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No, those aren\u2019t \u201cmy\u201d Cub Scouts; these are just generic public-domain Cub Scouts.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t take any pictures, let alone any from-the-back pictures of tonight\u2019s meeting.\u00a0 But for what it\u2019s worth, I thought I\u2019d share with you what I was up to.<\/p>\n
I titled this post, my last \u201cplanned\u201d pack meeting, and by that I mean that I\u2019m leaving my Commtitee Chair duties behind at the end of the school year, as my youngest is now a Boy Scout.\u00a0 In April, our meeting will be a food drive, by splitting up into small groups and going around the neighborhood (with a reschedule if the weather cooperates), and in May, we\u2019ll be at the Lego Discovery Center, so this is the last meeting where I had to figure out an interesting activity to do.\u00a0 What we did:\u00a0 \u201ckitchen science\u201d experiments, with four stations which the boys rotated among.<\/p>\n
Now, as it turns out, it was something of a bust of a meeting, attendance-wise, since there was a conflict with another school event and the pack is smaller with the 5th grade Webelos having crossed over anyway.\u00a0 But that probably helped lessen the chaos that otherwise was at risk of ensuing.\u00a0 Instead of having 4 den-sized groups rotating, and disorder when the activities don\u2019t all exactly take the same length of time, we had more flexibility, with 3 very small groups and, since this took place in the gym, some splitting off and playing with the basketballs and getting corralled back in later, which would have been much more of a mess were there more boys.\u00a0 The activities also, in total, took less than the planned hour, so there was a bit of ball-throwing-around at the end, and clean-up occurred prior to, rather than after, the official end time.\u00a0 So I offer this mostly as some ideas with a heavy dose of \u201cyour mileage may vary.\u201d<\/p>\n
What follows is pretty much what I typed up as instructions for each station, for the parent-volunteers at each station to have as reference, in addition to my quick explanation of what was to happen.\u00a0 The activities came from Super Science Concoctions<\/em> by Jill Frankel Hauser, which I picked up when my oldest was in elementary school and has a lot of really nice activities for that age group, which I had forgotten about.\u00a0 Most of them, however, can\u2019t be done in the duration of a pack meeting.<\/p>\n Un-Mixed Mix-up<\/strong>:\u00a0 mixed food colors un-mix themselves with water.<\/p>\n Materials:<\/p>\n 1 baking sheet with sides or other tray (to contain spills)<\/p>\n Food coloring (for both activities)<\/p>\n Aluminum foil piece<\/p>\n Tall glass<\/p>\n Paper towel strip<\/p>\n Pencil<\/p>\n Paper clip<\/p>\n Dropper\/toothpick<\/p>\n Process:<\/p>\n Place one drop of each food coloring together on a piece of aluminum foil.\u00a0 Using the dropper, place a small drop of the mixed colors onto one end of the paper towel, about 1 inch up.\u00a0 Add about \u00bd inch of water to the cup.\u00a0 Use the pencil and the paper clip to hold up the paper towel strip in the glass, so that it dangles and touches the water.<\/p>\n Ask the kids what they think will happen.<\/p>\n The water will travel through the paper towel and carry the dye along with it.\u00a0 The pigment molecules from the different colors are different, and travel at different speeds, so that the mixed colors will become un-mixed.<\/p>\n Try with each of 2 kinds of paper towels to see the difference.<\/p>\n It will take a little while to see the results, so start on the next demonstration.<\/em><\/p>\n Molecules in motion<\/strong>:\u00a0 dropping food coloring into water to demonstrate molecules moving<\/p>\n Needed:<\/p>\n 2 clear plastic cups or glasses \u2013 one with cold, one with very hot water (just-microwaved?)<\/p>\n Drop 1 drop of food coloring into each.\u00a0 (Or have boys do so.)\u00a0 Ask the boys to predict which glass will have the food coloring spread out faster.<\/p>\n Why does the food coloring spread out?\u00a0 Because molecules are always moving.\u00a0 Why is this faster in the hot water?\u00a0 Because molecules move faster when hot.<\/p>\n Note: works best with very hot (e.g., microwaved) water.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n Commentary<\/strong>:\u00a0 turns out, the school kitchen, which is usually unlocked, was locked, and I didn\u2019t want to make a big deal of finding the key, so we didn\u2019t have particularly hot water, so the second part of the activity wasn\u2019t so impressive, but the Dad in Charge was pretty good about talking with the kids about how molecules moving is what causes the food coloring to disperse.<\/p>\n Materials:<\/p>\n pitcher<\/p>\n 2 Small-ish glasses.<\/p>\n 1 \u2013 2 dozen pennies or other coins.