It's true that many dads in the wild aren't interested in parenting, but there are some that work pretty hard to give their little ones a good start. Maybe one of these dads will make you remember your own dad!

    The male giant water bug doesn't seem to mind a heavy load on his back for his kids. The female puts about 100 to 150 eggs on the back of the male, and then she leaves. Once the female is gone, the male has to look after the eggs. It usually takes one to two weeks for the eggs to hatch. The father giant water bug jumps around to make sure the growing eggs get enough air and water. All this time he can't fly because of the weight of the eggs growing rapidly on his back.

    Now let's turn to the male stickleback fish. When the mother leaves after laying her eggs, the father tends his young. If the young fish go too far away, their father helps with their safe return by carrying them back in his mouth. The male stickleback looks after all his young — as many as 100 — until they can live on their own.

    A similar example can be found in emperor penguins living in cold areas. The male emperor penguin goes without food while looking after his egg until it hatches. For about 62 to 67 days, the egg stays on top of the father's feet, in very cold temperatures that drop down to -39° C. As a result, the father may lose nearly 50 percent of his body weight while waiting for his baby penguin to be born!

Teen Conference

    Are you ready to explore the University of Idaho campus, learn life skills for beyond high school, meet new friends and get reacquainted with old ones? Then Idaho 4-H Teen Conference is for you.

●June 27—30 , 2017

●Moscow, Idaho

●Grades 8 to 12

At this conference, teens will:

●Gain leadership skills

●Participate in educational workshops

●Experience campus life and learn about opportunities at the University of Idaho

●Learn about state, national and international 4-H opportunities

●Develop a passion for 4-H

●Make new friends throughout the state of Idaho

Adults at Teen Conference

    Adults are welcome to attend Teen Conference as chaperones(监护人). Please review adult chaperone position description and discover if this opportunity is for you. To apply, please complete the online chaperone application.

College students may also attend as collegiate(学院的)volunteers. Please review the collegiate volunteer position description. To apply, please complete the collegiate volunteer application.

Scholarships

    Please contact your local UI Extension country office to learn how to apply. All participants will be informed by April 1 before registration begins.. Scholarships include:

●Youth scholarships sponsored by the Friends of 4-H

●Adult chaperone scholarships

Conference Proceedings

●Gem State News 2016

    Be sure to visit the Idaho 4-H Teen Conference Facebook page.

    For more information, contact Shana Codr, 4-H Program Specialist.

    Whenever we talk about holidays, my mother teases my sister and me about how we “make out like robbers.” She is referring to the fact that we are half Jewish and half Indian, so we receive gits on both the festivals of lights. Hanukkah and Diwali. Though my mother teases us, I do not mind getting two sets of gifts!

    Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month. Which is usually sometime in December. On Hanukkah, like most Jewish families. We light a menorah and say a prayer each night. We also say a special prayer on the first night. After that, it is a tradition tor my sister and me to do 'hot and cold', for our hidden Hanukkah gifts. When we walk towards the gift, our parents say 'hot' and when we walk further away, they say 'cold'. We each receive one present every night of Hanukkah. Another part I like about this holiday is seeing family members who we do not see often. My aunt usually stays for a few days, and we sometimes visit other relatives.

    Diwali is celebrated on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin(October / November). To celebrate Diwali, my family does a pooja, or prayers, in honor of the goddess Lakshmi. Since she is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, the pooja includes washing silver coins in milk and water. In India, people decorate their houses with lamps, similar to the way you might light up your house for Christmas. My family just places a few candles outside We also set off firecrackers, which is my favorite part. We often do this activity with friends to add to the excitement.

    Both holidays have different histories and stories. We celebrate them in different ways, yet they both have the same meaning. They both translate into. Festival of Lights, and they both mean family and presents for me!

    No one likes to fail. Whether it's at work, at home, or in another area of your life, failure is painful and it can also be costly in terms of time, money, or both. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you never suffer a failure, then you're probably not pushing yourself to your full potential. The following are some tips on how to pick yourself up after you've failed.

    Remember that other people fail too. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} They'll tell you about that great new contract they signed, not the deal that failed eventually though they worked on it for months. But failure is normal, and lots of people fail time and time again before meeting with success.

