4-Her Participates in National Youth Science Day
Nashville, Ark. – Local 4-H member Joshua R. and County Extension Agent Kaycee Davis participated in the National Youth Science Day in Washington D.C. on October 5. 4-H National Youth Science Day is an exciting, interactive learning experience that engages youth in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It is the premier national rallying event for year-round 4-H STEM programming, bringing together volunteers, young people and educators for the nation’s 110 land-grant colleges and universities to simultaneously complete the National Science Challenge.
This year’s challenge, Drone Discovery, explored the engineering design and flight principles of drones. The activities demonstrated how drones and remote sensing can be used to solve real world problems.
The goal of 4-H National Youth Science Day is to introduce young people to and spark their interest in STEM opportunities.
Joshua is currently a 4-H National STEM Ambassador and 4-H Arkansas State Ambassador. He, along with 6 other national ambassadors, taught workshops helping mentor young people through active learning experiences. They also toured the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center.
Joshua led the “Code Copters” portion of the event, where the goal was to teach youth the basic principles of how drones fly. First the ambassadors and other volunteers led youth in “Simon Says,” then simple directions on a grid, which led up to the youth using a computer coding program, entitled Scratch developed by MIT. “Simon Says” was a good demonstration of using simple code to give direction and teaching the youth if you use the wrong code, such as, forgetting to say “Simon Says” before the command, then the “drone” (or youth) will not complete the task. This gave the youth something fun to do, while also teaching them to understand the most basic concepts of coding.
Joshua stated that his favorite part of the trip was touring the Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center. Kaycee enjoyed the entire trip, as this was her first time to Washington D.C. At the Global Vision Center the ambassadors and chaperones toured the flight exhibit, where they sat in a fighter jet flight simulator and tried on the newest technology in the form of a “smart” helmet developed by Lockheed Martin. The helmet allows pilots to see much more of their surroundings while in the cockpit of the jet. They also toured the Space Exploration Exhibit where they learned of Lockheed Martin’s work on the International Space Station.
Joshua is also a member of Howard County 4-H STEM Club, where these and other similar topics are discussed and challenges are held for educational fun. For more information, contact Howard County Extension Office 870-845-7517.
By Tina Williams
Program Assistant - 4-H
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
Media Contact:
Tina Williams
Program Assistant - 4-H
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
421 N. Main Nashville AR 71852
(870) 845-7517
tlwilliams@uada.edu
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