<\/p>\n Water with food coloring (the food coloring is just to make the effect more visible)<\/p>\n Liquid soap<\/p>\n Medicine dropper<\/p>\n Baking sheet with edges or other tray (to contain spills)<\/p>\n Fill the glass with water.\u00a0 Then add pennies one by one.\u00a0 After adding one or two, ask the boys what they think will happen.\u00a0 Observe the strange bulge that grows as pennies are added, until too many pennies are added.<\/p>\n Repeat with a couple squirts of liquid soap added to the water.<\/p>\n Second activity:\u00a0 how many drops of water will fit on the top of a coin?\u00a0 Take the medicine dropper to add drops, one by one, onto a coin, and watch the effect.<\/p>\n The principles:<\/p>\n Water molecules cling to each other in all directions.\u00a0 At the surface, there are water molecules to cling to from the sides and from below, but no molecules to cling to above, so the molecules form a strong, stretchy skin across the water\u2019s surface.\u00a0 This attraction at the water\u2019s surface is called surface tension.\u00a0 After enough pennies are added, the water molecules are pushed upwards, which breaks some of these bonds so that the water spills over.<\/p>\n Soap weakens the surface tension \u2013 the pull of the water molecules is weaker.<\/p>\n Waxed paper<\/p>\n Marker\/Sharpie<\/p>\n Medicine dropper<\/p>\n Straws<\/p>\n Glass with water with food coloring<\/p>\n Process:<\/p>\n Draw two \u201ctracks\u201d on the waxed paper with a start and finish line.\u00a0 Using the dropper, place same-sized water ball droplets at the starting line.\u00a0 Two racers try to blow the balls to the finish line.<\/p>\n If the ball comes apart, push it together with the straw.<\/p>\n Alternate race:\u00a0 use a wet toothpick to pull the ball along.<\/p>\n Alternate activity:\u00a0 place dots of water and use a toothpick or straw to combine them together.<\/p>\n Commentary:\u00a0 this one wasn\u2019t as effective; the kids were done with it very quickly.<\/p>\n Materials:<\/p>\n Small containers (in this case, old film containers; I also tried it with a small tomato sauce can)<\/p>\n Baking soda<\/p>\n \u00bc \u00a0cup water<\/p>\n \u00bc cup vinegar<\/p>\n 2 Tbps. dishwashing liquid<\/p>\n Cup<\/p>\n Baking sheet with edges or other tray<\/p>\n Process:<\/p>\n Mix the water, vinegar, and dishwashing liquid in a large cup.\u00a0 Place 1 \u2013 2 tsp. baking soda in the container.\u00a0 Pour the vinegar mixture into the can until the \u201clava\u201d starts to flow.\u00a0 Note that the vinegar mixture is enough for multiple \u201ceruptions.\u201d Allow boys to take turns adding the baking soda, pouring in the vinegar, and watching the eruption.\u00a0 Demonstrate the principle with just baking soda & vinegar.\u00a0 What\u2019s the right amount of baking soda to get the most the most dramatic effect?<\/p>\n The principle:\u00a0 baking soda + vinegar combines and creates carbon dioxide gas through a chemical reaction.<\/p>\n Commentary:\u00a0 I didn\u2019t watch the Dad in Charge very closely to see how well it worked out or how engaged the boys were with this one.<\/p>\n It all felt very . . . experimental.\u00a0 And, yes, it would have been nice to have had a \u201cpro\u201d doing this, with the spashy mad-science type demonstrations that an actual outlay of money would buy.\u00a0 It\u2019s also my understanding that larger packs, where more time is taken up with announcements and \u201cbusiness\u201d and skits and pack cheers and so forth, don\u2019t even necessarily have planned activities at pack meetings, but with a smaller pack it wouldn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n In the end, it was . . . adequate.\u00a0 And that\u2019s probably good enough.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ACub_Scouts_Earn_Geology_Badge_(8200193981).jpg; By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District (Cub Scouts Earn Geology Badge) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No, those aren\u2019t \u201cmy\u201d Cub Scouts; these are just generic public-domain Cub Scouts.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t take any pictures, let alone any from-the-back pictures of tonight\u2019s meeting.\u00a0 But for what it\u2019s worth, I thought I\u2019d share with you what I was up to. I titled this post, my last \u201cplanned\u201d pack meeting, and by that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[461],"class_list":["post-8825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cub-scouts"],"yoast_head":"\nStation 1:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Station 2:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Penny challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Station 3:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Water ball games<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Station 4:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Volcano!<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The bottom line<\/strong><\/h3>\n