Summer camps are meant to be a fun escape for children, but learning can happen there too. That's the idea at Tennessee's newest 4-H camp, Lone Oaks Farm in Hardman County. How STEM education, science, technology, engineering, and math becomes a day of camping activities. Hello, I'm Charles Denny.
This is AgCast, brought to you by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. Let's go! The summer morning is a great time to catch some fish, and here the bass are shockingly cooperative. You're aboard UT Extension Shock Boat, sending a harmless electric current into the water, stunning the fish momentarily, so they can then be scooped up by net, or you can grab them by the mouth, like 14-year-old 4-H or Blessing Thompson.
The teeth hurt. They will poke you and they will make you bleed. Actually, there was no blood loss this day, but this camp has teeth. It's a 4-H STEM experience for kids at Lone Oaks Farm, which includes lakes, forests, and fields.
Ron Blair with UT Extension drives the boat and was recently named Director of STEM Education at Lone Oaks. We're doing a big math lesson right now on the shock boat where we actually take unbiased samples and assimilate that into data, and then those young people can make recommendations based on it. What we're trying to do here at Lone Oaks is connect people back to agriculture, where their food comes from, and that science is pretty cool. I think one of the big opportunities that they have is that they get to come to a working farm, a safe environment, beautiful natural resources here.
Blair says kids will raise chickens, work in a garden, and study animal science. In this case, the Lone Oaks cattle herd. We do have 90 head of heifers here that's been here about six, seven months on a feed trial. Those young people this fall will be able to see those heifers as they develop.
We took genetic data off of those females about six weeks ago. We'll be able to talk about genetics and DNA sampling. This day included more science. Campers also learned from Tennessee State University's mobile biofuel lab, how farmers grow our fuel.
Kyler Pennick has aspirations of being an engineer, and he's already off to a good start. Well, we actually make biodiesel at our house. Really? Yeah.
4-H'er Lorena Anderson also checked out the biofuel center and caught fish on the boat. For her, it's a great way to spend the summer. I just think it's really fun when you read about science and then you go out and experience it. It's just fun for me.
4-H leaders want kids to have fun learning when they come to Lone Oaks, but on a more serious note, this is also preparing them for the future. The STEM-related jobs of tomorrow will pay well. The STEM curriculum is a partnership with the Hardiman County Schools. This camp was for middle schoolers, an impressionable age where educators encourage discovery.
Warner Ross is superintendent of the Hardiman County Schools and a big supporter of the program at Lone Oaks. This opportunity to use a facility like this provides a super fast on-ramp to get kids engaged in hands-on activities that extend the classroom from the textbook out of what real careers are. Gary Rogers, UT Extension Director for Hardiman County, says that's what Lone Oaks is really all about, providing a great experience for kids now, but also preparing them for adulthood. These middle school children that we're running through these camps will be our next generation of going and working in these STEM activities and STEM careers, and we hope to give them a good base for that.
The day concluded with kayaking on the Hatchie River. As these kids paddle away, they float in the direction of tomorrow's challenges. And those bass with the teeth went back into the water, too. Lone Oaks is a place where you can release fish and your inhibitions, where science, agriculture, and nature blend for an educational experience.
We want every young person to come here to leave a mark here at Lone Oaks. Thanks for listening. I'm Charles Denny. For more real-life solutions provided by the UT Institute of Agriculture, go to our website at ag.tennessee.edu.