Award-winning fair project just the start for young 4-Her
Inspired by a fifth-grade science lesson, Emory Sherrick won an outstanding award and a trip to the Ohio State Fair with his 4-H Self-Determined Project on the solar system.
An award-winning project on the solar system is just the beginning for Emory Sherrick, who has big dreams about becoming the first person to land on Mars.
Inspired by a school science lesson, Sherrick created a Self-Determined Project that won him an outstanding ribbon at the Wayne County 4-H Still and Family and Consumer Sciences Project Judging and a trip to the Ohio State Fair.
His project will be one of 558 Still and Consumer Science projects on display in the Junior Fair Building during the Wayne County Fair Sept. 9-14.
“Last year in fifth grade,” Sherrick said, ”my teacher Mr. (Andy) Hosfeld was teaching about space, and I was learning a lot. It was really interesting.”
The Wooster Township Elementary student wanted to learn more, so he chose a 4-H project category that allowed him to determine his own learning experiences and goals.
“I began visualizing what I was going to do for the project,” he said, and his ideas took the form of two solar system models. One is a display of the eight planets along with facts about each. For a second display, he created a model of the planets on their orbit lines by cutting in half Styrofoam balls, painting them to match the colors of the planets and attaching them to the poster.
He also glued on small rocks of all shapes, sizes and colors to represent the asteroid belt, a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where most of the asteroids in the solar system are found orbiting the sun. The asteroid belt may contain millions of asteroids, ranging in size from small planets to particles of dust, Sherrick said.
He said he also was fascinated to discover the sun’s core is 27 million degrees.
In May, Saturn, the planet known for its rings, gained 62 more moons and now holds the record for the most moons in the solar system with 145.
Venus is the hottest of the planets and spins in the opposite direction from most other planets including Earth. Sherrick said it was a really cool planet to research.
Jupiter’s big red spot is a large storm almost the size of three Earths. “That surprised me,” Sherrick said. “That’s really big.”
Another of his goals was to share astronomy with others. “I wanted to help people learn visually,” he said. He talked about his research in interviews with the judges who evaluated his project. He also shared his displays with his 4-H Club, the West End Rowdy 'Ranglers.
Now a sixth-grader at Triway Middle School, Sherrick, who has visited the Kennedy Space Center, would one day love to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or become a meteorologist.
His father Mike Sherrick marvels at his son’s creativity and love of adventure.
When he’s not focused on space, he and his dad like to go dirt bike riding, hiking, exploring and white water rafting.
Emory Sherrick also tends to his livestock projects. He will exhibit at the fair two pygmy goats, a pet rabbit, three market rabbits and two market chickens.
“He’s working hard,” his dad said.
Emory Sherrick said he did not have a trip to the state fair in mind when he was working on his Self-Determined Project. He wanted a top rating at the county level, so the state fair selection was a bonus. Next year he wants to challenge himself at a higher level to once again compete at the state fair and encourage others to get involved in 4-H.