Merced 4-H junk drawer robotics: A great idea goes national

That was more than a decade ago, but Mahacek never forgot his son’s enthusiasm. After researching and testing ready-made programs and kits, Mahacek decided only a brand new custom program would meet local 4-H needs.

“Some kits were expensive, others were hard to get,” Mahacek said.  “Others didn’t challenge kids to innovate and explore, but only to follow instructions.”

Mahacek had a completely new concept in mind. The result was a program Mahacek calls junk drawer robotics, heavy on rubber bands, Popsicle sticks, medicine dispensers and bamboo skewers – the kinds of things people already have around the house. By adding some toy motors and plastic gears, Mahacek says, there is no telling what youngsters can invent. The robotics program develops skills that go beyond science and engineering. The children learn communications, teamwork and critical thinking.

“Junk drawer robotics is hands-on as well as heads-on,” Mahacek said. “We’re getting kids to be innovative, to come up with ideas themselves. When they come up with their own designs, and then build them, they have internalized the concepts much more than if they are just following directions.”

Since 4-H was launched nearly 100 years ago, the program has been about science. 4-H is offered to the community by Cooperative Extension programs across the nation, created by Congress with the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 to channel scientific advances from agricultural colleges to the people who can use them. 4-H is the component of Cooperative Extension that targets youth.

“The idea was, go to youth, have them experiment with new farming ideas, and show their dads and moms that the new ways offered improvements,” Mahacek said.

4-H expanded over the years into many aspects of agricultural science and in recent decades cast its net still wider, providing urban youth opportunities to benefit from 4-H’s “learn by doing” activities.

Many 4-H projects are presented using peer-reviewed curriculum materials published and distributed by the National 4-H Council. As part of its 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative, the Council put out a call in 2009 offering funding for the development of robotics curriculum. The timing was perfect for Mahacek.

After he spent a few years developing a junk drawer robotics project, Mahacek was promoted to director of UC Cooperative Extension in Merced County. Time limitations pushed junk drawer robotics to the back burner.

The National 4-H Council injected new life into the program by providing funding to complete a comprehensive three-track national 4-H robotics curriculum including coordinated development, pilot testing and evaluation. The lead institution on the overall development is the University of Nebraska, working with 4-H staff from many states including a sub-award to the University of California and Mahacek to develop a national curriculum for Junk Drawer Robotics. In addition to Junk Drawer Robotics, two other robotics curricula are part of the national project. In Virtual Robotics, 4-H members will build virtual robots on computers. The program is currently under cooperative development with the non-profit organization Global Challenge, which aims to provide students the tools and confidence to solve global problems together. The third track, Robotics Platforms, is a more traditional robotics curriculum that uses existing commercial building kits for materials. It is being created by the 4-H programs at the University of Nebraska, University of Idaho and Montana State University.

In Merced County, Junk Drawer Robotics is being pilot tested in after-school programs. Mahacek turned to the UC Merced engineering program to identify youthful engineering students to teach children about robotics concepts during after-school care programs at three elementary schools in Delhi, three middle schools in Merced, and one middle school in Planada.

In both Kern and Santa Cruz counties, Junk Drawer Robotics is being tested in traditional 4-H club settings, with 4-H teen members presenting to their younger peers along with adult coaching. The curriculum will also have Web-based support and resources linked with the other Virtual Robotics and Robotics Platforms tracks.

The complete Junk Drawer Robotics curriculum is expected to be available for distribution in late fall 2010.