Science & Technology

February 28, 2017

Moon Viewer

I didn’t find this activity in time for my moon meeting but this is a really neat project to do along with or instead of Oreo Moons.  This idea comes from the Science Notebooking blog. To make it you need a black paper plate and a Popsicle or tongue depressor stick, some white paper, tape and glue.  Cut out the middle of the plate.  Tape the stick to the back of the plate.  Then cut out the different phase of the moon and glue them to the plate.

Alternatively, you can print out a more refined version of this project from E is for Explore!.

Once completed, girls can hold the plate up to the moon and figure out what phase it is in or between.

February 20, 2017

Oreo Cookie Moons

I was looking for an interesting way to teach our girls about the phases of the moon when I came across this activity that uses Oreo cookies. Like the write on Sciencebob.com, “I’ve always been a fan of science activities that you can eat.” Sadly you can’t use Girl Guide sandwich cookies as you really need the contrast between the white icing and the dark cookie.  We split the girls up into groups of 4.  Each girl got two cookies (a reasonable serving size).  We also gave them napkins to work on, sticks to scrap icing off with and a copy of the PDF activity sheet from Sciencebob.

February 13, 2017

Solar System Hike

The purpose of this hike is to give the girls a sense of the scale of the solar system.

You will need:

  • any ball with an 8″ diameter (Sun)
  • a white seed bead (Mercury)
  • a peppercorn (Venus)
  • a second peppercorn (Earth)
  • a red seed bead (Mars)
  • bouncy ball 1″ (Jupiter)
  • acorn (Saturn)
  • coffee bean (Uranus)
  • second coffee bean (Neptune)
  • (optional) Facts about each planet to share at each stop
  • (optional) gravel

You might want to tape the seed beads to white cards so they can be seen when you get far away from them.

Place the large ball down at the beginning of your hike.  This ball represents the sun.  Pick a girl to count out the paces.  She will be the “Spacecraft”.  You can switch out after each planet if you’d like.

10 paces. Place the Mercury seed bead down.

Another 9 paces. Place down the Venus peppercorn.

Another 7 paces Earth

Another 14 paces Mars

You may want to scatter some gravel between Mars and Jupiter to represent the asteroid belt.

Another 95 paces to Jupiter

Another 112 paces to Saturn

Another 249 paces to Uranus

Another 281 paces to Neptune

After Neptune you can explain that it could be as much as 242 to the dwarf planet Pluto.  You can discuss the other dwarf planets and asteroids and comets that make up  the Oort cloud.  Feel free to scatter more gravel.  Then head back along the same path to collect your planets

 

February 9, 2017

Astronomy Badge Meeting

We took our Guide unit on a Saturday evening adventure to the York University Astronomy Observatory. There they had a chance to learn about the solar system and some of the other objects in the night sky. They also had a chance to see some of the big scopes the department has. Since Toronto has grown a lot since the observatory was built in the 1960s, light pollution around the observatory have grown a lot so the scopes can no longer be used for deep sky observing but they can still be used for observing things in our own solar system or some stars.  Sadly, the night we visited it was snowing out so they couldn’t open the dome for the girls to take a look.

To finish up the badge, the following meeting we started by having the girls do skits based on Constellation Legends.  I printed a story for each patrol.  They did a great job.

Then we broke the unit up into groups of 4 and gave each girl two oreo cookies so they could make oreo cookie moons (I’ll post those instructions soon).  They had to show a Guider that they’d made each phase of the moon before they were allowed to eat the moon.  The girls were very motivated and worked quickly.

Finally we went outside to see what stars we could see from the city.  It had clouded over a little while we were inside but the Moon and Venus were still partially visible though the clouds.  Several of the Guiders had star guide apps on their phones and showed the girls how to use them.

January 23, 2017

Constellation Stories

Part 5 of the astronomy badge requires the girls to learn the stories of some of the constellations.  Constellation Legends has a nice selection of the Greek mythology constellations.  The stories are not too long and they are each illustrated with a image showing both the Greek mythology character and the stars.

I printed some out so my girls could make up skits based on the stories.

I would love a good source for constellations stories from other cultures.  Anyone know one?

January 10, 2017

2017 Eclipse

One event to look forward to in 2017 is a North American eclipse of the sun on August 21st.   The best view of the eclipse will be in the center of the US but many major Canadian cities will be able to see a partial eclipse.  Vancouver will have an especially good view.  To see what the eclipse may look like where you are you can check out this Tour of the “Great American Eclipse”.

In order to safely observe an eclipse directly you need either special eclipse glasses or No. 14 welder’s glass.  Another option is to observe the eclipse indirectly such as though a pin hole camera.  Here are some directions to make one.

December 13, 2016

Spot the ISS

The International Space Station is a great target to look for in the nights sky.  It is relatively bright and moving but not so fast that girls won’t have a chance to pick it out among the stars before it disappears across the horizon.  The Can I see the Space Station from my Backyard? site is mostly a set of links from the Canadian Space Agency to other sites from NASA and the European Space agency but it is still a great place to start if you want to figure out when the ISS may be over head.

November 28, 2016

Dancing Raisins

There are two methods to get raisins to dance for you.  Why not try both and see which works best.

Method One

  • A large clear glass
  • Hot water (boiling)
  • Raisins
  • Baking Soda
  • White Vingear
  • Food colouring (optional)
  1. Fill the glass 3/4 full of the hot water and stir in two table spoons of baking soda. You can add a few drops of food colouring if you like.
  2. Add a handful of raisins to the bottom of the glass.
  3. Top up the glass with vingear.  There will be a lot of bubbles at first but then the raisins should start slowly going up and down inside the glass.

Method Two

November 21, 2016

Goop (or Oobleck)

Goop is a non-Newtonian fluid.  It contains some of the properties of both solids and liquids.  If you press down on goop (or walk on a large amount) it will support your weight without sinking into it.  But if you hold it in your hand it will run though your fingers like a liquid.

To make:

  • 1 part water
  • 2 parts cornstarch
  • a few drops of food colour (optional)

This is a pretty messy experiment.  Have a hand washing strategy prepared.

November 18, 2016

Nova Scotia 100 of Brownie Challenge

100 years browniesThis challenge was created to celebrate the 100th year of Brownies in Nova Scotia.  I really like the crest design.

The challenge is divided up to the following sections:

  • Arts
  •  STEM
  • Active Living
  • Service
  • Heritage

To earn the challenge all branches must do at least one activity from each section and a lot of the activities would make for good bridging activities.  There is a cross-reference section at the end to show where the challenges may overlap with the branch program.