Botetourt County 4-H has been busy throughout February and March with in-school programs, club meetings, and other activities. We’ve got several big programs and projects planned in the coming months and are excited to share all of this with you.
In February, our fourth and fifth grade in-school programs focused on a variety of topics. Fourth grade students got to assemble Mars Rovers as we discussed the red planet and its specific features. The rovers provided students with an understanding of what the actual Mars Rovers missions entail while creating obstacle courses that their rovers had to traverse.
While assembling their rovers, students learned basic wiring techniques and about open and closed circuits. Students in fifth grade learned about the rocks cycle that focused on igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, as well as the concepts of weathering, erosion, and deposition. They completed a hands-on project where they created “sediments” from three separate colors of crayons, compacted them into “sedimentary rocks,” and then I took them back to my office and melted them down, creating metamorphic rocks. These projects were then returned to the students so that they could take them home with them.
In March, fourth grade students learned about the life cycle of a plant and photosynthesis. Their hands-on experiment allowed them to see how the process of photosynthesis occurs using discs of spinach leaves, a solution of baking soda and dish soap, and light from lamps that represented sunlight. During this project, students observed the creation of oxygen gas and glucose that caused the spinach discs to rise to the top of a cup after they had been depleted of air bubbles.
We completed our oceans projects with fifth grade students that allowed them to observe how currents form from wind and temperature, as well as how salinity is a factor in the mixing of salt water and fresh water. We also worked with students at Buchanan Elementary School through our partnership with their afterschool science club. Here, students participated in our oceans activity, egg drop experiment, and an engineering project where they made bucket towers to see how many pennies their structure could hold before collapsing.
Our in-school archery program at Central Academy Middle School will begin winding down for the year in April. Students have continued to harness their skills and have learned how to score their targets and have been challenged with increased distances.
In March, we worked with students in Ms. Stevens’ Agriculture classes at James River and taught them how to build a resume and enhance their interviewing skills through a mock interview process. Last week, all of these students participated in mock interviews in front of their classmates, where they chose a career and had to interview for a job in that field.
Registration for 4-H Camp officially opened on Monday, March 28. Anyone interested in attending 4-H Camp needs to complete a registration form and submit a deposit/full payment to our office at their earliest convenience. Registration will close on Friday, May 6.
Botetourt County 4-H Community Clubs have had an active couple of months with club meetings, activities, and some competitions. Currently, our livestock and robotics clubs have been participating in a variety of competitions. The Robotics Team is preparing for their district championship which will take place from Thursday, April 7th to Saturday, April 9th in Hampton, VA.
The livestock club is preparing for the 4-H/FFA Skillathon event in Harrisonburg, VA on Tuesday, March 29th. This club will also be holding a bake sale fundraiser on Saturday, April 2nd at the Rockingham Cooperative Ace Hardware Store in Troutville from 8 AM to 1 PM. Anyone interested in supporting the livestock club can stop by and grab some sweet treats to raise funds for future competitions, programs, and activities. We will also be selling livestock club t-shirts as a part of the fundraiser as well. If anyone is interested in donating baked goods as a part of the fundraiser, you can drop those off at our office by 5:00 PM on Friday, April 1st, or contact our office to make other arrangements.
Members of our Teen Leadership Club will be participating in 4-H Camp training this weekend, as we continue to make preparations for 4-H Camp. If anyone is interested in serving as an adult volunteer for our week of 4-H Camp on June 13-17, please contact Tyler Painter for additional details.
Finally, we will be holding our Botetourt 4-H County Presentation Contest on Friday, April 22nd at Central Academy Middle School starting at 6:30 PM. We have invited approximately 80 students from 4th and 5th grade that have excelled in their classroom presentations in Dramatic Reading or How-To demonstrations. Students will be divided up within their presentation area and will get to compete against students from other elementary schools across the county. If any adults would like to serve as a volunteer for this contest, please feel free to reach out to us.
As always, if you would like more information on any of our 4-H programs, please contact Tyler Painter at 473-8260.
