Food Bank Visit (NSP: Action on Poverty)

This week we visited the Caledonia & District Food Bank as part of the National Service Project: Acton on Poverty.

We met at the Church as usual and then walked to the Food Bank, where we were met by Dorette and Anne.

First we learned a bit about the services provided by the Food Bank and how it operates. They are open for service every Friday and people can access food, hygiene supplies, clothing, and find out about other community resources.

When a person arrives at the Food Bank, they take a form and a number. The form asks for some basic information (number of people in the family, male/female, ages of children) and then has a section where people can circle 12 items that they need. Another section at the bottom has other items that they can request. They put their number on the form, hand it in and wait to be called. While they are waiting, they can visit 'Linda's Closet'. Linda's Closet is a clothing closet that has all sorts of different items, including winter clothing and prom dresses. They also run a Backpack program in the fall so that children have the supplies they need to go back to school.

If there are school-age children in the family, each child receives a supply of snacks for school, which could include drinking boxes, yogurt, pudding cups, cheese strings, granola bars, apples, gold fish crackers, and/or individual hot chocolate packets. For infants, items such as formula, food, cereal and diapers are available.Each family receives the items they've requested and may also receive items from the "Goodie Shelf". These are extra items such as cookies, Sidekicks, ketchup and salad dressing. (This was an eye opener for the girls!) The Food Bank also runs a Christmas Hamper program where families receive a turkey, a food basket, fresh veggies (potatoes, carrots and onions), toiletries, hats and mitts, and a gift for each member of the family.

During our visit, we were able to help out with two tasks.

One area has been set aside for breaking down larger packages into smaller amounts - such as flour, sugar, rice, powdered milk, pet food and teabags. The girls worked on dividing up boxes of tea bags. They had to count check for the best before date on the package to make sure they were fresh, then count out 12 tea bags, put them in a bag and label the bag with 'Tea' and the best before date.


The second task was to assemble toiletries bags for the Christmas Hampers. The girls used sheets with the ages and sexes of family members to make up packages for various families. When the sheet was given to the group, they had to record the family's number on the bag, then add items according to the age/sex of each family member. Each family received a bottle of shampoo, a bar of soap and a tube of toothpaste, then each person received a toothbrush and teens and adults received deodorant and razors.


At the end of the visit, the donations we had brought were weighed and we found out that we had donated 100.5lbs! We then thanked Dorette and Anne and walked back to the Church for pick-up.

BC STEM Challenge: Math!

Did we really spend an entire meeting talking about Math? Yes! This week we explored STEM with the Math Challenge from BC. 

As the girls arrived, they completed their attendance and dues books and started colouring their Flextangle patterns. We then had our usual opening, followed by a Tag game. 

The girls then split up into their patrols and rotated through 4 challenge activities. 

Activity #1 - Tangrams

A tangram (page 23-24) is an ancient Chinese puzzle using 7 pieces made out of 3 shapes (triangle, square and parallelogram). The patrols had two challenges: first, they had to divide the pieces up among their members and try to make a square using all the pieces - and only touching their own pieces. Some patrols found this activity very easy, while others struggled. The second challenge was to see what other shapes they could form with the pieces. We had some creative results here, including a cabin and a tree.

Activity #2 - Code Breakers

For this activity, we used the Code Breakers activity sheet from the Challenge Pack (pages 25-28). The girls had to work with their patrols to solve a cryptogram where numbers stood in for letters, a block cipher, and code using a Cryptograph Wheel. 

Activity #3 - Nim

Nim (page 42-43) is a mathematical game, where players take turns removing pieces but trying not to take the last one. There are a few different variations of this game. We played using beads instead of sticks. The beads were laid out in a grid of three rows of five. The players then take turns removing beads. They can take 1, 2, 3 or 4 on each turn. After picking up the first bead, the next must be above, below or beside the first, not diagonal.

