CSI Challenge/Guiding Gumshoes

We had already planned to work on the Alberta CSI Challenge when we received the latest Girls First testing activities - "Guiding Gumshoes", so we combined the two and had a great meeting. 

We started out with our usual opening, Horseshoe, Promise, and an active game - Squirt. Before getting started on our activities, we talked a little bit about what we were going to be doing and how the activities related to forensic science.

Our first activity was called Magnify My World. Here we downloaded a Powerpoint presentation (see links below) showing magnified images of a variety of different things. We showed the presentation on a tablet and had the girls try to guess what each image was before sharing the answer (if necessary). Images included toilet paper, a grain of salt, the head of a pin, a staple in paper, the claw of a black widow spider, and the bacteria found on the head of a pin.

We then played a few rounds of Handshake Murderer. One girl is chosen to be the detective and leaves the room. Everyone else closes their eyes and a leader taps one girl on the shoulder to be the murderer. Everyone opens their eyes and the detective comes back into the room. Players move around, shaking hands with each other. If some feels the other person scratch the palm of their hand, they have to take three steps then perform an elaborate death scene as they have been murdered! The detective tries to figure out who the murderer is before everyone dies. 

Next up was Fingerprinting. Everyone tried two different methods of making fingerprints - using graphite from a pencil and using washable markers. They decided that the washable markers made better prints - and they were much more colourful! Each girl made a pair of thumb prints to be used in a matching game later on.

Continuing with the markers, we tried a bit of Chromatography. Each girl used colours of her choice to make a design on a coffee filter. They were then folded into a wedge and the tip dipped in water. We left them on newspaper to allow the water to wick up the filter and then shared the results at the end of the meeting.

Our final activity was Extracting DNA From Kiwi Fruit. This is a fun - but messy - activity! Each group mixed up an extraction solution of 1/2 tsp salt, 4 tsp water and 2 tsp dish soap. They then smushed up a kiwi fruit in a ziplock bag until it was all pulpy. The extraction solution was added to the kiwi pulp and squished together. Coffee filters were placed over a glass, and the pulpy mixture poured in. The girls worked together to carefully hold the filters while one girl gently squeezed the bottom to help the liquid come through. While tilting the glass with the kiwi liquid, 4 tsp of isopropyl alcohol is poured down the side of the glass, forming a layer on top of the kiwi liquid. Between the two layers there should be a whitish blob that can be fished out with a skewer. One of our groups was successful in pulling out the kiwi DNA, while the other two groups could see the whitish particles, but were unable to remove them from the liquid. We have done this successfully in the past with strawberries and would recommend that fruit for future efforts. 


We ended the meeting with a couple of songs, reminders for next week, and Taps.


Links:

• Alberta CSI Challenge and Challenge Supplement  
• BC CSI Challenge
• Powerpoint presentation for the "Magnify My World" activity 

Physics Day @ Mac

On Saturday, March 25th, 7 Caledonia Guides and 1 Lone Guide joined Guides from across the region for the annual Engineering Day for Girl Guides at McMaster University in Hamilton. The focus for this years event was the Guide Physics Badge.


Our presenters for the day were Glenne, Tom, Veronika, Geoff and Natalie, who are all currently studying Engineering at McMaster. We started the day by learning a bit about the four types of science (math, chemistry, biology and physics) and 9 broad categories of engineering (electrical, mechanical, civil, biomedical, chemical, computer, software, physics and materials).


Session 1: Colours & Light
In our first session, we learned about Colours and Light and each girl built a periscope.

Properties of Light

• Reflection - light bouncing off surfaces
• Refraction - the bending of light as it passes through one thing to another
• Speed of Light - the fastest known speed, 300 million metres/second - light can travel around the world nearly 8 times in one second!
• Dispersion - separation of visible (white) light into its different colours

Light travels via waves, while air stays in one place but vibrates. Wavelengths are the distance between two vibration peaks. Where there is a large distance between peaks, light appears more red, where there is a small distance between peaks,  light appears more purple (opposite ends of the visible spectrum - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Amplitude refers to the height of the waves. The higher the wave, the brighter the light.

Periscopes allow a person to see around or over an object.


Session 2: Energy & Friction
Next, we learned about Newton's 3rd Law of Motion, Flight and Aerospace Engineering before building our own rockets!

Newton's 3rd Law of Motion: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

About Flight

• Flight is how objects move through the air.
• How do things fly? By making use of opposing forces - thrust and drag, lift and weight.
• Air has mass, pressure and temperature.
• Buoyant Flight - objects float through the air using a gas that is lighter than air (i.e. heated air in a hot air balloon)
• Aerodynamic Flight - objects use wings to fly through the air
• Rockets use (1) engines and (2) changes in air pressure (air is heated and used to propel the rocket upwards)
• There are no air particles in space, so less energy is needed once the rocket leaves the atmosphere.
• The first aircraft was flown by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina on December 17, 1903. They traveled for 12 seconds, moving 120 feet.

