Meeting #6: Science Badge



Science Badge (S)

Beyond You: Try New Things (BY3)

My favourite kind of meeting--one where the leaders don't have to do anything! Supernova through Dalhousie university promotes Science, Engineering, and Technology to youth across Nova Scotia, and have developed a program for Guides where they offer 6 different badges to choose from. We did the Chemistry badge last year, and the Astronomy one a few years ago, and this meeting we did the Science badge, as voted on by the girls earlier in the year.

Supernova offers its programs at the university, or they will come to your meeting place. It's nice to go on an outing and have a change of scenery, so we went to Dal (S6, BY3#4).

The instructor, a biology student at Dal, was terrific, as they always are through Supernova. She started by talking about the three kinds of sciences (S1) and then had the girls brainstorm way they use science and technology in their every day lives (S3).

Then they got into the fun stuff. The study of DNA has changed, thanks to technology, so the girls learned about DNA and did an experiment to extract DNA from a banana. They mushed up a banana, added a solution to it, and filtered it into a test tube. Then added another chemical and let them sit. In the end, two of the test tubes were able to extract the DNA. (S2)

Next they made Goop--basically cornstarch and water--which is a non-Newtonian fluid. If you squeeze it (get it moving fast), it solidifies, but then will turn back to liquid. When deciding on a colour to add to it, the girls chose blue for Girl Guides! (S4)

Then they made a pickle flashlight! (video on Facebook--may have to like the page to see) Nails in boards, attached to a power source, acted as a battery. The brine solution from the pickles make them quite conductive. The pickle is speared on one nail, and then when the second nail touches it, it lights up. We turned out the lights and it was very cool to see! (S5)

Finally, the favourite Supernova trick, is elephant toothpaste (video on Facebook). It's a great chemical reaction that occurs quickly and makes a great mess!

The girls had a fabulous time, and got to do some hands-activities and watch and learn about some other science activities.