The Russell Co. 4-H program presented a series of science activities in collaboration with the fourth grade classrooms in the Russell Co. School System. The program was presented to more than 225 youth.  Science is part of the core curriculum for this grade as well as one of Kentucky 4-H’s seven core curricula areas.  Over the school year, the students were presented with learning opportunities in the areas of general science/careers in science and using the scientific method for discovery.  They learned about renewable and non-renewable resources and learned that plastic can be made from corn to reduce the use of non-renewable resources.  They also learned basic ASCII coding and learned to use a dichotomous key to classify beans.  Additionally the youth learned about owls and their role in our ecosystem through owl pellet dissection, and they learned about electricity through hands-on building of circuits. Most of the youth experience success with the hands-on activities and got to “learn by doing.”

In a post-program evaluation, over 80% of the youth indicated that what they learned through the 4-H science program has helped them in their classroom science studies. Approximately 29% of the youth also indicated an interest in pursuing science as a career.

In addition to the school enrichment science programs, the 4-H agent led a new 4-H Bug Club.  In this special interest club, youth learned more about arthropods and their role in our environment as well as their anatomy and adaptations for their environment.  The youth learned about classification of insects in the animal kingdom and well as their role in pollination and our food supply.  The culminating activity for this club was the dissection of lubber grasshoppers.