School Enrichment

Close Encounters with Agriculture is a free award-winning program offered each year to Montgomery County fourth-grade students from the public, and private sectors. Since 1993, over 100,000 students have participated in this hands-on educational program designed to teach students about modern agriculture, maintaining a robust environment, and making healthy nutritional choices.

4-H STEM Adventures is a curriculum of six STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) lesson plans that teach STEM principles and 4-H life skills via a challenge to be solved using low-cost, easy-to-find materials. Each lesson has two tracks: an open-ended exploratory option and a step-by-step guided option. Videos introduce each challenge and provide sample solutions for viewers. These lessons are appropriate for youth ages 8-13 and can be used in the classroom, 4-H club, home, and out-of-school settings. In this challenge, the Youth will build a mini-golf course that includes obstacles. Challenge 5 introduces the STEM concept of the law of reflection and targets the life skill of planning. Authors: Jessica Mellon, and Christine Allred; Title: Challenge 5-Mini Golf Course, 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14)

4-H STEM Adventures is a curriculum of six STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) lesson plans that teach STEM principles and 4-H life skills via a challenge to be solved using low-cost, easy-to-find materials. Each lesson has two tracks: an open-ended exploratory option and a step-by-step guided option. Videos introduce each challenge and provide sample solutions for viewers. These lessons are appropriate for youth ages 8-13 and can be used in the classroom, 4-H club, home, and out-of-school settings. In this challenge, youth will design and build a catapult that can launch a small projectile. Challenge 6 introduces the STEM concepts of potential and kinetic energy and targets the life skills of record keeping and personal safety. Authors: Jessica Mellon, and Christine Allred; Title: Challenge 3-Catapult, 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14)

4-H STEM Adventures is a curriculum of six STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) lesson plans that teach STEM principles and 4-H life skills via a challenge to be solved using low-cost, easy-to-find materials. Each lesson has two tracks: an open-ended exploratory option and a step-by-step guided option. Videos introduce each challenge and provide sample solutions for viewers. These lessons are appropriate for youth ages 8-13 and can be used in the classroom, 4-H club, home, and out-of-school settings. In this challenge, youth will build a mobile that balances. Challenge 6 introduces the STEM concept of levers and targets the life skill of problem solving. Authors: Jessica Mellon, and Christine Allred; Title: Challenge 6-Mobile, 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14)

4-H STEM Adventures is a curriculum of six STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) lesson plans that teach STEM principles and 4-H life skills via a challenge to be solved using low-cost, easy-to-find materials. Each lesson has two tracks: an open-ended exploratory option and a step-by-step guided option. Videos introduce each challenge and provide sample solutions for viewers. These lessons are appropriate for youth ages 8-13 and can be used in the classroom, 4-H club, home, and out-of-school settings. In this challenge, the youth will build a marble roller coaster that moves a marble from top to bottom. Challenge 4 introduces the STEM concepts of potential and kinetic energy and targets the life skill of critical thinking. Authors: Jessica Mellon, and Christine Allred; Title: Challenge 4-Marble Roller Coaster, 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14)

4-H STEM Adventures is a curriculum of six STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) lesson plans that teach STEM principles and 4-H life skills via a challenge to be solved using low-cost, easy-to-find materials. Each lesson has two tracks: an open-ended exploratory option and a step-by-step guided option. Videos introduce each challenge and provide sample solutions for viewers. These lessons are appropriate for youth ages 8-13 and can be used in the classroom, 4-H club, home, and out-of-school settings. In this challenge, the youth will build a marble maze that moves a marble from start to finish. Challenge 1 introduces the STEM concept of iteration and targets the life skills of planning and resilience. Authors: Jessica Mellon, and Christine Allred; Title: Challenge 1-Marble Maze, 4-H STEM Adventures-Facilitator Guide (EC-14)