Remind yourself of your past successes. Failing doesn't mean that you're worthless, or that you'll never achieve the things you want. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Maybe you had high marks last term, or you lost weight, or you learned to play a musical instrument. You might want to write down a list of successes—things that you've accomplished over the past few year, whether big or small. If you ever lack confidence, you can go back and read over that list.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Your past successes are important, but so are your past failures. You've made mistakes before, and you've survived them. Perhaps you did badly in an exam, or lost your temper and had to apologize. It's not fun to think about the times when things went wrong, but by acknowledging your failures, you can remind yourself that today is no different. Just as you recovered in the past, you can recover from your recent failure too.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Whatever went wrong, you're probably facing some sort of decision. Don't rush into making hasty decision, but do look for a forward path. That might require some deep thinking.

A. Make a decision.

B. Limit the damage caused.

C. Remind yourself of your past failures.

D. However, failure is a normal part of life.

E. Get some advice and support from others.

F. Most people don't talk openly about their failures.

G. Think of all the times in the past when you've succeeded.

    On December 22, 2016 I landed in the land of the “American Dream.” {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here is one of the things I've struggled with during my almost one year in the States.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} My uncle and aunt joked that I brought rain from Saigon to America. Saigon, where I come from, is the old name of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Vietnam is a tropical country where it rains most of the year. Before going to the U.S., actually, I had no idea what to expect about its weather, but the big rain on my arrival gave me the first expectation of what the weather here might be like.

    California is known for having a great climate — more sunshine, cooler in summer and warmer in winter. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} However, having been here for a pretty long while now, I have experienced various forms of climate in California.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Most of the time I was living in Silicon Valley, where the weather is a bit colder than where I study in Orange County. But I was really surprised to find chill-to-the-bone weather in San Francisco — a big shift from Silicon Valley in only about an hour's drive. How strange!

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} The worst is that I get n runny nose whenever I wake up in the morning. Because I am allergic to the cold and windy weathers, I keep sneezing badly, and even more badly if I get caught in the cold. I think that my body needs more time to get used to this climate, but as many people said, I am luckier to be in California where I don't have to fight with extreme weathers as in other states.

A. I am sensitive to weather change.

B. Such strange weather has affected my health.

C. So the amount of rain this year is considered unusual.

D. LAX airport in California welcomed me with a big rain.

E. So I quickly get used to the unchangeable climate in California.

F. The weather varies widely depending on where you are in the state.

G. Since then, I have discovered tons of dilemmas about life in America.

Fishy Weather Conditions

    Laj amanu, Australia, is a dry little town, sitting right on the edge of the Tanami desert. Can you imagines how surprised were people when live fish rained down on them from a dark gray cloudy. It happens that there are similar cases in England and Honduras.

    How do clouds make fishy. The simple answer is that they don't. There is a particular weather phenomenon(现象)called a waterspout. A waterspout is just like a tornado, only it forms above oceans, lakes, or rivers. Like a tornado, a waterspout moves in a circle at high speeds. When it moves above the water, it tends to carry the fish with it, as well as frogs or other small plants or animals.

    Scientists couldn't work it out at first. To make matters stranger still, the fish in Honduras were very much alive when they rained down to the ground, but they were all blind. In England and Australia, it rained fish and snakes, and none were blind. It was difficult to puzzle out, but the blind fish gave them a place to start.

    Scientists knew that some fish that lived in deep, underground caves with no light sources often lost their eyesight. So when blind fish rained down on Honduras, scientists began to connect some dots. Clearly, these particular fish were pulled from an underground water source by force.

    It has rained fish on every continent, and each time, people have tried in various ways to explain this strange phenomenon. Historically, villagers thought the “fishes from the heavens” might be answers to prayers for food.  Others suggested that floods overran river banks and oceans, leaving the fish on the city streets. No scientist had actually seen the rain as it occurred, only the fish left on the ground. But in 1990, a National Geographic team happened to be in Honduras when the Rain of Fishes began. They recorded what was happening and made history by finally proving that the fish really did fall from the sky.

    This huge breakthrough wasn't just a spot of good luck. It changed thousands of years of myths and legends into true stories and provided scientific explanations for how fish came to live in deep caves. It explained ancient cave paintings and shed new light on how species have spread over time. It turned out to be a lot more than just a little fishy weather.