Alternative Energy
In this project, we will explore different forms of alternative energy, like wind, solar and bio-fuel. We will try and arrange related tours. There is the possibility that this project could be developed into a service learning project.
Archery
This year we will work on the specific needs of the participants, and design experiments for them. Available still are the physics, math, mechanics and projects.
Around the World
Take a trip around the world with us as we learn about new countries and people from America to Asia, from north to south. We will explore new places, learn about different cultures, and have a world of fun!
Art – History in the Making
We will travel through space and time in a whirl of color as we explore different styles and artists, from Ancient Egypt to Andy Warhol. Then we will create our own masterpieces!
Arts & Crafts
Each month we will construct something new. In this project we will create corn husk people, build Altoids flashlights, and make pom pom pets. Save your empty paper towel tubes for the November meeting—as a community service project, we will paint, cut, and assemble the pieces into the “Cardboard Tube Ornament” kits needed for the Kids-to-Kids Party, the Christmas party for underprivileged kids organized by Del Arroyo 4-H. All ages welcome in the Arts & Crafts project. If you are below age 7, please bring an adult with you who can help you.
Cake Decorating, Basic
We will learn how to fill and decorate cakes and cupcakes using basic techniques to create unique designs. We will also be designing & creating gingerbread houses in December.
Cake Design
We will be learning how to design & create a cake for fair entry. We will learn how to make icing flowers as well as how to work with and sculpt with fondant & gum paste.
Chess Instruction Community Service
This project will be for intermediate to advanced chess players. The goal is chess instruction during public school breaks: Thanksgiving, winter, and spring. There will be 2 hours of instruction per session at the San Lorenzo Library. The times and dates will be announced.
Members will be asked to participate in an established chess club 1½ hours per month at Lakeview Library in Oakland for playing with others and to gain hands-on experience. Teen leader David Williams will email tips and strategies monthly to help members improve their games.
Drama
Project members will get hands-on experience producing a short skit for 4-H Skit Night in the spring. They will also gain invaluable self-expression and team building skills as they work together to create a script and design and make scenery, props and costumes. Everyone will be encouraged, but not coerced, to have to role in the skit. Come join us for another fun year of drama!! New project members are definitely welcome.
Please note: All project members will need to attend weekly rehearsals, which will begin six weeks before Skit Night as well as two scenery-making work days. The days and times will be arranged at our first project meeting.
Engineering Challenges
Each meeting, members will be given a new challenge based on a different engineering principle. They will then design, build, & test their own contraptions to try to meet the challenge.
Filmmaking
The movie-making project will explore the art of making movies with live-action filming, stop-motion, and even animation. It will be necessary to have access to a digital movie camera, or at the very least, a digital still camera for stop-motion filming.
You must have a video camera, and a computer for video editing or pair up with a friend who has equipment. We will be using i-movie and Final Cut Express for editing. This year we will be producing a video to enter into a national science video contest.
Fun with Food
At each meeting we will discuss a food-related topic, such as table setting, food safety, label reading and more. We will also be baking or cooking or preparing some kind of food at each meeting.
Journalism
Project members will develop their nose for news as they learn the ins and outs of conducting interviews and writing and editing news stories. They will learn what comprises a good news story and will practice their interviewing, reporting and writing skills by contributing articles to our East Hills newsletter. We also hope to visit a local newspaper to learn from the pros!
Junior Master Gardening is a national program to encourage interest in gardening, soil science, and water issues. We will be meeting at our plot in a school/community garden to not only grow plants, but also to work through the JMG curriculum, which is a series of science experiments to learn more about botany, soils, and much more. Since the curricula is geared for kids ages 5-10, I will use the AP level science materials in botany and water science to provide experiences for kids ages 11 and up.
Knitting
Lego Engineering
This year’s Lego Engineering is a community service project. Using Lego, members will create four interactive displays illustrating basic engineering concepts and present them to the afterschool homework club at the San Lorenzo Library and other venues such as SET Career Day, Maker Faires, County Fair, etc…
Origami
No age limit, however I have a math/origami curriculum that is designed for middle-school through high-school students. Some of the topics we could cover: fractions, proportion, ratios, rotational symmetry, infinite series, measuring angles, and geometric terminology.
Outdoor Adventures for Teens
In Outdoor Adventures for Teens we will hike on moderately challenging trails in local and regional parks, and believe me, we’ll have a lot of fun.
Photography – The Power of a Picture
This project will cover all aspects of photography – the technical, the artistic, and the joy of the hunt! We’ll learn about photo equipment, from basic to advanced (ISO, shutter speed and F-Stop). We’ll learn how to frame pictures and how to make a pin hole camera. We’ll meet at various locations in the Bay Area to capture nature, buildings, old cars, pumpkins and other holiday spirit throughout.
We’ll organize a photo show, meet a professional photographer, and enter contests.
1. We will have an East Hills Photography Project photo show. Photos must be taken of community service within your community outside of 4-H, or CS within 4-H such as, Blue Star Moms, Cake Booth, Beach Clean-up, Caroling, teaching chess, etc., including any community service project offered by other 4-H projects.
2. We will enter our photos in the State 4-H Photography contest.
3. We’re researching “Shoot Nations” & “National Geographic Youth International Photography Contest” as other possible contests to enter. The judges live all over the world!
4. Make a personal or group photo album , portfolio, collage, etc.
As a group we’ll discuss if we want to come up with a community service of our own, like teaching kids how to use a camera.
Poetry
This project is a creative writing class devoted entirely to poetry. This year we will take a quick romp through history to discover some important poetic forms and famous poets. We’ll learn about epic poems, odes, nonsense verse, and cowboy poems, and we will study poems by William Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and Carl Sandburg, among others. At each project meeting, we will recite poems together and will do a fun exercise in poetry writing. We will perform at least one community service recital at a convalescent hospital and will put together an anthology of our own poems at the end of the year, the third volume of Leaves of Clover.
Poultry
This is a project for those who are interested in raising chickens or already have chickens and want to know more about them, like anatomy, care and feeding, diseases, and starting with chicks. We also learn about judging and showmanship standards for those kids who want to enter their chickens in the County Fair. We work with a 4-H Poultry curriculum with learning activities and projects, as well as preparing a booth for Small Animal Field Day in the spring.
Public Speaking – Debate
A debate is an argument, right? Is not. Is too. Is not. Well, it is, and it isn’t. In this project we will learn what a debate is, what an argument is, the sides to a debate, how to prepare for a debate, and how to debate both sides of an issue using rational evidence. We will learn to think critically, analyze and evaluate information, and present positions based on logic.
Science Fiction Writing
In this project we will read and discuss science fiction and write science fiction stories. During the project meetings we will read some short stories or book excerpts by famous (and not so famous) science fiction writers and then write our own flash fiction––very short stories––about space heroes and villains, strange new worlds, time travel, technological marvels, and other aspects of life in the future (as you see it).
Sewing, Enhanced for Beginners
Knitting! Crocheting! Crosstitching! Tie-dying! Fabric Painting! Sewing! And everything else! Come to this project to learn all of these skills and more. This project is for beginners who want to learn fiber art skills such as machine sewing or needlework. Intermediates also welcome.
Square Dancing
4-H members come join the fun! This is a county-wide project so you can meet members from other clubs. Boys and girls learn to square dance from basic beginner to Mainstream and Plus as well as some line dancing. There are also community service and project exhibit opportunities with this project. Square dancing outfits are not required, but be sure you wear tennis shoes, not slip-ons or sandals, and clothing you can move around in. — In this project, you can have a lot of fun, meet new friends, and get great exercise!