2010 4-H National Youth Science Day

Two Rock 4-H held its 2010 National Youth Science Day event in Walnut Park, Petaluma CA on October 2. Many thanks to all the Two Rock 4-H kids and parents who helped to make this event a rousing success. We had three activities for the public to participate in: The CO2 "Turtlebot", CO2 experiments and a demonstration of solar and wind energy projects.



Our CO2 Turtlebot worked great and kids had a great time trying to maximize their CO2 output by holding their breath then signing the results as drawn by the Lego NXT robot.
Special thanks to Brian Davis of the NXT Step for his support in helping us build and program our Lego robot. Using the power of the Internet for collaboration, we conserved resources in this project. and many thanks to John Melville at Vernier Software & Technology who provided us guidance on how to connect their CO2 sensor to our robot.

We had many kids try the 4-H2O experiment and kids really got the concept of the effects of CO2 in water and the air. Some kids found that increasing the amount of CO2 in the plastic bags led to "explosive results", much to the amazement of onlookers.

We also had a chance to test some of our solar model cars as part of our 2010-11 4-H project activities. Some cars worked better than others, with the overall winner being the easy to build "Solar Grasshopper". This was the first time Two Rock 4-H had done a science event like this and I am very pleased for all the support and encouragement we had from our club and the community.

2010 4-H National Youth Science Day

On Saturday, October 2, 1 PM - 5 PM, come join Two Rock 4-H Club Primary Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) project as we participate in the National Youth Science Day. This event will be held at Walnut Park at the Petaluma Farmers Market, 310 D Street, Petaluma, CA‎.

In 2009, the Two Rock 4-H Club started a SET project titled "Robots in the Environment". We looked at how robots interact and sense their surroundings and we made several different robots, including working underwater remotely operated vehicles.

For the 4-H NYSD event, we will have a 10' x 10' booth and have four activities related to this years theme - "Clean water, bright future"

1. The NYSD Experiment - Two Rock 4-H volunteers will lead the public through the bromothymol blue, pH experiment. We ordered 75 4-H experiment kits and will have on hand additional experiment materials as a reserve.

2. CO2 "Turtlebot" - We have a Lego's Mindstorms NXT "robot turtle" which senses CO2 levels and draws the results on a long piece of paper. the public can blow into a straw tubing and the turtlebot will measure the CO2 in their breath, then draw the results as a line on a piece of paper. Participants can sign their name on their line, at the end of the day we will have a long sheet of paper made up of hundreds of lines, each symbolic of the carbon footprint humans have on the planet.

3. "Weigh your carbon footprint" - We will have a wooden balance scale and various weights, each weight representing "tons of carbon" per capita. Participants will stack weights based on their unique carbon footprint (i.e. do they have a car, own a home, eat meat, take the car to school, etc). Next, participants will add weitghts tot he other side, each weight representing the average carbon footprint per capita from other countries. The message is that in the US, our consumption produces much more carbon than that of other countries.

4. "Eco-Robots" - 4-H kids will show off some simple robot kits that run off solar energy or wind power. Our 4-H project theme for 2010-11 is "Kid Powered Creations" and we will be building several creations that use alternative energy power (i.e. solar, wind, pneumatic, water). On October 2, we will preview some of these kits.
With help from Nxtasy.org, a Lego Mindstorms user community and Vernier Instruments, makers of environmental sensors that connect to Lego NXT, we have developed a CO2 sensing robot turtle that will measure the CO2 in your breath and draw the results on paper.

Kids will also be able to "weigh" their estimated carbon footprint and compare their results with other nations and find ways they can help reduce their carbon footprint by recycling and reusing. This is a free event to all. For more information, please contact David Bell.

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