Mission Energy: 4-H Energy projects online
The Mission Energy: The Missouri 4-H Energy Projects uses a closed Facebook group (or search “4-H Mission Energy” at Facebook.com). The group is open to 4-H youth ages 13-18.
Objective
To provide an online forum and leadership for 4-H youth statewide to participate in the 4-H energy project.
Often it is difficult to find project leadership for 4-Hers in rural areas. The online format provides leadership for youth across the state. The format is also a unique way to connect youth in the same project across the state. We can mobilize subject matter “experts” to respond to missions and make substantive posts on the page to connect caring adults with the youth. This page can also be a place where information and topics related to energy can be discussed and debated.
How it works
A Facebook page has been created entitled Mission Energy: The Missouri 4-H Energy Project. This is a closed Facebook group. Youth and adults must request to join or be invited to join the group. Adults must be 4-H staff or trained 4-H volunteers who have gone through 4-H background screening.
Monthly a mission will be posted in a “doc” in Facebook. Youth will be asked to engage in this project in their home counties and will be encouraged to work together in small project groups to “do” the task. Youth then are required to “reflect” on the energy mission through their “mission debrief” which will be posted to the wall of the Facebook page. The “mission debrief” will be a series of questions constructed by an adult or junior leader and posted to the wall. The youth must comment to these questions in order to be a “member in good standing” in the project.
Application Challenges will be posted by the adult through a “doc” in Facebook and youth will then repost through comments after they have applied their knowledge.
Mission Energy Conference with the Captains
Prior to the state fair, to remain in good standing members must Conference with the Captain (conference judging). This will be scheduled with one or several conference captains (judges). The judges will utilize the chat function in the page to chat with the member utilizing typical conference judging questions. Members may choose to team conference with captains in which case the captain would chat with the full group and ask judging questions.“Mission Ribbons” Incentives
Members in good standing who have responded to all of the missions, mission debriefs and application challenges on the page are eligible to be placed in a drawing for incentives. Incentives could include: scholarship to aerospace camp, robotics kit NXT, GPS unit, gift certificate to JCPenney or Discovery Science store.Curriculum
We will start with the National 4-H Wind Curriculum to construct the missions. After we could develop curriculum for other types of energy.
(Develop a project brief for Energy for Missouri 4-H website to reflect what youth could bring to the fair and the technology component.)The Big Debate
A secondary component of the group would be Energy Debates which would be facilitated by adult volunteers in the format of questions drawn from current events. These current events must be cited or posted on the main page with the question so that members can reference the original source (i.e. newspaper articles, t.v. clips, trade books, or magazine articles, or eXtension articles).
Contact
Jenny Norell at
flattj@missouri.edu