4-H Ag Innovators Experience Marks Fifth Year of Helping Youth Apply Critical Thinking and STEM Skills to Solve Agriculture Challenges
2018 AIE introduces more than 5,000 youth to challenges affecting the monarch butterfly and how they affect overall planet health.
CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This spring and summer, youth from five states across the Midwest will participate in Monarchs on the Move Challenge, a hands-on activity to learn about the monarch butterfly and the important role they play as pollinators. The challenge is part of the 2018 4-H Ag Innovators Experience (4-H AIE) activity, which has reached more than 40,000 youth since beginning in 2014 and is a collaboration between the National 4-H Council and Monsanto Company.
This year's challenge, Monarchs on the Move, developed by Iowa State University, engages youth to learn about monarch butterflies, pollination, and the need to work together to be good stewards of the land. Through collaborative, hands-on experiments, participants will learn about the unique lifecycle of butterflies, understand the factors that impact the monarch butterfly's declining population rates and explore ways to increase monarch habitat.
Working in teams, youth will operate as caterpillars as they navigate the model milkweed plant to gather food and react to variables that affect survival rates. Youth will then evaluate land satellite images to identify land management practices that provide opportunities to increase biodiversity. The recommendations of each team will be evaluated to determine the best proposal for increasing monarch habitat and biodiversity, while maintaining productive farmland.
"The 4-H Ag Innovator's Experience provides youth with an opportunity to better understand the challenges facing today's agriculture industry while giving them a platform to practice teamwork, communication, workforce development and STEM skills," said National 4-H Council President and CEO Jennifer Sirangelo. "These life skills will be critically important as youth become the next leaders in agriculture innovation."
Since 2014, more than 40,000 youth from across the U.S. have participated in nearly 800 domestic and global 4-H AIE events, led by 892 trained teen leaders. The Monarchs on the Move Challenge will take place March through July 2018 at various sites, including 4-H clubs, 4-H camps, school enrichment and 4-H Afterschool settings.
"Monsanto is proud to continue to partner with 4-H on this year's Ag Innovator's Challenge," said Aimee Hood, Science & Policy Information Management and Communications Lead. "This year's challenge 'Monarchs on the Move' will help students understand the amazing lifecycle of the monarch butterfly, the challenges it faces, and how all sectors can help this iconic species."
To learn more about the 4-H Ag Innovators Experience, visit http://www.4-h.org/about/partners/monsanto/.
About 4-H
4‑H, the nation's largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4‑H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4‑H is the youth development program of our nation's Cooperative Extension System and USDA, and serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3000 local Extension offices. Globally, 4‑H collaborates with independent programs to empower one million youth in 50 countries. The research-backed 4‑H experience grows young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.
Learn more about 4‑H at www.4‑H.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4‑H and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.
About Monsanto Company
Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops - such as corn, soybeans, and cotton - that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo.
SOURCE National 4-H Council
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