Activity #4 - Matchstick Puzzles

To solve the match stick puzzles, the Guides had to use their problem solving skills! We supplied a copy of the page of puzzles found in the Challenge Pack (page 34-35) and straws for the girls to work with. 

After clearing up from these activities, we played the Norwegian Number Game (page 30-31). In this game, girls make a large circle and link arms with a partner. One player is in the middle. The player in the middle runs and links onto the end of one pair. the player in the pair she doesn't link on to then runs to find a new partner, and so on. Girls cannot link onto the pair beside them. Whomever is left in the middle at the end of the count (30) is the "Old Maid". (We played it that they were the player to start in the middle for the next round.) While playing, everyone sings:

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty

One and twenty, two and twenty, three and four and five and six and twenty

Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!

Our final activity was to finish up our Flextangles. Not everyone finished their colouring, but we showed them the completed examples and the instructions on folding their flextangle were on the bottom of the page. We downloaded and printed the template from Babble Dabble Do.

We closed with an enrolment of our last Guide, reminders for next week (dress warmly!) and Taps.

Enrolment 2016

Tonight we welcomed 11 new Guides (one girl was absent) into our Guiding family! We also presented Membership Pins, badges and challenge crests.

The first half of our meeting we spent finishing up artwork, doing our usual opening ceremony, playing a game (Squirt), setting up and practicing for the ceremony.

Family members were invited to return at 7.30pm for our ceremony. We arranged the four Patrols into a horseshoe with the Guiders and Pathfinder at the bottom - all facing our audience. A table was placed at the top of the horseshoe with candles for the ceremony.

One Guider welcomed everyone and then the enrolled Guides/Pathfinders each read a piece and lit the corresponding candle:

The PINK candle stands for truth and honesty. The Guide Law challenges me to be honest and trustworthy. 

The ORANGE candle stands for thrift and sensibility. The Guide Law challenges me to use my resources wisely.

The GOLD candle stands for trying and doing your best. The Guide Law challenges me to recognize and use my talents and abilities.

The LILAC candle stands for respect, kindness and understanding. The Guide Law challenges me to respect myself and others.

The GREEN candle stands for the outdoors and nature. The Guide Law challenges me to protect our common environment.

The BURGUNDY candle stands for bravery and overcoming challenges. The Guide Law challenges me to live with courage and strength.

The BLUE candle stands for fun, friendship and adventure. The Guide Law challenges me to share in the sisterhood of Guiding.

Each Patrol was then called up and the Patrol Leader presented the girls who were to be enrolled. We used the standard enrolment ceremony from the program book, but everyone repeated the Promise together for each Patrol so no one had to say it on their own or was embarrassed if they forgot the words.

We then presented our newest leader with her Chief Commissioner's Gold Award (I think this is the first time this has ever been awarded in our town), and made her "one of us" my presenting her with her name tag. One of our Guiders was then presented with her 12 Year Membership Pin (she came along to help one night 9 years ago...). The last part of the ceremony was calling up each girl individually to receive her Membership Pin, Patrol Emblem, PL/PS stripes, Title Tape, badges and challenge crests. The families were thanked for coming, and we moved on to juice and treats.

Guides had to serve their guests first, and were then able to serve themselves. We had fruit punch, lemonade and cherry crumble bars. Here is the recipe:

Cherry Crumble Bars
2 cups       Rolled Oats
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 cups       Butter, softened
1 cup         Brown Sugar
1 can         Cherry Pie Filling (or other Fruit topping)

Mix rolled oats, flour, butter and sugar together. Pat into a lined or lightly greased 9" x 12" pan to form the base. Spread the pie filling on the top. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 350F. Makes 32 bars.

Emergency Preparedness

This week our Pathfinder and Ranger led a meeting all about Emergency Preparedness based on the "Be Prepared, Not Scared" Challenge from Alberta.

As the girls arrived they found out which Patrol they will be in and the Patrol Leaders had their first chance to fill in the attendance and dues books. We had two runs at forming a horseshoe and then had an active game - Hotdog Tag.

