STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is the newest craze in the educational field. 4-H is going a step further showing that STEM programming is fun, exciting and 100 percent hands-on with the first-ever Mad Scientist Club.
 What exactly is the Mad Scientist Club? This brand new program is for sixth- through eighth-graders interested in science, mainly doing experiments, working with their hands and imaginations. The University of Tennessee/Tennessee State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status in provision of educational programs and services or employment opportunities and benefits. The scientists will be working with junk-drawer robotics, Lego robotics, and general experiments as well.
Kicking off working with STEM, the Mad Scientist Club and the Junior 4-H Honor Club celebrated National Science Day by incorporating STEM and doing a little mad scientist work themselves. They were given the task of building an egg parachute. This egg parachute needed to be able to be dropped from the second floor of the Administrative Building onto the asphalt. If the egg broke, they re-designed the parachute. Egg parachute was the beginning of a fun, interactive club activity involving youth from all over the county. 
During the first meeting youth experimented with dry ice. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. Instead of ice melting, dry ice evaporates directly into carbon dioxide gas. Dry ice must be handled with care as it has a temperature of -110 degrees F, and should never be touched with bare hands. When dry ice and water are combined, the combination of the two result in carbon dioxide and water vapor. The gas coming off the water is actually tiny water droplets.
To be safe, agents Loren Stinson and Shay Davis handled the product using leather gloves. To completely understand the dry ice concept, a cup half full of warm water was used with a few drops of dish soap added. The group watched the reaction of the dry ice being placed into the water. When combined, the vapors actually formed bubbles. The bubbles were now safe for touching. Once they had the bubbles in hand, almost instantly the bubbles disappear. The Warren County Extension office doesn’t recommend trying this at home without supervision.
After this “Ice Breaker,” the members teamed up into pairs. Each group was given the task of building a marshmallow catapult with random supplies found around the home. After 45 minutes of brainstorming, teamwork, and trial and error, they finally began the launching tests.
At this first meeting members were experimenting with their brains trying to recharge them to go deep and next time a little deeper. As the meetings continue, youth will do more experiments and build larger projects. 
In the months of November and December, the club has added to the youth’s knowledge by adding in larger, more difficult tasks and chemical components. During the most recent meeting, youth got hands-on with making Christmas trees out of newspaper and making Goo. Making Goo is the beginning of our chemical section of Mad Scientist. The club is gradually working into the harder elements as the months go by.  
For questions, contact the Extension Office at 931-473-8484 or visit the office at 201 Locust Street, Suite 10 McMinnville.