4-H Action Exhibits. All participants take an equal role in planning and doing the Action Exhibit.

Transcription

1 4-H Action Exhibits by Laurn Brsstt, Dbbi Chvr, Lisa Townson, Pnny Turnr An Action Exhibit faturs on to thr 4-H rs showing a procss; making or doing somthing whil xplaining it to th audinc and answring th audinc s qustions. Action Exhibits ar diffrnt from most fair xhibits. In th fair xhibit, th display just sits thr to b lookd at, whil in th Action Exhibit, vrything coms aliv; th 4-H rs ar actually involvd in doing somthing. Action Exhibits ar diffrnt from 4-H dmonstrations in that constant talk is not ncssary, mor popl may b involvd and mor tim is involvd. Action Exhibits hav on to thr participants. All participants tak an qual rol in planning and doing th Action Exhibit. Th xhibit is organizd so that ach prson has a givn tim to work. You will hav about 45 minuts to prsnt. This may man you will rpat th procss you ar doing svral tims ovr. If a product is mad, it nds to b mad in th allottd tim from stp on to th finishd product. Sampls may b usd to show diffrnt stps. Action Exhibits ar st up on th tabls and booths that ar providd. Somtims asls ar providd. 4-H rs should chck with th organizr to find out what is going to b availabl. Th participants must provid all matrials and quipmnt ndd. Scoring is don by roving obsrvrs during th prsntation. Scor shts will b rturnd so that th participants will continu to larn and improv thir skills. To participat at th stat lvl, all mmbrs of th tam must b at last 12 yars old. UNH Cooprativ Extnsion, 4-H Lif Skills Work Tam 1

2 How to Plan an Action Exhibit 1. Choos a topic: What hav you don or larnd that you want to show to othrs? 2. Choos your action: Do you want to do an Action Exhibit by yourslf or work with othrs in planning and doing an Action Exhibit? What action will you b doing? 3. Choos your goal: Do you want to tach othrs somthing? Do you want to show othrs how to do somthing? Do you want to promot somthing or compar diffrnt procsss (such as comparing wll-knittd swatrs to poorly knittd swatrs)? 4. Choos a titl: Mak it short and catchy. Hav a on-ida thm. Tll th most important point and b original. Thn mak a postr with th titl and mak any othr postrs that will hlp show or xplain your topic. 5. Choos your support matrials: What matrials, quipmnt, and ingrdints will you nd to mak your xhibit activ? Writ it down on an indx card and doubl chck to mak sur you hav all you nd bfor going to do your Action Exhibit. A plastic tablcloth or a suitabl tabl covr should b usd to protct th tabl and don t forgt a drop cloth or nwspapr for th floor to catch any harmful drips. 6. Practic! Practic youraction Exhibit by doing all th ncssary stps in th procss. Your Action Exhibit is smoothr whn you v don it svral tims and whn you r xprincd in making or doing your topic. Chck th tim limits. Rmmbr to kp your working ara nat, clan and fr from cluttr. Aftr practicing, dcid if thr ar ways to improv your Action Exhibit. 7. Gt Popl Intrstd: Dcid on ways you might involv th audinc. Think of a sris of qustions that you can us to captur th audinc s attntion: Hav you vr trid to mak or do this? Would you lik to try making or doing this? Would you lik to tast this? Do you know how to do this? Whn appropriat, involv th audinc in a hands-on way; in moving/doing th various stps in your action xhibit. Choos a focal point for your xhibit Stting Up Your Exhibit Try to avoid always using th middl of th tabl as th cntr of your xhibit. UNH Cooprativ Extnsion, 4-H Lif Skills Work Tam 2

