You might be hearing things
like, “I am so bored!” or “What can I do?” Well,
this is a great time to get children involved with 4-H Cloverbud activities,
field trips, or community service, to name a few!
Even though the first thing in your mind
is: how can we keep our kids busy and occupied; we don’t want to
forget our main objective of 4-H Cloverbuds is to promote life skills:
thinking critically, communicating, choosing healthy lifestyles, etc.
One way to help ensure the enhancement of life skills is to ask children
questions based on the experiential learning model (the experience - sharing,
process, generalize, apply).
Try using some of these questions the next
time you or your volunteers are working with
4-H Cloverbud children. (Adopted
from Nebraska’s Clover Kids)
« Sharing Questions
**What
did you do?
**What
happened?
**Why
is it hard or easy to do?
« Processing Questions
 What
happened in this activity that is like things you have seen or done before?
Why
did that happen?
What
if you had...?
« Generalizing Questions
 What
did you learn through this activity?
Why
is that important?
How
does this relate to other things you do? At home? In school or your
neighborhood?
« Applying Questions
 What
did you learn today that will be helpful in the future?
How
can you use what you learned today in other situations?
What
will you do next?
By using such questions, we can stimulate
children’s brain to make life skill achievement a reality. Thank
you for all that you do as a 4-H Cloverbud volunteer to improve the lives
of children throughout Ohio!!
Scott D. Scheer,
Ph.D.
State Extension Specialist, Preadolescent Education
4-H Youth Development, The Ohio State University
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Graham
Cracker Creation
Supplies Needed:
Graham crackers
Creamy peanut butter and/or cake frosting
Assorted foods for decorations: marshmallows, pretzel sticks, animal crackers,
cereal, candy
Plastic Knives
Disposable Plates
Show and tell your Cloverbuds that you
have brought some materials that they can use to create a snack. Brainstorm
about some of the things they could build with the ingredients - a house,
truck, animal, book, etc. Ask what they could use to hold the parts of
their creation together. Let them use their imagination to create their
snack. Invite them to talk about their creation before they enjoy it.
Consider serving ice cold milk as the beverage.
Joyce Shriner, Extension Educator,
FCS/County Extension Director,
OSU Extension,
Hocking County, Ohio.
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