4-H Robotics | State 4H

What can 4-H Robotics do for you?

Illinois 4-H members are more likely than other youth to want a job related to science and see science as exciting.
Illinois 4-H members know science helps solve life’s problems and can name careers related to 4-H projects.
Illinois 4-H members are twice as likely to say they’re “good at” science compared to their peers.
Overall, we see a pattern in which 4-H youth are reporting more positive attitudes toward science and stronger confidence in their science abilities than their peers, based on two national surveys.
Across all ages, more youth in our Illinois 4-H science sample agree that science is useful for solving everyday problems than their peers in two national surveys.

TRY IF YOU LIKE: Robotics, Engineering, Problem Solving, Teamwork
FOR CLASSROOMS AND YOUTH AGE 8 – 18

If you are interested in building robots competitively with a team then check out our 2020 Robotics Competition and the Rules and Guidelines.

4-H Projects

4-H Projects

Check out these Robotics Projects Robotics 1 with EV3 Members use the newest LEGO® technology to learn what a robot is. how to build a robot, and how to program it. Robotics 2 with EV3 Members use the newest LEGO® technology to learn new robot configurations and other programming challenges. Junk Drawer Robotics Build robots from everyday items without using computers. Level 1, Give Robots a Hand Youth explore robot arms, Pneumatics, arm designs, and three-dimensional space. Level 2, Robots on the Move Youth explore robots that move with legs, wheels and underwater. Level 3, Mechatronics Youth explore sensors and analog and digital systems. Join 4-H and sign up for Robotics today.

Competitions

4-H Clubs may compete as a team in the annual State 4-H Robotics Competition. The contest tests a club's ability to work together creatively to solve a set of tasks. This year, clubs will design robots which simulate the activities of robots in Space, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the historic moon landing. Teams are judged in three areas: robot design, teamwork, and table performance of the robot. In robot design judging, the teams have 10 minutes to describe the features and design of their robots to a panel of judges. In teamwork judging, the team is given a simple task where the judges cam evaluate the team's ability to work together to solve the task. In preparing for the state 4-H Robotics Competition, 4-H youth learn to work together, share ideas, debate the best way to solve a particular task, and divide responsibilities so the team can accomplish as many of the challenge tasks as possible. In previous years, the Robotics Competition was held in the Spring and brought more than 60 teams and 400 youth together for the one-day event. This year, due to University protocols placed in response to COVID-19, the Robotics Competition is postponed until further notice while virtual options are being explored.

Online Videos

Ohio State University Extension 4-H has developed a series of videos to help you program your Lego EV-3 robots. Check out the videos below. http://www.ohio4h.org/statewide-programs/4-h-science/robotics/robotics-1...

Impact

While 4-H STEM programming seeks to increase science literacy, it also exposes youth to the experiential inquiry-based learning process that helps them to build important problem-solving, critical-thinking and decision-making skills. As a result, youth who participate in 4-H STEM events are excited about science and better equipped with critical life skills necessary for future success. 4-H Statewide Science programs are positively impacting science attitudes for youth at all ages, in contrast to national reports documenting sharp declines in science/STEM interest as youth get older.: • 96% of 4-H members report that they like science and want to learn more about science.

90% of 4-H members report that they are good at science.
92% of 4-H members report that science, engineering or technology is important to a future job.
75% report that they would like a job related to science, compared to a federal survey of youth across the nation where only 37% of 12th graders said they would like to have a job related to science.
Based on a federal survey of youth across the nation, only 48% of 12th graders report that science is useful for solving everyday problems compared to 85% of 4-H members surveyed across the three Illinois 4-H statewide science programs.

Need more convincing? How about these national 4-H Tech Wizard results which show clear life-changing results:

91% of youth participants exhibited favorable behavior changes.
95% graduation rate compared to the national average of 78 percent.
70% pursue post-secondary education.

Current STEM workforce demands are not being met. If current trends continue, the U.S. will lose quality jobs to other nations, lowering our standard of living, reducing tax revenues, and weakening the domestic market for goods and services. Over the past ten years, the percentage of ACT-tested students who said they were interested in majoring in engineering has dropped steadily from 7.6 percent to 4.9 percent. Achievement gaps persist for females and minorities in reaching K-12 math and science standards, as well as completion rates for STEM degrees in higher education.

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