Monroe County 4-H July 2021 Newsletter

July 2021

4-H Newsletter

Grow With 4-H This Summer!

We have the details and save-the-dates

you'll need to make a plan for 4-H fun and learning!

Coming up!

4-H Grows With a Summer of Play!

Opportunities to participate in activities this summer will be available from July 12th until September 3rd. Visit The Strong Museum each Monday between 11am and 2pm to enjoy Make It Monday with Miss Destiny and 4-H Teen Leader, Silas. Participate virtually via FlipGrid and have items on display beginning August 30th in the 4-H Project Showcase! Watch for a Summer of Play to visit your community or recreation site this summer, too! Please contact Destiny to volunteer, become a teen leader, or to register for the flipgrid activities!

Week 1: July 12–16 Fun at the Fair

Join the Monroe County 4-H for Fun at the fair week! Learn how to weave potholders at the Strong Museum of Play on Monday July 12th from 11am-2pm. Can’t make it to the Museumm, don't worry! You can still have Fun at the Fair with our virtual popsicle making challenge: write a recipe, make your popsicle, and upload a video to flipgrid telling us about your process!

Week 2: July 19–23 Let’s Go Camping

It’s time to go camping! Visit the Strong Museum of Play on Monday July 19th from 11am-2pm and learn outdoor skills with 4-H and Earthworks. Join the virtual challenge by building your own campsite either inside or outdoors, and upload a video of your design to flipgrid!

Week 3: July 26–30 Olympic Games

Be your own olympic athlete on Monday July 26th at the Strong Museum of Play from 11am-2pm. Challenge other museum goers in mini pole vaulting, long jump, and high jump! For this week’s virtual challenge, design your own olympic rings and upload a video to flipgrid describing what objects you used for your design!

Week 4: Aug 2–6 Down on the Farm

We are going Down to the Farm with the Strong Museum of Play! Visit 4-H everyday from 11am-2pm to learn about different farm animals, visit some of our furry friends, and even meet Farmer Fox! Think like a bunny and make bunny food (trail mix) for this week's virtual challenge. What ingredients did you use and why? Let us know on flipgrid!

Week 5: Aug 9–13 Wild West

Enter into the Wild West to pan for gold with the Monroe County 4-H! Find us at the Strong Musuem on Monday August 9th from 11am-2pm, and see if you can find a treasure of your own. The fun doesn’t stop there, join us on flipgrid all week and show us your cowboy hat creations for our weekly virtual challenge!

Week 6: Aug 16–20 Fairy Tale Friends

Once upon a time the Monre County 4-H visited the Strong Musuem of Play for a Summer of Play! Be a part of our fairytale and join us on Monday, August 16th from 11am-2pm to write your very own fairytale. If you look hard enough you might even see a unicorn! Continue the magic with our virtual challenge, build a fairy house or dress up in your favorite fairytale costume and share on flipgrid!

Week 7: Aug 23–27 Safari Adventures

It’s time to make a trip to the Safari! Join us for Safari Adventures at the Strong Museum of Play. From 11am-2pm on Monday, August 23 we will be making our own safari animal masks and enjoying a visit from Bravely the Lion! For this week’s virtual challenge we encourage you to make some music with your own rain stick. Using flipgrid, you can show others your instrument, and maybe even a tune you created!

Week 8: 4-H Project Showcase

Make sure to save your favorite creations from the theme weeks and the virtual activities! You will have an opportunity to showcase your creations at the Strong Museum of Play from August 30th- September 3rd!

Master Gardener Summer Sale

Sunday, July 11 • 9 AM - 1 PM

CCE Monroe Office

2449 St. Paul Blvd. Rochester, NY 14617

Visit and browse through gently used gardening, lawn care, and outdoor-related items!

4-H Outdoor Cooking

There is a new 4-H Family Fun Online Project in the works - Outdoor Cookery! The Outdoor Cookery project will give you and your family a chance to experiment with outdoor cooking, whether while camping or in your own backyard, way beyond s'mores. No prior experience is needed, just follow the directions, practice, and have some discussion with your friends and family to learn from those around you!

Fee

$10

More info here.

4-H Esports Club for Teens

Check out this possible new opportunity for teens through NYS 4-H!

Outdoor Olympic Adventure Weekend

Save the dates! Outdoor Adventures Weekend will be held on September 10th-12th for youth ages 10 and up. If you like to participate in activities like hiking, outdoor cooking, bird identification, fishing, archery, and other outdoor pursuits, this will be the weekend for you. This event will be held at 4-H Camp Bristol Hills near Canandaigua, NY.

