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Brownie STEM Kits

WOW!“Wonders Of Water”

These activities are from the Leader’s Guide Book, “How to Guide Brownies Through ‘WOW! Wonders of Water.’” These activities correlate directly with the science activi-ties found in your Leader Guide. Your STEM kits in a box contain the supplies necessary to complete each of these activities, except where noted.

You will use the material in these kits to help the girls achieve their Journey badges as Brownies. These activities MUST be completed as part of their Journey throughout the course of the year.

Each activity includes a leader guide that gives background on the information covered in the activity.

Chris Simon, STEM CoordinatorGirl Scouts – Western Oklahomacsimon@gswestok.orgPhone: 405-528-4475 or 1-800-698-0022

This kit is provided through an award from the Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR programand is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIA-1301789. Project title: “Adapting Socio-ecological Systems to Increased Climate Variability.” Any opinions, findings & conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. www.okepscor.org

“It’s Your Planet - Love It!” Journey STEM Activities

Sponsored By

OK NSF EPSCoR Content Reviewers: Dr. Jody L. Campiche, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and Extension Economist, Oklahoma State University; Dr. Renee McPherson, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Sustainability and Girl Scout, University of Oklahoma

“Gathering Water

Brownie STEM Kits

Activity Materials:• Wrapping paper tube cores• Paper towel tube cores• Toilet paper tube cores• Foam pipe insulators• Ping pong ball• Buckets• Tape• A 12 oz. cup• Allow the girls to use anything else that may be of use to them, such as a chair, books, steps, etc.

Today the girls learn about and discuss the great distances some people have to travel and the hardships they must face in order to use water for cooking or to simply brush their teeth. In this activity, the girls are going to construct a system that will deliver water to people who are far away and have to face these hardships every day. They will use gravity to help them move the “water” (a ping pong ball) from Point A to Point B (the “city,” designated by a cup) safely.

Believe it or not, the ancient Romans solved the problem many years ago by constructing aqueducts. Aqueducts are majestic and graceful structures and engineering marvels that survive to this day. Since water is scarce in many parts of the world, and populations continue to grow, civil and agricultural engineers design systems that deliver water, natural gas and other resources from far away to the people who need them. Tell the Brownies that if they like helping people, this is one way they can do it--by designing a way for people who don’t have water to get it!

In this activity, the girls will work in teams of two to three girls each.

Session 3

Leader Guide, Page 62

WOW!“Wonders Of Water”

Aqueducts”

Session 2Leader Guide

Page 52

STEM Kits

WOW!“Wonders Of Water”

Brownie

Background:The Romans were a highly disciplined and tactical people. They would wage wars against new regions and bring them under their rule. Once they conquered a new region, the first thing they did was to build the new city in the Roman way. This means that they laid down foundations for new and better roads, connected cities and areas with bridges, and, most importantly, took care of the water supply. In order to handle the water, they built massive engineering structures called aqueducts. Aqueducts were built with a combination of stones, bricks, and volcanic cement. A majority of the aqueducts ran underground. These water channels were dug below the surface or dug through rock. They were made of different gradients, and gravity helped create a continuous flow of water. The different grades placed at different points made it possible to have a steady flow of water. The girls will investigate these gradients and use gravity to move their ping-pong ball from one area to another.

AqueductsTell the girls they have been asked by the kind folks of “Brownieland” to come up with a way to deliver water from the river so that they won’t have to walk the five miles there and back just to cook their food and brush their teeth. (How far is that total?) Working in teams, they will come up with a way to move the water (show them the ping pong ball and tell them we are going to pretend that this is the water) from Point A (any predetermined point you desire) to Point B (another predetermined spot 8 to 10 feet away). The objective of this activity is to get the girls to use their creativity in designing a solution to a social problem.

Session 2Leader Guide

Page 52

STEM Kits

WOW!“Wonders Of Water”

Brownie

Directions:ASK: How important is it to have clean water in your life? (Allow time for the girls to discuss the question. Answers may include brushing their teeth, cooking, bathing, washing their clothes, etc.)

SAY: Let’s pretend that your only source of water was 5 miles away, and it took you 2 hours to walk there and back. And you had to do all the things you just talked about with that one bucket of water….

ASK: What would you do? Would you brush your teeth first? Cook? What order would you do these things in? How many miles did you walk total in order to be able to do these things.

SAY: Believe it or not, this happens every day in some parts of the world. For some girls and their families, water is scarce and it’s hard to gather--it doesn’t just come out of the tap!

ASK: In your “World of Water” book, have you read “A Wide World of Water Vessels” and “No More Heavy Lifting” on pages 49-50?

(If they haven’t, invite them to take turns reading those sections aloud.)

SAY: In these parts of the world, quite often it’s a girl’s job to fetch water throughout the day, even if it means walking for miles while carrying a younger brother or sister. Today, you are challenged with finding a way of moving the water to the girls instead of the girls going to the water.

ASK: Did you know this same problem was faced by a group of people known as the Romans?

Session 2Leader Guide

Page 52

STEM Kits

WOW!“Wonders Of Water”

Brownie

SAY: Thousands of years ago, the Romans faced a similar problem. They would invade and conquer new cities and then rebuild them the “Roman” way. This meant they would build better roads and bridges to connect cities, but, most importantly, they learned how to move water from far-away locations to the new cities by building something called an aqueduct. These water channels were made from stones, bricks, and volcanic cement, and they’re still standing today! Yours are not going to be so sturdy.

(Break the troop up into groups of two to four girls.)

SAY: Your team’s challenge will be to construct an aqueduct, using these cardboard tubes and foam tubing, and move the “water” (show the ping-pong ball) using only gravity. What that means is that the water will start at a point off the ground and move through your aqueduct until it lands in the city (show the girls a cup sitting on the floor). It cannot jump while moving along the aqueduct, and it cannot jump into the cup. You can use the tape and anything else you can find in this room to help you prop up your track, but you cannot use the tape to hold the track together in any way. Also, you are not allowed to roll the ping-pong ball like you would a bowling ball. You have to set it at the top of your track and simply release it so it starts to roll.

ASK: Does everybody understand? (If they don’t, answer any questions they may have.)

SAY: Okay, if you’re ready to begin you may start. You all have 20 minutes, starting now.

(You can choose any amount of time you desire, but they will need a minimum of at least 20 minutes. If you have a group who finishes quickly, challenge them by putting an obstacle in their path, like a book, where they have to go around the obstacle. At the end, have each team present their “aqueduct” to the group. Make sure to celebrate everybody’s attempts, even if they do not yield successful results.)