Critical thinking has become a key focus in education, and educators are working diligently to equip students with this essential skill. 4-H has partnered with the Life Cycle Learning Center in Aulander to provide engaging coding activities over the past few weeks.

In the first week, 4-H Agent Toniqua Young introduced students to important vocabulary related to coding, including terms like "algorithm," "debugging," and "programs." The youth practiced creating an algorithm, which is a sequence of steps to complete a task, by using arrows and grids to guide a character named Flurb to collect fruit.

After learning the basics of coding, we practiced block coding using our Dash robots. These robots allow students to operate them like a car for fun or follow a series of lessons in block coding. As students progress through the lessons, the coding challenges become increasingly complex. As we continue our partnership with Life Sycle, our Teen LEADS participants will step in to help create additional STEM lessons for these young learners.