Scholarships will be available for this event!

Leader Activity of the Month

4-H Pollinators: Bees

Did you know honey bees are responsible one third of the food we eat? Explore pollinators and insect biology through creating a fun bee craft! This activity from National 4-H can be done in a variety of settings- virtual and in person. Check out supplies needed and activity steps at https://4-h.org/about/4-h-at-home/pollinators/bees/ .

Example Activity Plan

Anchor: Ask the group, when is the last time you saw a bee? Where were you? Who has heard of the word pollinator before? What might that word mean?

Add: Discuss the importance and the different parts of a bee. Provide a photo or diagram of bees and have youth identify the various parts.

Apply: Have youth create their own honey bee craft. Share ant fun facts from National 4-H in between each step as you wait for glue to dry.

Away: Reflect on the activity with the following questions from National 4-H…

1) What would a world without bees be like?

2) What makes bees unique?

3) What makes a bee a good pollinator?

Check out the 4-H at Home Pollinators Issue: The Honey Bee (https://cdn.4-h.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/4H-At-Home-Activities-Pollinators-Honeybee.pdf?_ga=2.879025.1426654993.1624891409-1363760330.1621888214) for resources and other at-home activities from National 4-H (https://4-h.org/about/4-h-at-home/ )!

Club News and Special Activities

Youth and Family Day at The International Plaza

4-H members and volunteers thoroughly enjoyed offering activities and animals to visit at The International Plaza!

4-H UNITY Teens Plant Family Gardens

What does your garden grow? 4-H teensat Agape Haven of Abundance, and their families, will be harvesting vegetables and making creative dishes with them this summer! The Maplewood Y has provided a garden bed for each family!

Ag Innovators Experience

Teens from MCC's Upward Bound Program trained in a special program with NYS 4-H. They taught a lesson on mitigating Climate Change to 150 3rd through 8th grade students! How can YOU Curb Your Carbon Appetite?

4-H UNITY Teen Retreat

4-H UNITY Teens at the Aspira Program at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School have been enjoying being outdoors this spring. in June they viisited 4-H Camp Bristol HIlls and had a chance to hike, fish, and practice outdoor cooking!

Public Health Concerns

Climate Change and Health

Climate change is happening whether we want to believe it or not. The temperature is warming, there are increased episode of extreme weather events, and rising sea levels. We often talk about how rising sea levels will push populations further inland or how islands will no longer exist. Have you ever thought about what climate change means for our health?

According to EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency climate change affects our health by affecting our food, water, and air we breathe. The thought is that those in developing countries will be most affected to health risks. The rising temperatures will lead to more heat-related deaths, it can also lead to a heat stroke and dehydration. Our air will be impacted because warmer temperatures worsen air quality, and wildfires are expected to increase creating smoke and pollution. Water-related illnesses are expected to increase because if there are heavier rains, they can expose people to waterborne pathogens and with runoff and flooding that can increase the chances of contamination in large bodies of water (Climate Impacts, 2017).

Our food will be affected because the higher temperatures will lead to Salmonella. Bacteria grow in warmer environments leading to more food poisoning cases. The rising sea levels can increase the mercury in the seafood. Climate change will affect the food security of regions that experience droughts and may lead to malnutrition. Developing countries are thought to be the ones that will suffer most from food insecurity. While there is time before climate change effects every part of our health and daily lives, we need to change things in our daily lives in order to reduce the impact.

As individuals we can all take small steps to be a part of the solution rather than the problem, we can power our homes with renewable energy, reduce water waste by taking smaller shorter showers, and turning off the faucet while be brush our teeth. We can eat all the food that we buy or make instead of throwing it out, don’t let food go to waste. Drive a fuel-efficient car, such as hybrid, or fully electric vehicles (Denchak,2017). Try to reduce your carbon footprint which is the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere as a result of our activities. Our carbon footprint is generated through our food and the modes of transportation we use.

If you would like to keep track of your carbon footprint, check out this website. You can donate to Carbonfund.org to offset your carbon footprint. Carbon fund is an organization that makes it easy for individuals, businesses or organizations to offset their carbon footprint. They do this by climate change education and public outreach. Remember, change starts at home, little by little we can all work towards a better future for our future generations.

Climate impacts on human health. (2017, January 13). Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-human-health_.html

Denchak, M. (2017, July 17). How you can stop global warming. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming