LONDON, Ohio — While the target audience of most exhibits and demonstrations at this year’s Farm Science Review (FSR) is adults, something special awaits teenagers who attend this year’s show: The chance to get competitive with two games at FSR: Teen Ag Challenge and Buckeye World.

Hosted from 9:30 a.m.-noon daily, the Teen Ag Challenge pits teens against one another in a fun agricultural trivia contest. “The Teen Ag Challenge is a game for the young people attending the Review to test their knowledge of Ohio agriculture, Ohio State University and FFA trivia,” said Kathy Henwood, OSU extension program coordinator for Agricultural Safety and Health.

“It’s a ‘Jeopardy!’-style game with a little virtual Wild West shooting thrown in. The teens will answer questions from categories on the board to earn points.”

Teens will shoot at categories using a Nerf “shotgun.” Whichever contestant answers the question correctly gets to take a turn with the gun. In the end the overall winner will receive edible goodies and a water bottle.

“We do keep a tally of the game, but there are no great prizes for this game,” Henwood said.

More than 300 young people participated last year. Henwood expects to triple the participation at this year’s event. “Someday we’ll get better technology into this contest, but for now we’ll stick to the Nerf gun,” she said.

The Teen Ag Challenge is one of the features at the Firebaugh Building, part of OSU Central near the intersection of Friday and Kottman avenues. It is in its second year and any teen can participate.

A second youth eye-grabber is Buckeye World, sponsored by the College of Agriculture at OSU. Unlike Teen Ag Challenge, Buckeye World is more of an activity event in which students take a “passport,” or participating card, from booth to booth within the Bailey Building and participate in an activity.

For example, students are given two Gummi Bears candies, one with sugar and one with artificial sweetener. They are asked to tell which is which.

“With science, we’re always creating new foods and this booth with the Gummi Bears will show how science and foods intertwine,” said Jill Tyson, coordinator of Prospective Student Services for the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. “The goal is to get students involved in an activity. Each booth has its own way of presenting material. We’ve discovered if you make it in the form of a game it’ll be more interesting.

“Students have different interests and for so many years our programs started with the traditional ag student, with kids having a farm background. Nowadays we’re moving and growing beyond that limitation, and we’re getting a lot of urban students who are interested in the environment, sustainable plants or food systems, just as those from the farm are.”

After students make stops at each booth to learn some aspect about agriculture, they are given credit for their stop on their card and continue to the next stop. Some schools in Fairfield and surrounding counties gave students credits for participating in this event. Last year each student earned a pair of neon sunglasses for stopping at all 10 booths.

Last year there were 850 students participating in Buckeye World. It is the fifth year for this event and is held continuously in the Bailey Building.