Week Seven with Extension by Alison Layton

Me putting a rubber band on a watermelon to try and break it in half.

This week we talked about equitable access to healthy foods. One way I have seen and participated in the promotion of equitable access to fresh and healthy foods is by donating to the food bank. We need to harvest twice a week for the squash study Emily and I are working on. After we take some and give some to others in the office, there is still too much for us to get through, so we donate it to the Maryland Food Bank or other local food banks. We usually donate about 4-5 buckets twice a week. It is great to see how thankful the people taking our donations are, as well as seeing how happy the people who get the squash are.

Some of the squash we harvested and donated to the Maryland Food Bank.

This week on Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked at the 4-H Summer Adventure Camp. This was an opportunity to work with kids 9-12 and learn how 4-H teaches kids this age. The first thing they did on Tuesday was a nature walk. This activity was a chance for the kids to gain an appreciation for nature at a young age. On the first day, the kids did tie dye, learned to make chips and salsa, and made bath bombs. On the second day, we did STEM and teamwork activities. They learned STEM through activities like making slime and making bouncy balls. In these activities, the kids learned to follow instructions and watched a chemical reaction occur. The last STEM activity was exploding a watermelon using rubber bands. This lets the kids make a hypothesis on how many rubber bands it would take, as well as they feel a part of the science. The kids also learned it takes about 620 rubber bands to break a watermelon in half. Then teamwork activities were in the afternoon. The kids competed as teams in two challenges. First, they had to see which team could get a ball through an optical course the fastest. Second, they did a water relay race to get the most water across the field into another bucket using a sponge. For these activities, we tried to help and teach the kids to communicate and make a strategy. 

Me encouraging my team in a water relay race.

This camp was also an opportunity to witness the promotion of equity and inclusion to kids. These kids are at the age where they need to be reminded to include everyone. Sometimes kids are so focused on what they want that they forget to think about those around them. The kids learned that activities are more fun when everyone is included.