4-H Breeding Beef Project

Section 1
Project Record

The components of a 4-H record book

Over half of your 4-H career is spent working on projects, and fittingly, over half of your record book is spent commemorating those projects. Section 1 provides a framework for planning, completing, and analysing each of your 4-H projects. How? Let's go through it step-by-step.

Note

When completing a project record for a project carried over from another organization (i.e. a school art project or the Supreme Beef program), the documentation from that organization may fit the criteria for a 4-H project record, and many people choose to submit that documentation as their section 1. This is acceptable, but the record book committee asks that you respect the judges' time by using the 4-H project record template, and not including extranneous information.

Requirements

Juniors (Ages 8-10) Intermediates (Ages 11-13) Seniors (Ages 14+)
Minimum # of Goals Two (2) Three (3) Four (4)
Project Description Addresses who, what, when and where of project qualitatively in less than 300 words.
Size and Scope Includes quantitative information pertaining to the materials and time required to complete the project. Financial Information and Market Summary sub-sections should be filled out if applicable to the project.
Knowledge and Skills Acquired Lists things learned in project. Lists things learned in project and addresses each goal. Lists things learned in project and demonstrates how at least 2 goals were met, as well as addressing all goals.
Exhibition Summary Lists exhibitions and placings from entire year.

Overview

Please just fill this box out. It's really not that hard, and I'd rather not waste the space (or the bandwidth) to explain in detail. If you really have questions, contact the Extension Office.

Goals

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time Zig Ziglar

Goals provide direction for your 4-H project. If you've ever gone to any motivational leadership conference, you've heard about goals far more than you could ever care to, but the facts show the people with goals acomplish more. Great, you say, how do you make goals? I'm glad you asked.

A goal is an objective or thing desired to happen with SMARTY attributes:

S

Specific
A goal should only cover one area

Bad Example
To walk my dog two miles every day this summer and teach her to fetch
Good Example
To walk my dog two miles every day
To teach my dog how to fetch
This goal needed to be split into two goals. Having more goals is great: just make sure that each goal stands alone.

M

Measurable
Someone else should be able to objectively tell if you've met the goal or not.

Bad Example
To shoot really well this year in .22
Good Example
To shoot an average of over 250 points over all my .22 practice shoots this year
Measurable usually involves numbers or binary (true/false) statements. Notice how this example added a way of measuring (average) and a quantitative target (over 250 points). That is characteristic of measureable goals.

What about To do better than last year?

Invariably, record books are turned in each year with the goal "to do better than last year." Sometimes this is measurable, mostly it is not. It would be far better to identify exactly what you want to improve and find a way to measure that. If you do resort to this goal, you MUST keep your record book maticulously organised so that the judges can find how you did last year.

A

Achievable/Attainable
You must be directly in charge of acomplishing the goal: it cannot depend partially on parents, animals, acts of nature, etc.

Bad Example
To finish my market hog at a weight between 245 and 280 lbs.
Good Example
To learn how protein percentage in feed affects rate of gain in hogs
This does not mean that you cannot ask for help acomplishing your goals, but you do need to be in charge and take initiative for your goals. No human being can directly control an animal's behavior or weight, another persons opinions, or the weather. Make sure that your goals do not try to alter these things.

R

Realistic
Your goals should be things you can actually acomplish with the resources (time, money) that you have.
Bad Example
To make 20 saddles in the month of January
To carve one drink coaster by fair
Good Example
To complete two saddles by March of next year
No 4-Her could have the money to buy materials for 20 saddles, or the time to make 20 saddles within one month: that is unrealistic. Difficulty can also play a role here. Making one coaster should not challenge anyone but a 1st-year leathercrafter, and would also be unrealistic.

T

Time-bound
Set a deadline for your goals.
Bad Example
To breed half of my rabbit hutch
Good Example
To have bred half of my rabbit hutch by December
Because record books are due annually, the defacto time-limit for all record book goals is the record book due date; so the time component isn't a deal-breaker. It really shows initative and professionalism, though, if you set a deadline before record books are due.

Y

Why
Every goal should have a bigger purpose or reason behind it.
Bad Example
To volunteer for three leadership positions in the community this year (because I need another Youth Leadership goal for my record book)
Good Example
To volunteer for three leadership positions in the community this year (because I need to improve my public speaking and organizational skills)

How do you write SMARTY goals? Here's a way I like to do it:

  1. Get a blank sheet of paper and pencil (not your phone)
  2. Write the project name and why you enrolled in that project at the top of the page
  3. Write four or five things you would like to acomplish in that project (not SMARTY yet, if you can't make it that way)
  4. Set aside your page for two months
  5. For each of those things you wanted to do, write a SMARTY version
  6. Add your new goals to your record book

I've found that, by writing down the goals early along with the why behind them, I will be more likely to acomplish my goals. Try it yourself, and I think you will, too.

Project Description

If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself. Albert Einstein

Use the project description to explain what you did in the past year to someone who doesn't know anything about that subject. A good project description should read almost like a newspaper brief about your project. Like a good reporter, include information on the

  • Who (parents, siblings, project leaders)
  • What (leathercraft halter, market steer show, cooking recipe)
  • When (at fair, at the spring judging contest, at home all year)
  • and
  • Where (at Hansen arena, at home, at SAREC)

of your project.

Note

For many years, the role of the project description was very ambiguous. As such, there are very few record books that followed these guidelines, and most of the examples do not. Please use discernment when viewing the example project descriptions, and remember to use the reporter-like style when completing your record book. Who knows, then your book might wind up in the next set of examples.

Size & Scope

There's always a four-point-five percent margin of error, plus or minus. The Accountant in The Accountant (Short film)

The label "Size & Scope" has caused confusion for several generations of 4-Hers. Let's define these words to clear that up.

Size
is numbers, i.e. the number of hours spent, dollars invested, contest points earned, pounds of feed, etc.
Scope
indicates the varieties, different types, recipes, plants or animal breeds with which you worked.

In short, Size & Scope is a quantitative analysis of everything you used to complete your project. Good Size & Scope sections vary widely depending on the project, but all of them record the items (physical or intellectual) used in the project, and the time and money spent on the project. Take a look at the examples for ideas to get you started.

Tip

Financial Information and Market Summary tables are provided under Size & Scope. They are not intended to serve as a full Size & Scope, but they may be useful to augment your existing data. Use them if you think they are appropriate to your project.

Knowledge & Skills Acquired

Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. Proverbs 8:10 KJV

Knowledge & Skills Acquired serves two purposes. First, it allows you to address whether or not you met your goals. Second, it tells readers what you actually learned this year in your project.

To complete Knowledge & Skills, create a heading for each goal you wrote. Write a paragraph (at least three sentences) explaining if you met the goal, how you met the goal (or why you did not meet the goal), and what you learned from the goal. After each goal is addressed, include paragraphs explaining anything else you learned about your project area. Remember that your readers might not know anything about your project area, so be sure to explain it in a way that a layperson can understand.

Exhibition Summary