Passaic County Teen Presentation
The teens from Passaic County 4-H presented a summary of their 4-H science activities from the past year. They have been very active as 4-H Science Ambassadors in their community since the first summer science program two years ago. They gave us ideas for what we can do as science ambassadors and challenged us to make the most of our 4-H experiences.

Poster Session
Prior to the luncheon, we presented our science posters to our families, the participating scientists from the week, and our guests – including administrators, partners, and representatives from Tyco International, the program’s sponsor. We used our posters to help teach them about what we did in each of the areas of science and what we learned from our experiences.

Closing Luncheon
During the closing luncheon we were able to enjoy a great meal with our guests, see a presentation with photos from throughout the week, and receive certificates for completing the program. We also heard from Dr. Larry Katz, the director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension; Paul Fitzhenry from Tyco International; and Samuel Frisby, Mercer County Freeholder. Mr. Frisby’s speech was very motivating, and he challenged us to achieve beyond what we, and others, might initially think is possible. Overall, it was an amazing week!

Sandy Hook
Today we went on a trip to Sandy Hook to learn about marine science. Our trip included a tour of the Howard Marine Sciences Lab, a stop at the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (including a visit with the Diamondback Terrapins), and time at North Beach. At North Beach, we learned about marine life, collected shells, and completed a beach profile. At the end of the day, we went seining at the marsh and identified all of the organisms we caught.

Poster Preparations
After dinner we went to the Cook Campus Center and prepared our science posters for Friday morning’s poster session. We worked in teams of four with other youth interested in the same topic from the week (such as genomics, microbiology, marine science, anthropology). We spent over three hours on our posters – including what we did in that particular area this week, what we learned about the topic, and how we can use that information in our future.

Today, we participated in lab sessions in nutritional science, microbiology, anthropology, genomics, environmental engineering, and DNA extraction.

Nutritional Science
In this activity we baked muffins with some ingredients missing. There were five different recipes – each with a different ingredient missing. We were learning the importance of each ingredient and how it affects the taste, texture, how it rises, etc. We went to each station and taste tested how the muffins were affected by our experiments. We also learned about various nutrients. We also learned about career opportunities available in nutrition. She motivated us to watch how we eat and to read the food label and maintain a healthy diet.

Biochemistry and Microbiology Part II
Today we learned about making medicines from natural substances – we made one from pomegranates. We put it in a blender for 30 seconds then large tubes prior to going into the centrifuge. It went around nearly 13,000 revolutions per minute. Then we separated it and tested its purity. We finished the lab by toasting with pomegranate juice.

Anthropology
We learned that anthropology is the study of human and animal bones that can give us information about height, sex, ethnicity, and age of the specimen. We learned different bones of the human body and then had to determine whether a collection of bones contained human or animal bones. We were then given human skulls and had to determine the sex and ethnicity. By studying human bones we can figure out how our ancestors lived and died.

Genomics
Dr. Tovah Salcedo was very passionate and enthusiastic about her work. We went into groups and completed an activity to teach us about genes. She related several principles to recipes to help us better understand genomics.
Environmental Engineering
Today we visited a 7 acre solar farm on the Livingston Campus. The farm has 7,993 solar panels and cost $10 M (half of the cost was provided through the state), but saves the university about $300,000 each year and will last at least 25 years. We also experimented with small educational panels and different types of light bulbs and angles to determine which provided the most power.

DNA Extraction
In this session, we extracted DNA from strawberries and kiwi. This is an activity that we could replicate with others in our home counties. Robert was very enthusiastic and a great teacher – he was very passionate and his personality really added to the class.

Cookout and Student Panel
This evening, we enjoyed a cookout at Newell Apartments. Sharice Richardson, Assistant Dean, joined us and answered a lot of our questions about Rutgers, the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, admissions, scholarships, freshman year, campus life, etc. There was also a panel of students who answered our questions and gave us a lot to think about as we prepare for life after high school.