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4-Hers have a blast at Youth Science DayOklahoma About 40 Payne County 4-Hers gathered at Oklahoma State University recently for the 4-H National Youth Science Day, which was part of National 4-H Week. Members of the Twin Mounds 4-H Club and the 4-Him 4-H Club were given the opportunity to experiment with biofuels to discover which ones will lead the country to a sustainable future. The group conducted their experiment in the Student Union on the OSU campus. "Renewable energy sources like biofuels are constantly making headlines in the news today. This experiment explores the production of the biofuel ethanol," said Jeff Sallee, state 4-H science and technology specialist. "In the United States, it's typically made by converting the starches from corn kernels into the sugars in corn syrup, and then adding yeast to break down the sugars, which releases carbon dioxide and ethanol as byproducts. The ethanol is blended with gasoline and then sold at some gas stations. There you might see a sign at the pump that says 'E10,' which means 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline." The youth mixed a variety of materials, including corn syrup, sugar and wheat bran with control ingredients of water and yeast to see which material produced the most gas. Balloons were placed over the bottles of mixture to make it easy for the students to see which combination released the most gas. Sallee said this was the second National Youth Science Day and there were 4-H groups all across the country participating in this same experiment. In Oklahoma, club members from Grady, Logan, Garfield, Tulsa, Dewey, Murray, Oklahoma, Seminole, Kingfisher, Noble and Jackson counties participated. "This national science activity is a great way to show youth how much fun science can be. It also is a great example of how the 4-H program is expanding its project areas to continually meet the needs and interests of club members," Sallee said. Lee Blanton, a doctoral student in agricultural education at OSU, is working on biofuels research as part of his degree. He spoke to the group and gave a PowerPoint presentation on why it is important to consider alternative fuels. Tennessee Lemmon, 11, of the Twin Mounds 4-H Club, said she had a lot of fun doing the experiment. "I really liked mixing the stuff together and doing the experiment," Lemmon said. "I hope I get to come back next year." "It was really fun and interesting," said Nicolas Williamson, a member in the 4-Him 4-H Club. "I thought the corn syrup mixture would show the most reaction."
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