Course Description:

4-Hinnovators will have the opportunity to solve five real agricultural problems. These are challenges faced by scientists, farmers, and others who are seeking to improve and support our nation’s ag industry.

4-Hi Does Ag Lessons:

• Go With the Flow: Have you ever seen a big fountain that sprays water? Have you ever been to a water park or played in a lawn sprinkler? All of those things involve water. One of the most important liquids that engineers deal with is water. In this experience, 4-Hinnovators will get to design and build an irrigation system to help agriculture producers control the flow of water.
• Keeping It Nice and Dry: When it comes to food, it’s important that dry things stay dry and wet things stay wet. Food has to be protected from the time it leaves the field until you pop it into your mouth. Your 4-Hinnovators will design and create food packaging that protects food and keeps everyone healthy and safe.
• Rolling Down the River: Boats have always been important to agriculture. Often, boats are the main source of transportation for the food items that need to travel from location to location. Engineers keep the barges and ships running. Engineers design and improve boats as well as create and maintain the systems of harbors and barge canals. In this 4-Hi challenge, your 4-Hinnovators will design and build a boat that transport beans across a water source and keep those beans dry.
• Feel the Need for Seed: Growing plants costs lots of money. You plant seeds, you use just the right amount of fertilizer for nutrition, and the list goes on from there. Engineers have always been important to planting. This lesson helps youth address agricultural challenges of accuracy and precision and demonstrates how engineering can make farming practices more successful. In this 4-Hi challenge, your young people will build a prototype machine that can drop a sunflower seed every 6 inches over a 24-inch distance.
• Building Bridges: Good, reliable roads and highways are important to our country. One of the greatest challenges has always been crossing lakes and rivers. While they provide easy transportation for boats and ships, they can also present a problem. In this challenge, your 4-Hinnovators will build a model bridge that would be strong enough to hold a load of grain in the middle of the bridge.