4-H USER GUIDE AND TIPS FOR 4-H PROJECT E-RECORDS

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1 4-H USER GUIDE AND TIPS FOR 4-H PROJECT E-RECORDS Family Consumer Science Projects This guide has bee prepared to assist you in completing the 4-H e-records for General and Family Consumer Science projects. It provides instructions, suggestions and examples to aid you as you fill out your record. The 4-H project e-record is for all General and Family Consumer Science projects. You will need to fill out an e-record for each project. The e-record is for juniors, intermediates, and seniors. Members are expected to complete as much of the record as possible on their own; however younger members will likely need assistance in understanding some of the concepts. Members will want to fill out as much of the record as they can, as soon as they get their records. This will make less work for them to do later when it gets closer to the fair. DO NOT WAIT TO DO YOUR E-RECORD AT THE LAST MINUTE! Members should have enough time to do the record correctly. We believe that leaders and parents should counsel young members in the preparation of their records. These records are developed for the member to need only a minimal amount of leader or parent assistance. The member is responsible for the actual completion of the record. Your e-record is just that, a record of this year s work with this particular project. Securely attach extra items that are required by the project such as manuals, plans, experiments, etc., in a sturdy binder. The e-record is available to you in one of three ways described below. This information can be found on the Colorado 4-H website at: Online Paper CD You will access the website and download the required e-records yourself. Be sure to have all the materials you need Some projects require a manual to be filled out and other projects require additional information Example: Entomology project requires an entomology workbook (can be ordered from University Resource Center) Be sure to check the State Fair Exhibit Requirements at : You may elect to receive all records for your projects from the Extension office or via your club leader at the appropriate costs. Some counties may copy all the records that you need and put it on a CD for you to pick up at the Extension office. OpenOffice.org is a program that will enable you to open work documents without problems when you do not have Microsoft Word on your computer. Just go to OpenOffice.org website and download the program Writer. OpenOffice.org offers their programs free to the public. Produced by: 4-H Curriculum and Project Work Team Technology e-record Work Group --Connie Cecil/Perry Brewer Updated 2014

2 Cover This is the easiest page in the e-record to fill out! There is no reason why this page should not be completed when you receive your e-record. Begin this page by indicating what project you are taking, unit number or title and how many years you have taken the project including the current year. Check your age group. Remember that your age is as of December of the previous year. Example: Age as of December 31, Age groups are as follows: Juniors 8-10; Intermediates 11-13; and Seniors Clearly indicate the member s name, 4-H club, county, birth date and age as of December 31, Make sure you get all signatures required at the completion of your project.

3 HOW DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN 4-H THIS YEAR What projects did you take? List all the projects you are taking this year and the total number. What activities helped you learn the skills for this project? Did you attend project meetings? Did you go on a tour to find out more about your project? Did you visit a museum or go to the library to look up information? Did you use the Internet to find information on your project? Did you use YouTube videos to help you learn about your project? Did you take a class to improve your skills for the project? What Leadership Development experiences did you participate in? Did you lead the pledges in your club meeting? Were you on a committee for your club? Were you an officer for your project or club? Did you help younger members learn a skill for the project? Did you go to YouthFest, CLC, LDC or State Conference? Are you a senator for you county? Are you an officer for your county council?

4 DEMONSTRATIONS & COMMUNITY SERVICE Community Service ---4-H community service goes here. Did you do a community service related to your project? Did you do a community service with your club? It is important to put this information in your e-record. Ideally it would be great to have a community service project specific to each project but we know that this may not happen. If you do only one community service project be sure to record it in each of your project e-records. The requirement is that a 4-H member does a community service project! Demonstrations/Presentations/Speeches ---record your demonstration in this section of the e-record. 4-H members are encouraged to do a project-related demonstration and would like to have one for every project that a 4-H member is enrolled in. We understand that this may not happen. If you do only one demonstration, make sure that you record it in each of your project e-records. The requirement is that a 4-H member does a demonstration. Judging of this section: A 4-H member will not be counted down for only doing one demonstration or one community service project but the judges may comment that they would have liked to have seen a project-related demonstration or community service. There are two type of demonstrations: 1. Informal ---where skills or techniques are demonstrated to other members in the project. 2. formal --where a 4-H member presents a topic about his/her project to the entire club. A formal demonstration has three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. Remember to write down the title of your demonstration (Activity/Title), the date, how long it lasted and the location of the demonstration.

5 EXPENSE RECORD List any tools, equipment, or supplies purchased for use for your project this year. If you already have a camera then the project cost would be printing the pictures. Either list each item individually or you can group your purchases according to similar items. Juniors need only to put down the expense of the final exhibited items. Intermediates and Seniors please put down all the expenses for your project: practice items, etc. Examples of project expenses: Fuel costs for transportation to contests, project activities Purchased supplies, tools, patterns, books, etc Exhibit supplies, i.e. display boards, paper, cake boards Food project members may want to figure out the cost of a batch of cookies and then divide that by the number of cookies to get the individual costs for the project. Return on Investment --only for Intermediates & Seniors Reflect back on the knowledge and skills acquired during the year. 1. managed time better, kept better records, learned to sew, etc. 2. fixed a broken arrow, sold a cake that I made, etc. 3. built a gun rack -now the neighbor wants one -how do I do that?

6 Photos A minimum of four pictures with a descriptive caption for each is required. Additional photos can be added. Pictures must be project -specific. Photos should be: Pictures of the 4-H member working on his/her project Picture should tell the story of your project Pictures can either be digital or glue on Don t forget to put captions on your pictures--gives for a better presentation and are required. If you choose to use a digital camera, you will be able to insert pictures on this page. There will be limited ability to format the picture but it will work. You will be able to put a caption near the picture. Be selective when putting your photos in your e-record. Don t over crowd your page with photos because it is hard to understand what you are tying to show. Tell a story with your pictures about your project. ALWAYS INCLUDE CAPTIONS--MAKES THE PICTURES EASIER TO UNDERSTAND. Learning to piece fabric together. Learning to sew a straight stitch.

7 Story This is the most important section of your e-record. The 4-H story can make or break a 4-H project. When a judge is looking for a way to break a tie in judging projects, they will go to the story and see which 4-H member has the best story.

8 Remember: Start filling out your e-record right away Enter all of your expenses for your project Provide pictures of you doing your project Create a good story Place e-record and required items in a sturdy binder Back up your e-records: First, save your e-record file to the hard drive. Second, save it again on one or two other devices, either using a USB flash drive or an external hard drive. Third, you may want to the file back to yourself or to a trusted friend or relative. Fourth, storing the file on the Cloud can be another option. Back up your e-record file every time you work on it Remember that it is too late to back up your file when your computer crashes or your have a fire ---back up your files!!!! The bottom line is to frequently back up your files in multiple locations.