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Minnesota 4-H Agronomy Project Handbook

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Minnesota 4-H Agronomy Project Handbook Minnesota 4-H Agronomy Project Handbook © 2019 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, this material is available in alternative formats upon request. Acknowledgements Leadership provided by: ​ Brian McNeill, Extension Educator, Youth Development, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Southwest region project pilot team: Jared Goplen, Extension Educator, Agriculture Food and Natural Resources, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Sam Jens, Extension Educator, 4-H youth development, Lyon County, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Kirstin Koch, Extension Educator, 4-H youth development, Stevens County, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Marisa Kroells, Extension Educator, 4-H youth development, Renville County, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Janelle Negen, 4-H Program Coordinator, Swift County, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Crystal Reith, Extension Educator, 4-H youth development, Cottonwood County, University of Minnesota ​ Extension Becca Turnquist, Extension Educator, 4-H youth development, Swift County, University of Minnesota Extension ​ Reviewed and edited by: Casey Olson, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, Morris Regional Office, University of Minnesota ​ Extension We would also like to acknowledge the Minnesota Corn Growers Association for their financial support of this ​ ​ work. This guide was created in the fall of 2018. Updated in 2019. 2 Table of Contents Introduction 5 Purpose 5 Goals 5 Program Design 6 Opportunities 6 “Learn By Doing” Approach of 4-H 6 Teaching Life Skills 6 The Experiential Learning Process 7 Ladder of Learning 7 4-H Agronomy Program Model 8 Plant 8 Start-up Kits 8 Club Experiences: 4-H Club or Project Club 9 Adventures: After School or Summer 10 County Fair 10 Exhibit Timeline 10 4-H Premium Book and Exhibit Ideas 11 Judging Process 11 Interactive Displays at County Fair 13 Learn 13 Agronomy Day 13 Day Camps 13 Tours 14 Grow 15 4-H Crop Scouting 15 4-H Agriculture Ambassador 15 4-H Project and Career Connection 15 Science of Agriculture Challenge 16 State Fair 16 Evaluation 16 Volunteers 16 Appendix 18 3 Introduction Agronomy is the science of utilizing plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. 4-H projects in agronomy can explore the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, soil science and even the weather! Agronomy is unique because it combines sciences like biology, chemistry, ecology, earth science and genetics. As a career choice, Agronomists help in producing food, creating healthier food, managing environmental impacts and creating energy from plants. For more than a century, 4-H has engaged youth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This has traditionally meant a solid focus on agricultural science, electricity, engineering, mechanics, entrepreneurship and natural sciences. Today, 4-H has grown to include rocketry, robotics, bio-fuels, renewable energy, computer science, environmental sciences, and more. 4-H STEM provides youth with hands-on experiences that encourage them to learn about the world around them in partnership with adults that care about their learning and are excited about STEM. In school, science classes need to cover a broad range of topics in a limited amount of time. 4-H STEM allows youth the time to dig deeper into what interests them. They can spend as much time as they want and choose what they want to work on based on their interests, questions, and skills. 4-H allows youth to utilize expert support by working with adults who have made science and engineering their life's work. 4-H STEM allows youth to work on their questions, design their own experiments, create their own models, build their understanding and share their work with others. In 2018, Southwest Minnesota 4-H Youth Development launched an 4-H Agronomy Project Pilot to increase awareness and participation in the 4-H Agronomy projects. Through this pilot process, a design team explored, created and tested many different avenues of what could be included in 4-H Agronomy. The result was excitement with 4-Hers, a new look with agronomy related exhibits and many resources found in this handbook. Purpose 4-H youth explore the broad scope of agronomy and plant sciences through educational opportunities about crops, vegetables, horticulture and more. Participants learn about topics including: weeds, ag technology, crops, fruits, vegetables, gardening, and horticulture. Goals ● To provide opportunities for 1st Generation families, youth and volunteers ● To grow numbers and understanding of Agronomy Science ● To develop 21st Century learning in