In April, we spent two weeks working on Space-themed activities as requested by the Guides. As everyone arrived, each Patrol worked on creating a skit based on a constellation story. We provided the stories of Andromeda (The Princess), Cassiopeia (The Queen) and Orion (The Hunter).
We had our usual opening ceremony, followed by an active game before starting our main activities for the evening.
Our first activity was an introduction to space and astronomy. We then watched the message made for Girl Guides from Jenni Sidey for World Space Week in 2017 (see link below). We spent a bit of time learning how to use a Star Wheel to find constellations at different times of the year.
One of our Guiders shared a First Nations story about the Great Bear (Usra Major) and the Pole Star (Polaris). We then had an active True/False Quiz about the Solar System. Everyone started in the middle of the room, one wall was designated as True and another as False. When a statement was read out, players ran to the wall representing their answer. Everyone learned a few new facts!
- Pluto is a planet. False - Pluto was considered a planet until 2006. Now it is a dwarf planet.
- Jupiter is the smallest planet in the solar system. False - The smallest is Mercury, Jupiter is the largest.
- It would take two days to get to Mars by rocket. False - It would take 6-8 months.
- The Earth is the only planet with a moon. False - There are many other moons. Almost all the planets have at least one, and Jupiter has at least 63!
- It rains diamonds on Neptune. True - It has been suggested by many scientists that the methane in the air causes diamonds to rain down on Neptune.
- Only two astronauts have every visited Mercury. False - No human has ever set foot on a planet other than Earth.
- Saturn is the only planet with rings. False - Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings.
- The first animal in space was a dog. True - Her name was Laika, but unfortunately she didn't survive.
- Sally Ride was the first woman in space. False - She was the first American woman in space, but the Russians got there first with Valentina Tereshkova.
- There is a Chinese space station. True - It's name is Tiangong.
- Russian astronauts are called cosmonauts. True - and Chinese astronauts are called Taikonauts.
- There are robots on Mars. True - Among them are Curiosity, Phoenix, Spirit and Opportunity.
- There is a mountain on Mars that is 3 times as tall as Mount Everest. True - Olympus Mons, or Mount Olympus, is 24km tall!
- Our galaxy is called Andromeda. False - Our galaxy is the Milky Way. Andromeda is another galaxy about 2.5 million light years from Earth.
- Meteors and shooting stars are the same thing. True - They are both streaks of light produced when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.
- Comets are made mostly of ice. True - Comets are balls of frozen gasses, dust and rocks. When they get close to the sun, they start to melt and that's what creates their tail.
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After cleaning up, the Patrols performed the skits they had prepared at the beginning of the meeting. We ended with reminders for next week and closed with Taps.
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