Summary
American students are struggling in the areas of science, engineering, and technology and as a result, fewer students are choosing careers in these areas, allowing the United States to be outpaced by other countries. To address this issue, Meriwether and Troup County 4-H Clubs utilized the Agri-Science curriculum in 5th grade in-school club meetings, provided after-school science workshops, and held a 4-H Science Day Camp during the summer to expose youth to the many fields of science, engineering, and technology.
Situation
According to the Nation's Report Card for Science, American students are struggling with science proficiency. Only 21% of 12th grade students are considered proficient in science and 60% performed at only a basic level. This lack of knowledge is carrying over to college where only 16.8% of the degrees earned are in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics. The United States is falling behind the rest of the world in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics because internationally 26.4% of degrees earned are in these majors. On a local level, science proficiency in Meriwether County is very low with only 16% of 5th graders exceeding requirements and only 50% that have met requirements on the Science CRCT. This is only a 66% passing rate which is 11% behind the Georgia average. Troup County schools are in line with the Georgia average and schools that have implemented the 4-H Agri-Science curriculum have seen a 9.6% increase in Science CRCT scores in the three years the curriculum has been utilized for 4-H meetings. The best time to foster a love of science in youth is during the fifth through eighth grade years, which makes 4-H an ideal candidate for increasing science awareness in youth. Meriwether and Troup County 4-H seeks to address these issues by providing 4-H'ers with opportunities to learn about and explore fields in Science, Engineering, and Technology.
Response
Troup and Meriwether County 4-H chose to address this issue and improve science awareness with a two-fold approach by increasing science activities in both in-school and after-school meetings. The Georgia 4-H Agri-Science curriculum was utilized for club meetings in fifth grade classrooms. During these meetings 5th grade 4-H'ers participated in activities on topics such as microorganisms, inherited traits, and environmental forces. Homeschool 4-H'ers in fourth through sixth grades also completed monthly science activities and the 4-H National Youth Science Day experiment was taught in both counties. Afterschool science workshops were conducted with 4th and 5th graders in the Afterschool Program at two Meriwether Elementary schools. In addition to these efforts, increasing science awareness has been a theme of the summer programming for the past five years. In 2012, a week-long science and engineering day camp was held in Troup County. This camp was offered to any student in 4th-6th grades. Activities at the camp focused on engineering design, robotics, and videography. A separate Lego Robotics camp was also held for four days during the summer. Troup County also increased its number of STEM related clubs with the addition of the Poultry Club and four Lego Robotics Teams. Troup County continued to offer Forestry Judging, Poultry Judging, and Horse Quiz Bowl teams to its members.
Impact
Meriwether and Troup County 4-H Clubs have succeeded in reaching a large audience and increasing science awareness in fifth through eighth grade 4-H'ers. In 2012, monthly school club meetings focused on teaching science curriculum reached approximately 115 fifth graders and 46 middle school students in Meriwether and 322 fifth graders, middle school students, and homeschool 4-H'ers in Troup County for a total of 2634 contacts over the past 5 years. 54% of the 5th grade contacts stated that they enjoyed science more than before because of 4-H meetings. Comments from teachers included: “[4-H Staff] made our lessons come alive by allowing students to do hands on activities and enriching my classroom lessons”, “Students retained the information as well or better than regular classroom material”, “This was a helpful addition to the curriculum and my classroom. The hands-on lessons help motivate the students and they retain information from their learning experiences with [4-H Staff]”, “Love the "hands on approach to projects", and “[Our 4-H Leader's] lessons integrated with 5th grade standards and allowed students to view those standards in different ways.”
The total number of science contacts for summer programming in the past five years was 399 youth. In Troup County, 40 youth and 10 teen leaders participated in the week-long Science Day Camp in 2012. Seventy-eight percent of camp participants claimed to like science after participating in the camp and 17% of participants increased their interest in science. Thirty-six percent said they will enjoy science classes at school more than before because of the camp.
Over the past five years, 590 students have participated in National Youth Science Day activities. One hundred thirty-eight youth participated in afterschool science events, 6 on the Livestock Show Team, and 93 on science-related judging teams. Thirty-five youth raised chickens as part of the Poultry Club, 30 youth participated in summer Lego Robotics sessions, and 28 joined the Lego Robotics Team. Over 85 contacts have been reached through the Horse Clubs in Troup and Meriwether Counties and 272 youth have participated in the environmental education programs at 4-H summer camps.
State Issue
S.E.T. - Science, Engineering, and Technology
Details
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Year:
2012
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Geographic Scope:
Multi-County
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County:
Troup
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Program Areas:
