Iowa State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences presented 10 “Future Discovery Awards” to 4-H participants at the 2016 Iowa State Fair.
The Future Discovery Award is a $500 scholarship, which will be given to each student upon enrolling at ISU and pursuing a Liberal Arts and Sciences major.
The scholarship was presented to 4-H youth whose State Fair exhibits exemplified “the innovation, curiosity, and scholarship foundational to a liberal arts and science education.” The winning entries ranged from a pipe organ constructed out of PVC pipe and flip flops to research on the impact of rural schools.
Carly Manz, lecturer in genetics, development and cell biology, and Ranpal Dosanjh, assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies, served as faculty judges for the college.
"What I was impressed by was the wide range of interests that could be found in the 4-H projects and how creative and well done they were," Manz said. "We tried to choose ten exhibits that could illustrate the diversity of majors in the LAS college, and it was amazing how many of the projects tied into the different majors in interesting and inventive ways. It was hard to choose just ten out of the hundreds of exhibits, but I think the ten exhibits that won the Future Discovery awards represented the scholarship and innovation that we were looking for."
Projects selected represent the five “academic interest” areas within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: arts and humanities, communications, mathematics and computational sciences, physical and life sciences and social sciences.
“It always amazes me the talent, innovation, curiosity and research that young 4-Hers pour into their projects,” Dan Rice, director of LAS recruitment services said. “While we focus on projects that relate to college majors, there are hundreds of other projects from furniture building, to artwork, and practical machinery that are just as amazing. The future of Iowa is in good hands with this next generation coming up. I just hope we get the opportunity to work with many of them at Iowa State.”
Meet the 2016 Future Discovery Award recipients:
Lauren Bayer, 11 Exhibit: JC’s Miracle Related LAS major: Journalism About the exhibit: Researched and documented the recovery of a horse via a local newspaper article and photo story
Valerie Beukema, 11 Exhibit: It’s all about Buffer Strips Related LAS major: Environmental Science About the exhibit: Researched, tested and applied use of buffer strips
Skyler Rawlings, 15 Exhibit: Atlatl Related LAS major: Anthropology About the exhibit: Researched and constructed functional Atlatl, an ancient type of spear-thrower
Cade Shramek, 15 Exhibit: Nothing to Say Related LAS major: Music About the exhibit: Performed, recorded and edited an original song composition
Zachary Harnden, 12 Exhibit: The Iowa Caucuses: First Step To The Whitehouse Related LAS major: Political Science About the exhibit: Provided a topical, well researched presentation on the Iowa caucuses
Dayten Wittenburg, 16 Exhibit: How to Write a Thank you Related LAS major: Communication Studies, English About the exhibit: Provided an effective description of an often overlooked topic—how to write a thank you note
Wesley Peters, 17 Exhibit: The impact of rural schools in Iowa and education across America Related LAS major: History About the exhibit: Well-researched presentation on the legacy of rural schools locally and nationally
Emily and Abbie Kraft, grade 8 and grade 10 Exhibit: PVC Pipe Organ Related LAS major: Music About the exhibit: Wrote original music on a pipe organ built from flip flops
Damman Brandt, 15 Exhibit: Cannonball Simulation Related LAS major: Computer Science About the exhibit: A thorough and complete computer simulation of cannonball ballistics, from physics to programming to user interface
Brianna Lobeck, 13 Exhibit: What is the effect of rainfall on annual growth rings in hackberry trees? Related LAS major: Biology/Environmental Science About the exhibit: Excellent experimental design and data presentation regarding the effect of rainfall on hackberry trees