By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press

YREKA, Calif. -- The next generation of farmers has been studying what may be the next generation of water conservation.

Students in 4-H have been experimenting with polymers as a way to reduce the amount of water needed for crops, tapping into an emerging technology that's now in use in some nurseries.

As part of a national science project started in 2008, the students are working with hydrogels -- polymers with long molecular chains that grab onto water molecules and help with moisture retention.

Led by popular children's science author and teacher Steve Spangler, the project encourages youngsters to use the polymers in common household items, such as diaper linings, to demonstrate how efficiently the chemical compounds absorb water.

A handful of 4-H members showed the polymers' potential to younger students during an ag education day here May 20, prompting gasps of amazement among the elementary-school pupils.

"So far we've gotten a lot of kids really excited about it and are interested in testing it with their parents," said Zoe Walsh, 16, a homeschooled 4-H member from Klamath River, Calif.

Herman McEwen, 13, a seventh-grader in Montague, Calif., said he enjoys teaching younger children how to experiment with polymers.

"I learned it, and I always thought science was fun," he said.

The youngsters' booth was one of more than a dozen stations at the 17th annual ag day, sponsored by local ranchers' and farm groups. The 4-H has been pushing in recent years to get kids interested in math and science as the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries in those subjects.

The polymers project envisions hydrogels as a solution to water shortages because they soil increase soils' water-holding capacity, which allows plants to survive droughts, according to a 4-H handout given to the students.

The compounds can also help with erosion control and certain environmental cleanups, the organization notes.

Instructors emphasize to students that the polymers' use is not yet feasible in large-scale agriculture, said Jacki Zediker, who runs the 4-H program in Yreka.

"They're hoping to make it cheaper," she said. "Right now it's mainly used in nurseries, which can use it in smaller quantities."

Finding such alternatives is important, Zediker said, because "water conservation is one of the biggest topics there is.

"It's really important that we can take an everyday thing like a diaper and relate it to how those properties and principles of science are used every day in agriculture," she said.

Online

4-H hydrogels experiment: www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000057