Bright Minds Hatching

Highlands County 4-H Leader Develops virtual embryology project for Facebook.

- PAUL CATALA

WHILE THE CORONAVIRUS has students across Florida sitting in their homes or apartments trying to maintain a semblance of classroom learning, Alexis Cooper hatched an idea that allows children to learn about the science of embryology online.

Called the “21-Day Virtual Embryology Project,” Cooper — a Highlands County 4-H Program Assistant – says the goal of the project is for children to learn in real-time about the cycle of the egg, embryo and hatching of a chicken.

More than 100 years old, 4-H is the United States’ largest youth development organization with about 6 million youths involved. It is coordinated by university Cooperative Extension groups —a community of more than 100 public universities across the nation.

In the process of watching the Facebook videos, 4-H members can also fulfill the requirement of turning in an annual project book, a minimum of one per year.

“My biggest goal is every day, I want them to be excited to watch my new video when they see I go on live on Facebook, and of course learn stuff along the way,” she says.

Throughout the “21-Day Virtual Embryology Project,” youths learn about the egg cycle and what is happening inside of the egg for 21 days.