Aerospace Engineers

• Study, design and test planes and rockets using their knowledge of math and physics
• Aeronautical Engineers design planes for use inside the Earth's atmosphere
• Astronautical Engineers design rockets for use in outer space.

Each girl then made their own elastic-propelled rocket!

After this session, we had a break for drinks and snacks, and the presenters played "Heads Up, Seven Up" with the girls.

Session 3: Forces 
Our final session of the day involved learning about Energy and building projectile launchers!

Energy

• There are two types of energy:
• Kinetic Energy - Energy that is in motion (i.e. water, wind)
• Potential Energy - Energy that is stored (i.e. spring, elastic band)
• Potential Energy can be further divided:
• Gravitational Potential Energy
• if an object is at an elevation, it has gravitational potential energy
• dropping the object results in kinetic energy
• the work done to create the potential energy is the act of raising the object
• Elastic Potential Energy
• usually converted into kinetic energy (i.e. when you stretch an elastic band)
• Chemical Potential Energy
• energy can be stored in different atoms and molecules
• atoms are building blocks, molecules are a chain of atoms stuck together
• energy comes from breaking down these molecules (i.e. batteries, human stomach, car engines)

This activity was the most challenging, but everyone managed to successfully make their own projectile launcher!
We ended the day by filling out evaluation and feedback forms and then headed home.

Downloads:

• Build a Periscope
• Build a Rocket
• Build a Projectile Launcher

Fall Frolic 2015 - STEM

On Saturday, October 3rd 6 Guides and 2 Guiders attended Fall Frolic 2015 at Camp Teka in Paris along with about 250 other Sparks, Brownies, Guides and their Guiders. Despite the cold, windy weather we had a great time and the rain held off until the final activity of the day and didn't become heavy until shortly before the parents arrived to pick up the girls.

After opening and flag raising, we headed to our first station - Compass Games. The girls learned about the 8 main points of the compass and played a number of different games. They started off with a game where if they had the item that was called out (i.e. blue eyes, a brother, like pizza) they had to run to a given point. Next they had a choice of different games. The ones chosen were Foxlease Ball, where the girls form a tight circle and have to move a ball from North to South (or any other set of directions) using only their feet. If the ball goes outside of their circle, they have to return to their starting point. Another game was to make as many words as possible using the letters in the word COMPASS, and the last game was compass drawings.

Our second stop was a craft. We talked about DNA and what it does, and then each girl made a beaded double helix of her own.

After a snack and a drink, we headed onto our third session - Wide Games. Here the girls were challenged to gather the supplies necessary to recreate a molecule to save the world! Lots of teamwork was needed in order to put gain all the items and put the molecule together correctly.

After lunch, we moved onto a Games session where the girls took part in a relay race to complete various challenges and earn puzzle pieces. Once they had gathered all the puzzle pieces, they had to work as a team to put it together.

Our next stop was the Music session, where we sang Tall Trees, McDonald's, My Name is Flo, and played the Norwegian Number game - linking each song to a part of STEM. The girls also made up a STEM yell.

We ended the day with the Science session where the girls completed experiments in Chemistry and Physics. The Chemistry activity was chemical reactions, and the girls used baking soda and vinegar to power film canister rockets. This was hugely popular and the girls tried many times to see who's rocket would go the highest. The Physics activity was on centripetal force, which the girls tested by swinging yogurt containers about 1/4 full of water around on strings - and seeing for themselves that the container could be upside down, but the water stayed inside!

The day ended with a brief closing where we sang Make New Friends and Daylight Taps. We then walked back to the High School for pickup and the girls played on the play structure while we waited for parents to arrive.

CSI Challenge

Our first meeting in may was spent working on the BC CSI Challenge. As the girls arrived, they were asked to write the word 'Suspect' on two slips of paper, with their name on the back for an activity later in the evening.

To take advantage of the good weather, we went outside to play games at the beginning of the meeting. The first game was Crabs, Crows and Cranes. In this game, the girls are divided into two groups, one team is the crows and the other is the cranes. The teams line up facing each other and the game leader calls out 'Crows', 'Cranes' or 'Crabs'. On 'Crows', the Crow team chases the Crane team, on 'Cranes', the Crane team chases the Crow team, and on 'Crabs', everyone stays still. Anyone tagged, or caught moving on 'Crabs', joins the other team.

Our second game was a version of How Good a Witness Are You?. Girls lined up in pairs, facing each other. On a signal, the girls turned their backs and each girl changed three things about her appearance. When everyone was ready, the girls faced each other and tried to figure out what their partner had changed. We did this a few times as it was popular with the girls.

Going back inside, we started with Fingerprints. Each girl used talcum powder to put her thumbprint on a piece of black card and then covered it with clear tape. Using pictures, they identified if their print had loops, arches or whorls.

Next, we used the slips of paper the girls wrote on when the arrived for Handwriting Analysis. Each girl was given one two slips of paper and had to find the people who held the matching slips. This was more difficult than the girls thought it would be as many people's handwriting looked very similar.

Our final activity of the evening was to extract DNA from strawberries. The instructions for this activity can be found in the activity pack for this challenge. This is a really neat activity to do and the results are tangible.