As a parJade Baker shows off the vascular system of her pig kidney.t of our Allen County 4-H initiative to expand 4-H programming into new project areas, brand-new SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) Day Camps were developed to provide youth with quality science hands-on learning experiences.  During these Senior 4-H'er, Tristan Skipworth, leading workshop series through dissecting a pig heart.two SET Day Camps, 18 participants learned about the similarities of human and animal sciences through a variety of dissection labs.  

At the first SET Day Camp, youth learned about organ functions by dissecting a cow eyeball, a sheep brain, a pig kidney, and a pig heart.  Senior 4-H’er and aspiring doctor, Tristan Skipworth, extended his own expertise of animal science and shared his passion for medical information, while leading each dissection lab.  4-H member, Peggy Bradley shared that the most interesting piece of information she received from the workshop was “how close we as humans are to animals.”

At the second SET Day Camp, participants explored the relations of organ functions to the entire vascular and organ systems within a dogfish shark, a pregnant rat and a bullfrog.  Youth not only gained experience dissecting animals to better understand human health, but participants also practiced the following life skills: teamwork, critical thinking and contributing to a group effort.

As a result of these SET Day Camps, 18 youth responded that after completion of the workshop series, they have a better understanding of the relationship that animal science and human science share.  After completion of the workshop series, 14 youth indicated that this was their first experience with animal dissections.  When asked whether youth planned on later entering the medical field as a career, 6 youth indicated they did plan to pursue a career in animal science, hu4-Her's Lilli and Wyatt explore their pregnant rat and it's digestive ssystem.  man sciences or medical field.