PRINCESS ANNE-MD- (September 1, 2020)-University of Maryland Eastern Shore Extension 4-H STEM educators are gearing up for this year’s 4-H STEM Challenge, “Mars Base Camp,” developed by Google for children aged 8-14.
“‘The race to land humans on Mars is on!,’ is the premise of the collection of activities that incorporate skills like mechanical engineering, physics, computer science and agriculture,” said Lisa Murphy, 4-H STEM senior agent associate for Worcester County.
To ensure young people everywhere can participate in the challenge, an online activity, “Insight from Mars,” is now available. Youth are tasked with imagining they are the first explorer on Mars and need to communicate with mission control about their discoveries.
In October, Murphy and colleagues Bradley Hartle (Wicomico) and Jeremiah Mowen (Somerset) will work virtually with youth who will be doing hands-on activities in socially distanced small group settings or in their homes. Bayer, one of the sponsors, has supplied UMES Extension 4-H with 30 kits for individuals and 10 for family participation.
For the past 12 years, 4-H has “developed fun, accessible challenges that show youth how STEM can be applied to the world around them.” This year’s other sponsors are Toyota and the U.S. Air Force.
For more information, contact Murphy at lbmurphy@umes.edu, Hartle at bhartle@umes.edu or Mowen at jlmowen@umes.edu.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, School of Agricultural & Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 410-621-3850, gcstephens@umes.edu.
