Since 2011, Ohio 4-H has been bringing enriching STEM activities to Farm Science Review. This year was no different, as thousands of youth from across Ohio made their way through the 4-H STEM Tent where they engaged in experiential learning activities focused on connecting them with STEM-related careers within the agriculture industry and beyond.
“Activities change from year to year to keep things fresh and exciting for our youth participants and their families, but they always focus on the practical application of STEM in agriculture,” said Patty House, Extension educator for 4-H in Clark County and the 4-H STEM Tent coordinator. 
“We always want to make sure the activities selected will help youth learn about best practices and applications used in real-world agriculture.”
At one station, youth had the opportunity to test soybeans for the Roundup Ready® trait. Crops possessing this trait are genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup, allowing farmers to use Roundup to kill weeds without harming their crops.
Another station addressed the ways food can be modified to accommodate food allergies and sensitivities. Youth were challenged to alter a one-minute single serve microwavable cake recipe to make it gluten and lactose free.
Participants were eager to see if the product they made tasted as good as a mug cake made with wheat flour and whole milk. “Many of our participants thought the allergy-free version was delicious and commented that if they hadn’t known the challenge, they would’ve thought it was a regular chocolate cake,” said House.
“Other participants thanked us for offering a food science station that addressed food sensitivities. Several even mentioned that this mug cake was one of the few things they could eat at Farm Science Review that met their food allergy needs.”
The 4-H Mobile Classroom was a big hit again this year, giving youth the opportunity to explore the world of coding and digital art, while engineering activities, like building a self-supporting bridge and creating a soybean planter powered by a Sphero, enabled young people to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to address real world issues.
Other stations focused on the question of feeding the world and asked youth to consider ways that contained environmental systems like greenhouses and renewable energy sources like solar and wind can be used for food growth.
Over the last couple of years STEM programming has evolved to become STEAM, adding art into the mix. The 4-H STEM Tent incorporated this new category into
its programming by teaching youth about the various ways animal by-products are being used across the field of agriculture. They even had the opportunity to test out one of these animal by-products by making their own branded cowhide key chain.
Artificial intelligence was also a topic of discussion for youth, with one station giving participants the opportunity to learn how AI technology can be used to sort animals in a herd or identify which tomatoes are ready to be picked. Youth played a video game created through Google’s Teachable Machine and then discussed how scientists use machine learning to teach machines how to distinguish between images in a game or sorting activity.
“Many people don’t realize it, but AI technology has been around for more than fifty years,” said Dr. Cynthia
Canan, 4-H state STEM specialist. “This activity also gave us the opportunity to help participants understand that AI is not infallible. It is created by humans and humans make mistakes, so if AI technology is programmed or taught incorrectly, it can produce incorrect answers. This is why it’s important to always check your sources when using AI!”
“All our activities are designed by 4-H professionals to encourage teamwork and help youth think outside the box as they work toward real world solutions,” said House. “No matter the activity, youth were able to discover for themselves how science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) are connected to so many aspects of the world that we live, work, and play in.”