3 Think about what is sn as th most intrsting part of your display. Th viwr s y should naturally go from th titl postr to th most important part. If svral objcts ar involvd, vary th sizs, shaps, colors and hights. You may want to us covrd boxs or storag containrs to vary hights of th objcts. Arrang your xhibit Lft to right is th way th y usually travls. Plac havy, larg or bright objcts on th lft sid of your display. Dcid on th typ of balanc that you want to achiv. Formal or symmtrical balanc mans both sids ar th sam. Informal or asymmtrical balanc mans th lft sid is wightd diffrnt than th right sid. Circl balanc mans th display is arrangd around a focal point. Dcid on an ovrall color schm. Chos your colors with car. Grays, grns and blus ar good for backgrounds. Warm colors (rd, yllow, and orang) sm to advanc or stick out and ar still stimulating. Cool colors (blu, grn) sm to rcd and ar calm and rstful. What is th thm of your xhibit - xciting or rstful? B sur your audinc can s what you ar doing. Us labls if you hav svral itms on display. Avoid cluttr. Mak sur vrything is rally ndd and lav out anything that dosn t fit th on ida or thm. Mak all lttring asy to rad: simpl, nat and wll spacd. Spll all words corrctly and ras any pncil guidlins you us. Matrials Ndd 1. Backgrounds- Cardboard display boards from an offic supply stor ar xcllnt. You can mak your own background from corrugatd or samlss rolls of papr. Plywood or tmprd hardboards ar also good construction matrials. 2. Exhibit Fronts - You will want papr, cloth or anothr matrial to covr or skirt th front of th tabl. This maks your xhibit ara appar natr and hids cords and xtra supplis undr th tabl. UNH Cooprativ Extnsion, 4-H Lif Skills Work Tam 3

4 3. Fastnrs - You will nd a way to attach your postrs, scur your background and tabl skirts. Thumb tacks, sticky tack, spray adhsiv, map tacks, rubbr cmnt ar possibl choics. 4. Stability - Stability of your xhibit is important. You should xpct that th xhibit will b bumpd at som point. Mak sur vrything is scur and try not to us fragil itms that ar asily brokn. 5. Exhibit Matrials - Don t forgt to bring all of th matrials, ingrdints, tools, utnsils, xtnsion cords or othr supplis you will nd to do your Action Exhibit. Covr trad nams so that you ar not promoting a spcific brand. 6. Rmmbr - You can t us matrials that will lav th ara (floor, tabls, walls) damagd. Othr Important Considrations Liv Animals - Whil th us of liv animals is not always prohibitd from Action Exhibits, you should considr thir us vry carfully. Would th us of a modl b just as ffctiv? How might a liv animal dtract from th rst of your prsntation? Liv animals can b unprdictabl and should b cagd. Ask your county ducator if th animal you plan to us is allowd in th building whr th Action Exhibits will b going on. A valid rabis vaccination for any animal at a 4-H vnt is absolutly rquird. Bring your rabis crtificat to th vnt. Firarms & Wapons - Any typ of firarm or wapon is prohibitd from a 4-H Action Exhibit or Dmonstration. Most schools and th Univrsity of Nw Hampshir do not allow firarms or wapons in thir facilitis. Food Safty - If your Action Exhibit involvs th prparation and or srving of food, b sur you ar following all currnt food safty guidlins. In fact, you should talk about how you ar following saf food prparation practics as part of your xhibit. You wouldn t want to srv food prpard in an unsaf mannr to your audinc and risk thm gtting sick. You should rfr to Food Safty Chcklist for 4-H Dmonstrations or Exhibits or chck with your 4-H Ladr or County Extnsion Educator if you hav qustions about saf food handling for your Action Exhibit. B awar of copyright laws - If you ar using a rcip from a copyrightd cookbook or dirctions for a craft from a magazin - you must hav prmission to display and shar this with othrs. You can ask prmission by calling th customr srvic phon numbr listd in th magazin or book. Most publishrs ar happy to grant you prmission if you ask howvr, thy may not allow you UNH Cooprativ Extnsion, 4-H Lif Skills Work Tam 4

5 to hand out copis of th rcip or dirctions to complt a craft. B spcific in your qustions whn you call and ask for prmission. Ask thm how you should giv thm crdit as wll. Typically, thy will ask that you writ Rprintd with prmission from Btty Crockr on th bottom of your postr or somthing similar. Elctricity or spcial nds - If your Action Exhibit rquirs th us of lctricity or somthing out of th ordinary, always chck with your county Extnsion Educator to mak sur you will hav what you nd. Idntify your Action Exhibit as 4-H - Your audinc should know you ar a 4-H mmbr. You can b crativ in how you accomplish this. Us a 4-H tablcloth, display th 4-H flag on your tabl, war a 4-H apron, tc. Visit our wbsit: cinfo.unh.du UNH Cooprativ Extnsion is an qual opportunity ducator and mployr, UNH, U.S. Dpt. of Agricultur and NH countis cooprating. UNH Cooprativ Extnsion, 4-H Lif Skills Work Tam 5