Brady Smith’s alligator had a problem — a missing foot made the creature swim in circles.

After looking over bins full of craft supplies, and considering the 3D printing pens, Smith chose a piece of cork to fashion into a replacement foot for the plastic bath toy.

After attaching the appendange, he twisted a knob to rev the motor, then watched as the alligator swam straight across a tub of water.

Smith and other youngsters used their creativity to fix various missing limbs of the plastic sea creatures during a workshop presented through the Baker County 4-H program on Feb. 10.

“Biomimicry: A Dolphin’s Tail” was taught by Kyle Koyle, curriculum and outreach manager for GO-STEM, one of 13 STEM hubs in Oregon that provides free educational programming in Baker, Union, Wallowa, Umatilla, Morrow, Grant and Harney counties.

(STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics.)

The participants didn’t dive right into the project — first, Koyle explained the engineering process.

“We use the scientific process to build, create and refine,” she said.

The first step is to identify the problem.

“Tonight you’re all going to become a biomedical engineer,” she said.

Next up: brainstorm solutions to the problem.

“We have to have imagination, we have to be creative,” she said.

The next two steps are to design a solution, then create it. The youngsters were tasked with making a prosthetic to help the toys swim.

And then a crucial step: test and improve.

“Test, test, test,” she said. “I’m going to test it, then go back and change it, then test it, and go back and change it until we get it right.”

The final step is to share the results.

“If they just worked with their own ideas or team, they might miss someone’s imagination,” she said.

Then Koyle turned the kids loose to draw a picture of their design, then gather items from the craft supplies or use the 3D printing pens.

She encouraged everyone to test and retest frequently as they experimented with a solution.

“Even if your sea creature doesn’t swim, you figured out what not to do,” Koyle said with a smile.

Youth STEP workshops

The biomimicry session was part of the Baker County 4-H Youth STEP workshops offered to both members of 4-H and nonmembers. STEP stands for Short Term Education Program.

The next one is “Exploring the Skies: Agricultural Drones and Careers for Kids” on Monday, March 10, at 6 p.m. at the Baker County Fairgrounds, 2600 East St. The presenter is Drew Leggett from Blue Mountain Community College.

Participants ages 7-18 will learn how drones are transforming farming practices, hear from experts about careers that are shaping the future of agriculture, and have the chance to fly a drone.

For information, or to register, contact Katie Hauser at hauserk@oregonstate.edu or 541-523-6418, or visit https://beav.es/GAL.