2010 – 2011 East Hills Projects and Descriptions

Aquariums
Learn everything about freshwater fish keeping and aquarium maintenance. Discover the nitrogen cycle, building proper habitats, aquatic plant life, freshwater fish breeding, and including other species (such as invertebrates) into your habitat.

Archery
This project will explore the lore of archery and some of the physics of archery for target shooting. Equipment and materials will be provided. Afternoon field classes will be held at the Redwood Bowmen practice range near the Chabot Observatory. Indoor classes will be held in winter months.

Art – History in the Making
We will travel through time from ancient Egypt to Renaissance Europe. We will learn from the masters, from cavemen to Impressionists. Then we will create our own masterpieces!
Bicycle Adventures

Ceramics
We will be using ceramic clay. We will explore various types of construction to create greenware, which we will then glaze and fire in my kiln.

Chess
Chess is a very interesting game that can help to develop our thinking skills and can be a lot of fun to play. This project is open to players of all skill levels. It is assumed that the participants already know how each piece moves and basic rules of the game. In each session we will learn more about how to play better chess, including some common openings. Afterward, we will play some chess games to practice and improve our skills.

Computer Game Making
This project is for kids who would like to explore making computer games with either Gamemaker Pro or Flash Authoring software. Gamemaker has a free download version with limited abilities for initial exploration, and upgrades can be purchased for $20-$40 dollars. Participants will need a laptop computer, or to be signed up with a partner who has a laptop.
Creative Writing
The creative writing project will focus on story elements, characters, writing styles, and, of course, writing! Creative Writing participants can choose to write a novel for the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and then edit it as a part of the project, or they may choose to work on other creative writing work. We will explore short story writing, novel writing, screen writing, and any other creative writing participants feel inspired to do! Please bring paper and pens/pencils or a laptop computer to write during the project meetings.

Drama
Project members will learn all aspects of producing a short skit, which they will perform before an audience at County Skit Night. They will work together as a team to formulate a themed story line, write a script, design sets and costumes, and perform their skit.

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.
Fitness
This project is designed to get project members moving and support them in increasing their daily physical activity. They will learn easy strength-building exercises and will challenge themselves with a modified version of the President’s Physical Fitness Test. Group games such as basketball and volleyball will also be incorporated.

Flag
Learn about American flag history and etiquette, as well as basic flag ceremonies. We may act as a color guard at a county 4-H event (TBD). Learn parts of a flag and flag design. We will also look at state flags, flags of other nations, organizations, personal flags, and signal flags.

Inventions
If you like to tinker and build things or if you like to dream of inventing things that have never been made before, then this is the project for you! We’ll talk about famous inventors like Leonardo Da Vinci and Thomas Edison, and we’ll take on some fun engineering challenges like building bridges from newspaper, making flying machines, and designing cars powered by rubber bands or mousetraps. We’ll draw blueprints for futuristic contraptions and create our own Rube Goldberg machines from recyclables.

Lego Builders
Members will learn Lego terminology and building techniques, explore simple machines and have lots of time to develop their own and group projects. Project leader will provide all necessary materials.

Outdoor Adventures
There are lots of great hiking places practically in your backyard. This year, Outdoor Adventures will consist of six local hikes, each about 2 hours long. Possible starting locations are: Memorial Park in Hayward, Cull Canyon in Castro Valley, Hayward Shoreline, Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, and Don Castro Park in Hayward.

Outdoor Exploring
Come explore the wild lands close to home. We will practice Leave No Trace technique. Take time to hear the creatures and the wind. Learn map reading, compass skills, and exercise your powers of observation.

Poetry
This project is a creative writing class devoted entirely to poetry. In this project we will explore various poetic devices including similes and metaphors, rhyming patterns, and poetry as art. We will learn about famous poets and recite poems together (including some poems with two voices). As we explore the elements of poetry writing, we will play fun games to get our creative juices flowing, experiment with sounds and form, brainstorm, and write lots of poems. Be sure to save all the poems you write during the year, because at the end of the project we will put our best work together in an anthology, the second 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. In the past, we have also petitioned the San Leandro City Council in an effort to get them to update their poultry laws, and we might do that again this year.

Public Speaking – Presentations
This project will cover the basics of public speaking, such as voice projection and body language. You will learn how to prepare a presentation from selecting a topic, to organizing your presentation, to visual aids. Finally, you will learn how to review, critique, and polish your presentation. The project culminates in Alameda County 4-H Presentation Day, a public speaking competition, for those who wish to enter. County Presentation Day is an excellent way to practice your public speaking. There is the opportunity to advance to Sectional and State competition as well. Note: You don’t have to be in the Public Speaking Project to enter Presentation Day.

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.

Robotics
Using Lego Mindstorms, we will explore ROBOTICS. We will focus on building projects to enter into the Alameda County Fair.

Science
What is Science, really? How does it encompass music and art? In this project we will explore these topics plus what the scientific method entails and how it can be used to discover the truth about our world and universe. Join us in our discoveries!

Sewing Dolls
In this project we will sew cloth dolls — a figurative doll in the October workshop and a rabbit purse doll in the April workshop. Patterns will be provided; you should bring own sewing machine, fabric, and supplies. Ability to sew straight and curved seams required, as well as ability to use basic functions of your own sewing machine. Ability to handsew blanket stitch and whipstitch required.

Sewing, Enhanced
In the enhanced sewing project, we will not only work on regular intermediate sewing projects, we will also focus on and learn about embellishing existing items, reconstructing new items from old ones, mending, alteration, and more! — Intermediate machine sewing skills are required. To join this project, you must know the basic functions of your sewing machine, how to sew straight and curved seams, hem a garment, and read a pattern. Some familiarity with gathering, darts, and hand sewing techniques is preferred. — Children 11 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. You must bring your own machine, fabric and notions. There may be fees for optional activities such as screen printing, embroidery etc. This is a county project with a limit of 10 participants.

Shakespeare
Love Drama? Want to get to know the complex language of Shakespeare? Interested in being in a Share the Fun presentation? Here’s the project for you! The Shakespeare project this year will create a performance of a scene of one of Shakespeare’s plays and perform it at County Presentation Day. We will learn about how the language works as we memorize lines, and learn about the time period of the play as we design the set and costumes. And we will also have fun with the plot and our friends as we perform in January!

Song Writing
The class would include an introduction to song writing, an introduction to music theory, a session on writing a poem in a meter, a section on composing a melody to the poem, a sessions on harmony, and a final session on singing the songs.

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 to 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!

Storytelling
We will listen to tapes/cd’s of professional storytellers and try to analyze what makes for a good telling of a tale. Participants will choose from traditional and contemporary tales to practice performing. We will end the year with a Storytelling Performance.

Wetlands
Wetlands are an important part of our ecosystem! We have lost over 90% of our wetlands in California to human activity. In the Wetlands Project, we will learn about the ecology of California wetlands and how to preserve and restore them. We will then go out and do wetlands restoration! This will be a Service Learning Project with lots of community service opportunities. Please bring a notebook to project meetings. Before restoration community service, required materials and safety precautions will be discussed at project meetings.