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Youth Engineer Success Through Growing 4-H Robotics Program

Posted: 1/21/2011

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(NAPSI) - At a time when only 32 percent of undergraduates in the United States are obtaining college degrees in science or engineering, 4-H is pursuing a bold goal to reach 1 million new youths with hands-on science education and exposure to exciting science careers by the year 2013.

4-H Science programs range from agricultural and animal sciences to rocketry, renewable energy and computer science. Nearly 5 million youths are already involved in 4-H Science programs, with new interest stemming from the rapidly expanding 4-H Robotics program.

The excitement surrounding the program can be attributed to a strategic partnership that National 4-H Council formed with FIRST Robotics in April 2009. Within the first year of the partnership, 43 new 4-H Robotics teams were formed across the country, giving hundreds of youths the opportunity to explore science fields through team-based experiences in designing, building and programming robots.

In April, nine 4-H teams were chosen to compete at the FIRST Championship for robotics in Atlanta, where they were among nearly 300 teams from around the country vying for the national title on the floor of the Georgia Dome.

“The joint work of National 4-H Council and FIRST demonstrates the amazing things youths achieve when given the opportunity to step up and pursue their interest in science, engineering and technology,” said Donald T. Floyd Jr., president and CEO, National 4-H Council.

And now, more 4-H youths will be able to explore their science interests. The state of Maryland was selected to help develop and test further expansion of robotics programming through a partnership with Lockheed Martin and JCPenney. 4-H is working with the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Program to establish and support 4-H Robotics clubs in each of the state’s 24 counties and Baltimore city. This work will ultimately create a model for establishing new 4-H Robotics clubs all across the U.S.

National 4-H Council will also launch a comprehensive robotics curriculum this fall for youths titled Robotics: Engineering for Today and Tomorrow, developed in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It will focus on physical science concepts related to robotics, engineering design processes and the exploration of possible careers in the field. The curriculum will be available for purchase online at www.4hmall.org.

For more than 100 years, 4-H has reached youths with science education through clubs, out-of-school programming, in-school enrichment programs and camps. Today, 4-H’s robust science programming is supporting the development of the next generation of top innovators as they grow through science, engineering, technology and applied math.

To learn more about 4-H, visit www.4-H.org or join on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/4-H.

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