The first activity was a group discussion about what types of items you might have in an emergency or survival kit and what the items could be used for in different situations. The group talked about different types of natural emergencies and being prepared at home. Girls shared what they thought their family would do in different situations. They also discussed the necessities of survival - food, water and shelter - and why each is critical.

We then played Kim's Game using items that should be found in a 72 Hour Emergency Preparedness Kit. Pictures of all the items were spread out on the floor. All of the Guides had 30 seconds to look at the pictures and then they were covered with a sheet. Each group then had to write down as many items as they could remember.

Next we split up into groups to create skits about different scenarios. After each skit, we discussed each scenario so the girls would know what to do in an emergency. Our scenarios were: Fire, Injury While Hiking, Rescuing a Pet, Tornado Warning, Canoe Accident. We talked about fire safety, personal safety, caring for pets in an emergency, getting help, water safety, and what to do in the event of a weather warning.

Our final activity was the "What to do in a Natural Emergency" Game from the Ontario Emergency Preparedness Challenge. This game uses different actions to help girls learn what to do in different emergency situations. While practicing each action, the reasons for the actions were explained. Here are the actions:

• Lightning Storm - Crouch into a leap frog position and protect your head.
• Tornado - Lie flat (pretend you are in a ditch so you do not get hurt by flying debris) and protect your head.
• Flash Flood - Pretend to climb up a hill (get to higher ground immediately when rivers and streams swell due to heavy rain)
• Heat Wave - Fan yourself with your hand and pretend to drink water
• Wind Storm - Grab a partner so that one stands still like a shield and the other girl crouches down sheltered by her partner

We ended with a few action songs, reminders for next week (Enrolment!) and Taps.

Girl Guides in Space!

On November 1st, a group of 35 including Guides, Pathfinders, Rangers, Guiders and family members visited the W.J. McCallion Planetarium at McMaster University for a presentation on space. The Guides earned the Astronomy Badge, the Pathfinders completed the Galactic Adventures Module, and the Rangers finished a challenge from the Environment, Camping and Outdoors section of their program.

Our presenter, Fraser, showed us the night sky above Hamilton, how the North Star stays fixed in place, the Milky Way, and then took us on a tour of the solar system from the Sun to Neptune, and beyond. 

We learned some cool facts about our solar system:

• We saw photos taken on the surface of Venus by the longest-surviving probe to land there - it only survived for 2 hours due to the heat!
• The current robot on Mars is "Curiosity". The planet looks red because the surface is covered in rust.
• Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and also has the most moons. The Giant Red Spot on the planet surface is a gigantic hurricane. Three of its moons are Io (which is covered in volcanoes), Europe (which is covered in ice with a giant ocean underneath) and Ganymede (the biggest moon in the solar system).
• Saturn is famous for its rings, but also has a really cool moon. Titan is the only moon in the solar system that has had a probe land on its surface other than Earth's. It is also the only place other than Earth with standing liquid on the surface (in this case, methane).
• All of Uranus' moons are named for Shakespearean characters.  
• When lightning strikes the methane on Neptune, it rains down tiny diamonds. 

We also got to look at some really cool stars, nebulae and galaxies:

• M31 - Andromeda Galaxy (the closest galaxy to the Milky Way)
• Ring Nebula (has a White Dwarf Star at its centre)
• M101 - Pinwheel Galaxy (a spiral galaxy)
• Hubble Deep Field (a piece of space that seemed empty, but is actually full of galaxies!)   
• Einstein Cross (a galaxy behind a galaxy)
• Little Ghost Nebula
• California Nebula
• Interacting Galaxies (two galaxies that are about to collide)
• Egg Nebula
• Hubble V
• Hubble X
• Cassiopeia A
• Chi & h Per
• NGC6946
• M13        

More information about the Planetarium can be found at http://www.physics.mcmaster.ca/planetarium/