OHIO STEM PATHWAYS: CONNECTING INNOVATIVE DESIGN TO REAL-WORLD PROBLEMS

The world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and that’s 2 billion more people than we currently have to feed. Reducing harvest loss is one way to address the problem. Harvesters will need to operate efficiently at higher speeds, with customizable and durable attachments for site-specific operations.

Here is the challenge: engineer a device that harvests the most grain in the least time for your site-specific operation.

Or, what about…

A friend of yours has diabetes, which means their blood contains abnormal levels of glucose, a simple sugar. If they experience low blood sugar, they need to eat or drink something with a high level of glucose immediately, so they do not pass-out.

The challenge: help your friend identify items they should consume containing the highest level of glucose.

Where do you begin?STEM Pathways Career Focus diagram

Ohio 4-H discovered a gap in providing youth applicable experiences to connect science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts to related careers. In order to bridge the gap, 4-H professionals created twelve challenges focused on real-world problems centered on issues including food security, water quality, health and wellness, energy, and the environment.

STEM Pathways allows youth to work in teams to find a plausible solution using the engineering design process or the scientific method. Each STEM Pathway challenges youth to:

ASK – What are some possible ideas (the hypothesis)?

PLAN – Identify variables to help solve the challenge through sketches or other means of brainstorming.

CREATE & TEST – Put ideas into action (conduct the experiment).

ANALYZE – Determine how well the design or experiment worked.

IMPROVE & COMMUNICATE – Make changes to improve the design and communicate experiment results.

Each challenge includes a detailed lesson and short informational video to prepare facilitators and engage youth through the experiential learning process. Each challenge also highlights a STEM-focused career, including the job outlook for the next 10 years, skills and high school course work recommendations, education and training required beyond high school graduation, and a sample of how the particular career contributes to plausible solutions, similar to the problem within the challenge.

You can learn more about Ohio 4-H STEM Pathways or browse through each challenge at go.osu.edu/stempathways.

Reference: Ohio 4-H Youth Development. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2020, from https://ohio4h.org/statewide-programs/4-h-science/stem-pathways/challenges

 

Written by Margo Long, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, long.1632@osu.edu.

Peer reviewed by: Mark Light, Associate Professor