Build! Create! Invent!

After March Break, we spent two weeks working on a variety of activities for the Design Space Theme. 

Make Your Own Spinner
We had purchased kits to make spinners from the 20th UK 2020 Independent Trip Unit for Engineering Month (see instructions below) and brought them out tonight. Each Guide had a design template, cardboard and a bearing to make her spinner. Each design was unique!

Spaghetti Structures
Earlier in the year, we had a request to the do 'spaghetti and marshmallow building', which fit in well with our theme. Teams worked with raw spaghetti and mini marshmallows to build different structures. 


Bridge Building
To test our engineering skills further, we had a Bridge Building contest! Bridges were made from a strip of paper attached with masking tape between two tables 12 inches apart. We had to be creative with the weights, and used the scissors, rules and glue sticks from the supply box to test each bridge!


Design Your Own Invention  
Week Two was devoted to all things inventing. We started out by learning about the inventors of things we are all familiar with, including Frank Epperson (Popsicles), George Nissen (Trampoline), Louis Braille (Braille), and Albert Sadacca (Christmas Lights) before turning our attention to creating our own inventions. Each Guide or group was asked to come up with a invention that a girl their age could use to make day-to-day things easier or the community a better place. They also had to think about what their invention would cost to make, design a blueprint, and build a prototype. We didn't quite make it to the prototype stage, but everyone had fun coming up with unique inventions, including:

• Self-Building Houses
• Infoggable Mirror
• Forever Hot Mug 
• Self-Cooling Computer 
• Magic Detangler 

Links:

• Spinner Activity Instructions (20th UK 2020 Independent Trip Unit)
• Invent It, Build It (PBS Kids Design Squad)
• Entrepreneurs and Inventions (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City) 

Explorations in STEM - Engingeering Badge (Part 2)

Our final meeting of November was split into two parts, the first spent working on a craft brought by the grandmother of one of our Guides and the second finishing up the Engineering Badge and working towards completing the BC Engineering Challenge.

As the girls arrived, they collected dues and complete their patrol jobs for the week. We opened with our horseshoe, followed by an active game chosen by our Active Living patrol for the week.

The first half of the meeting was spend working on an angel craft brought by a former Guider, and grandmother to one of our Guides. The angel is made out of paper doilies, with a styrofoam ball for the head. The girls enjoyed the craft and had fun doing it!

After cleaning up the craft supplies, we continued with our Engineering activities. Each patrol was challenged to built a raft that would float and support weight (coins). They were provided with the following supplies: a piece of tinfoil, 2 plastic spoons, 3 pipe cleaners, 4 Q-tips, 10 straws, a piece of string, masking tape and scissors. All of the patrols were successful in building a floating raft that could support 27 coins without sinking. Two rafts were beginning to take on water at this point, but the third was still high and dry.

Our final activity for the evening was making the Hoop Gliders (from the BC Engineering Challenge). We flew the gliders around our meeting space before closing with reminders for Friday night and next week followed by Taps.

Explorations in STEM - Engingeering Badge (Part 1)

Our November 17th meeting was spent exploring Engineering and design. As the girls arrived, each had to work together to complete a matching quiz to identify the different jobs involved in building construction.

We opened our meeting with our usual horseshoe, followed by an active game (Everybody's It Tag) led by the Active Living patrol for the evening.

After the game, we took up the Job Match Quiz and discussed the different jobs and skills needed to build a house. The contents of this quiz come from Go For It! Construction (Girlguiding UK):

• A. Carpenter and Joiner = 5. Positioning and fixing timber materials and components. This will include roofs, doors and stairs.
• B. Roof Slater and Tiler = 8. To do this job, you need to know ow to create waterproof coverings for buildings.
• C. Bricklayer = 1. Using bricks and blocks to build the inside and outside walls of buildings.
• D. Painter and Decorator = 12. Applying paint, inside and out.
• E. Plant Operator = 6. Could include driving cranes, excavators and forklift trucks or specialized earthmoving equipment.
• F. Scaffolder = 3. Putting up scaffolding or working platforms for workers to use, and making it safe so that people and objects don't fall off the side.
• G. Plumber = 4. Installing, maintaining and repairing water supplies. This includes drainage and heating systems in houses and buildings.
• H. Estimator = 10. This job requires you to calculate how much money a project will need.
• I. Site Engineer = 2. Making sure that technical aspects of construction projects are correct and that everything is built correctly and to the right standard.
• J. Geospatial Modeler = 7. Includes making 3D models of natural and built landscapes.
• K. Construction Manager = 11. Running a construction site or part of a big project.
• L. Landscape Architect = 9. Designing and managing outdoor spaces.

The girls were than challenges to design an Eco-friendly house.Some ideas included composting facilities, recycling centres, solar panels, and tree planting.

Our final activity, which wound up taking nearly an hour (other planned activities have been postponed until next week!), was a patrol challenge: "Your Patrol has been shipwrecked on a desert island. You have managed to send an SOS message, but there is a big storm moving in so you can't be rescued until tomorrow morning. Can you build a shelter that will keep you all dry overnight?" Each patrol was given 5 newspapers, 4 metres of string, a garbage bag, scissors and masking tape, and the additional instruction that the shelter could not be secured to any furniture, walls, doors, etc.

After cleaning up, the girls shared their Eco-Houses with the group and the meeting ended with reminders for next week and Taps.



The activities done this week cover part of the BC STEM Challenge - Engineering - Job Match Quiz (Discover Engineering) and Shipwreck Shelter (Build a Shelter). We will finish this challenge next week.