Agronomy ● To expose youth to higher education and career opportunities ● To build a base of volunteers in Agronomy ● To develop new partnerships within Extension 4 Program Design We are excited to be sharing with you the best practices of offering a 4-H Agronomy experience in your county or region. There are unlimited possibilities for you to provide youth and volunteers around the world of agronomy. This guidebook will provide you best practices and ideas that were tested, evaluated, and modified for your use. Opportunities As you begin working with the 4-H Agronomy program, there will be many NEW opportunities that will happen for you (as 4-H staff), your youth members, and adult volunteers in your county. ● New partnership opportunities: The 4-H Agronomy program will open the doors for many new partnerships. Some partnerships could include: local seed dealers, Co-ops, Elevators, Crop Consultants, Agronomists. Some others might include Community or Technical colleges with an Ag or Agronomy department. ● New 4-H member opportunities: There are many possibilities to explore, some could include: educational tours, day camps, project kits and county fair displays! You might even challenge your 4-H clubs to participate in trying some agronomy experiences at their 4-H club meetings. ● New volunteer opportunities: The agronomy world is full of potential volunteers for you to recruit and help enrich the agronomy programming you will be providing. Try getting agronomy crop scouts to be a coach for a crop scouting team. Ask a crop consultant to provide some education or an agronomy tour. Invite an agronomist to speak or provide an educational experience at a 4-H Council/Federation meeting. “Learn By Doing” Approach of 4-H The Minnesota 4-H Agronomy program focuses on these three philosophies. Teaching Life Skills Life skills are a basic foundation that prepare youth for success in life. The goal is for every youth to possess the life skills needed to succeed and lead a productive life. 4-H helps youth develop these basic life skills through hands-on activities in a number of program areas that offer something for every interest. The 4-H Agronomy program supports youth learning and growing at their stages of development. The implementation of the 4-H agronomy startup kits support youth as they learn to self-motivate, communicate and build resiliency. As the youth grow in this program, they refine other skills in cooperation, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and nurturing relationships. 5 The Experiential Learning Process 4-H Youth Development relies heavily upon the five steps of the experiential learning model to teach life skills. The sequential steps of the model help youth identify what they have learned from a 4-H experience or activity and apply that learning to other situations. This model requires that the “teacher/leader” be very clear about the skills targeted and that the experience and the processing questions are designed to support that learner goal. The experiential learning process engages the learners in all phases of the activity, resulting in the ability to generalize this learning to new situations. The 4-H Agronomy program supports the experiential learning process by providing start-up kits for youth to explore growing something. The youth will plant using their kits (Experience). They can share their kits with their 4-H club or other people (Share). They can continue to watch their plants grow and ask questions to their parents or another adult expert (Process). They can start to think about their experience and relate it to a job or education (Generalize). After their plant has grown, they can share their experience at a county fair or think about their next step for the coming year (Apply). Ladder of Learning A Ladder of Learning is a way of providing youth opportunities to continue to grow as they are involved in the 4-H Agronomy project. Below is an example of how the Ladder of Learning can be used in 4-H Agronomy: Grades K-2 Agronomy Day Camps Agronomy After school programs County Fair Exhibits - fun examples of youth exploring plants. Grades 3-6 Start-up Kits Agronomy Day Camps County Fair Exhibits - start-up kits, garden boxes, Agronomy judges assistants Grades 7-8 4-H Crop Scouting Start-up Kits County Fair Exhibits - start-up kits, garden boxes, crop jars, Agronomy judges assistants 6 4-H Agronomy Days - exploring Higher Education 4-H Agronomy Tours - exploring potential careers Grades 9-12+ 4-H Crop Scouting 4-H Agriculture Ambassador 4-H Agronomy Mentor County Fair Exhibits - Educational displays of agronomy, exploration or colleges or careers, science experiments using crops, soils or fertilizers. Youth Teaching Youth - Day camp presenters, in school presentations 4-H Agronomy Days - exploring Higher Education 4-H Agronomy Tours
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