Dr. Chantel Wilson, assistant professor and 4-H STEAM Extension specialist at Virginia State University, is helping youth soar to greater heights with Mars Base Camp, a new STEM learning tool she helped develop alongside other educators and Extension professionals. 

The kit, which is part of this year’s 4-H STEM Challenge, features four unique hands-on activities to get kids and teens, ages 8-14, to explore mechanical engineering, physics, computer science and agriculture. 

The 13th annual 4-H STEM Challenge, formerly known as 4-H National Youth Science Day, was highlighted throughout National 4-H STEM month in October. During the month, 300,000 youth across the country explored sending humans on a mission to Mars. The theme coincided with this year’s launch of the NASA Perseverance rover to Mars. 

Mars Base Camp was developed by Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia 4-H and the National 4-H Council with assistance from Google. The learning tool has been met with rave reviews since being introduced in August on the National 4-H website, and has nearly 50 five-star ratings on Shop 4-H. Demand has been so great that 4-H had to order a third supply of the kits. By the end of the year, it estimates 18,000 Mars Base Camp kits will be sold, and if strong sales continue and they sell out the next shipment of kits, they’ll have sold 24,000, which is double the amount of STEM challenge kits that are normally sold. Interest is not likely to wane since the Perseverance is expected to land on Mars in February. 

“I’m elated about the success of this project and that youth and parents are finding Mars Base Camp engaging as it teaches youth about the importance of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and agriculture,” Wilson said. “Competence in STEM is critical to their future success. Young people will need to learn to use innovation, technology and creativity to solve global problems in an increasingly complex world.” 

Wilson, who was one of the primary investigators leading the project, designed an agriculturally-themed activity for the 4-H STEM Challenge called “Crop Curiosity,” a card game similar to Canasta (a rummy-type game). In the game, kids learn that the environment on Mars is more similar to Earth than any other planet in our solar system, but not similar enough to meet the survival requirements of humans, plants and animals without life support systems. Kids also learn what it takes to grow plants on Mars as they race to be the first to build an agriculture module for their space station by collecting the critical components before their opponents do. 

The STEM Challenge kits traditionally were designed for educators to accommodate larger numbers of youth. However, in light of COVID-19 and home-schooling requirements, new family kits were released this year. These can be easily used by parents and adapted to different age groups. Wilson also applied for and received a kit grant from the National 4-H Council and Bayer targeting 1890s institutions, like VSU. These kits are intended for use with youth that have limited STEM opportunities. Wilson coordinated with Extension agents statewide and National 4-H Council to mail 50 4-H STEM Challenge family kits directly to families in need. She also distributed 60 educator kits to 4-H Extension agents and teachers statewide as part of the grant. 

Virginia Tech (VT) and VSU applied jointly as Virginia Cooperative Extension and were awarded $50,000 to develop this year’s kit. Wilson and Dr. Erika Bonnett, 4-H Programming specialist at VT, were leaders on the project. They were supported by the rest of the Virginia team: Dr. Hannah Scherer, Teaching and Learning Extension specialist at VT; Robbie Morrison associate Extension agent for 4-H Positive Youth Development, Campbell County; Caitlin Unterman of Virginia Episcopal School; and Dr. Shaunna Morrison of the Carnegie Institute for Science/NASA Astrobiology Institute. 

Connection is published by Virginia State University’s College of Agriculture. Special thanks to everyone who contributed content, photos, ideas and time to this edition.

Executive Editor: Michelle Olgers; Writer/Editor: Lorraine Blackwell; Art Direction, Graphic Design: Brittany R. Hughes

Send address changes and circulation inquiries by email to molgers@vsu.edu. Editorial inquiries and other comments should be sent to Executive Editor, Connection, P.O. Box 9081, Virginia State University, VA 23806 or molgers@vsu.edu.

©2020 Virginia State University College of Agriculture

Dr. M. Ray McKinnie, Dean/1890 Extension Administrator; Dr. Wondi Mersie, Associate Dean/Director of Research; Dr. Janine P. Woods, Associate Administrator VSU Virginia Cooperative Extension; Dr. Michelle Corley, Interim Chair, Associate Professor Department of Agriculture; Dr. Crystal Wynn, Chair and Associate Professor Department of Family and Consumer Sciences; Dr. Berkita Bradford, Chair and Associate Professor Department of Hospitality Management

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