Posted: July 12, 2023
Twenty-two Pennsylvania 4-H members recently participated in the annual 4-H Engineering Design Challenge Showcase. This year's theme was "Be a Change Engineer: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."
Youths worked in teams of two to 10 members or participated individually to create a machine that focuses on recycling or using recycled materials. 4-H members showcased their machines at a recent event held both in person and virtually.
"It's a Rube Goldberg-style machine challenge where participants must create a complex contraption," said Toni Stuetz, 4-H youth development educator with Penn State Extension in Chester County. "The challenge was to incorporate eight to 20 steps in their machines, adding complexity to the task. It's similar to the concept seen in movies such as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,' where additional steps are added to perform a simple action, like cracking an egg."
Stuetz explained that 4-H extension educators developed a local curriculum to accompany this challenge, focusing on teaching youth to think like engineers and understand the engineering design cycle.
As the theme for the challenge was "reduce, reuse and recycle," many 4-H'ers used recycled materials in their machines, aiming to accomplish simple tasks related to recycling, such as putting a recyclable item in a bin or transporting recyclables.
"Throughout the process, the participants go through the engineering design cycle, coming up with potential solutions, building prototypes, testing them, making adaptations and redesigning as necessary," Stuetz said. "They also learn about simple machines and incorporate them into their designs, using elements such as dominoes and marbles."
In the poster category, 4-H'ers created informative posters on topics such as levers and careers in aerospace.
To learn more about STEM opportunities within the 4-H program, Stuetz recommends that students reach out to their local 4-H extension educators.
Administered in Pennsylvania by Penn State Extension, 4-H is a nonformal educational youth-development program of the United States Department of Agriculture that helps young people develop knowledge and skills to become capable, caring and contributing citizens. To find your local program, visit the Pennsylvania 4-H website.
