Meeting #25: Evil Dr Greyzone and the Great Colour Hunt

Beyond You: Try New Things (BY3)

Chemistry badge (C)

I found this Wide Game on Guider Laurie's blog, guideydiary, from Australia. It works great as is, but I noticed if I modified a couple of things, we could cover our Chemistry badge, so of course, we did!

We invited some second year Brownies to come to visit us for this meeting--a great introduction into the Guide  program!

Example of where the circle should go

Patrol Time: We gave them this instruction:

Each girl needs to create colours on a coffee filter.

1. Take one coffee filter each.
2. Using either a black or brown marker, draw a circle around the middle (see example for where the circle should go).   
3. Fold the filter in half, and then in half again.
4. Place your filter into a plastic cup that has water on the bottom. Make sure where you drew the circle is not touching the water.
5. Write your name on the cup so you’ll remember which was yours!

How it works: Marker colours are made of many different colours. When the liquid creeps up the coffee filter, it dissolves the coloring molecules and splits it into different colored chemicals. Different colors get carried along faster and farther than others because some color molecules are bigger and heavier than others. This is called chromatography. (C#4)

Once the girls started their activities, we took the filters out of the water and laid them out on paper towel so they could dry.

Then in their patrols they work on a puzzle using the Periodic Table:

Guider Laurie's note: I just found a periodic table on Wikipedia – you can probably get a clearer version than this. The numbers in the table correspond with an element, which the Guides then write down the symbol for. The trick is that only capital letters are required, not the lower case ones. Our Guides struggled a bit with this, until we told them the trick.

Horseshoe: We did Horseshoe with the Brownies, to show them how it worked. Then I asked if they had figured out the puzzle answer. To see if they were right, I had written it in lemon juice on a white piece of paper. To reveal the answer, I used an iron to heat up the paper and reveal the answer. (C#3)

Next, we gave each group a list of the order they were to complete the stations. We had envelopes at the front of the room that they could open that corresponded to the colour they were working on. (Colour clues, Word doc) Most of these clues are copied directly from GuideyDiary.

YELLOW ACTIVITY

Locate the yellow edible items, and put them away for safekeeping for now. Rumour has it that Doctor Greyzone hides food items in the kitchen.

You may take up to two per person.

DO NOT eat them yet!

Yellow science:

Marshmallows are originally made by mixing together various ingredients and baking them. All types of cooking, but especially baking, involve chemistry to get the right mix of flavours and textures. So each time you cook, you’re also doing science!

NOTE: We didn't use yellow marshmallows--just plain white ones! I didn't remember until the morning of the meeting that one of girls can't eat marshmallows, but I emailed  her mother who sent along some vegan ones, so all was good. We hid the marshmallows in the our kitchen area.

ORANGE ACTIVITY (C#8)

To find orange, each patrol member will need to (safely and sensibly!) light a candle and toast your marshmallow.

Orange science:

The tips of matches are made up of sulphur and potassium chlorate. When the matches are struck firmly against the ignition strip on the matchbox, which includes red phosphorus, the ingredients combine to make a brief flame. The wood and wax in the matches then keep the flame going long enough for you to use the match.

NOTE: The Brownies were so excited to be able to light a match! Lots of girls are scared at first, but I explain in depth the process, especially  that when the match first lights, it'll go WHOOSH but then it'll settle down, and to make sure you hold the match pointing up or else the flame will get your fingers. I also tell them to make sure to move the match away from the candle flame before blowing it out, or you'll blow out the match and the candle. Then I ask the older girls who has done this, and everyone raises their hands! This way, the girl won't feel as bad about doing it, knowing everyone does it! One girl started off being terrified of lighting a match to asking to keep lighting more!

Coffee filter butterflies, using
brown, blue, and red markers

RED ACTIVITY

To find red, you need to make a butterfly. Take your coffee filter, scrunch it up in the middle, and secure it with a clothespin. Tie the red pipe cleaner around the clothespin to make antennae, and draw a face on the clothespin. Or you can secure the coffee filter with the red pipe cleaner.

Red science:

The study of living things is known as “biology”, while the more specific study of insects, like butterflies, is known as “entomology”. Biologists try to understand creatures and plants of all types.

PURPLE ACTIVITY

To rescue purple, your patrol will need to blow up one purple balloon, and then using the purple straws provided, blow the balloon from one end of the hall to the other. Be sure to keep the balloon safe!

Purple Science: 

When you blow into a balloon, the air (oxygen and carbon dioxide) you send out is ‘trapped’ in the balloon, and so it stretches out the rubber and expands.

BLUE ACTIVITY (C#2, C#7)

The youngest member of your patrol has twisted her ankle. Administer appropriate first aid, remembering RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

To recover blue you will need to make an icepack and treat your injured team member properly.

Ingredients

·         Citric Acid

·         Baking Soda

·         Tap Water

·         Blue food colouring

·         Zip lock bag

·         Measuring cup

·         Plastic teaspoons

What to do:

1.       Put one level teaspoon of citric acid in a zip lock bag.

2.       Put one teaspoon of baking soda in the same zip lock bag. And shake the bag gently to mix the two chemicals.

3.       Fill up the measuring cup with cold tap water (about 30ml). Add a couple of drop of blue food colouring.

4.       Here’s where you have to be quick! Pour the water into the zip lock bag and snap it shut fast. Not only does the bag blow up, it also becomes super cold! So don’t forget to feel its temperature.

Treat your patrol member properly before proceeding.

Blue science:

Citric acid and baking soda (with the water) form an “endothermic chemical reaction”, which is a type of reaction where heat is absorbed, resulting in something very cold – at least for a while.

GREEN ACTIVITY (C#1, C#7)

To save green, you will need to make green slime.

Ingredients

·         PVA glue

·         food colouring

·         water

·         Borax

·         2 plastic cups

·         a sealable plastic bag

·         some paper towels

·         Paddle Pop stick for stirring

·         at least two plastic spoons

What to do

1.       Write your name on a Ziploc bag.

2.       Measure 3 teaspoons of PVA glue into the cup (Up to the bottom line of the cup)

3.       Add 3 teaspoons of water and stir with popsicle stick.

4.       Add a few drops of dye to make green.

5.       Place approximately 1 cup of water into a large plastic cup.

6.       Stir in 1 heaped teaspoon of Borax powder. Once the mixture has been stirred thoroughly you have made a Borax solution.

7.       Add 1 teaspoon of Borax solution to your cup of paste and stir. As you stir the slime should start to form. You might need to add a little more Borax solution. Be careful when you are adding the Borax solution, too much and your slime will go hard.

8.       If your slime feels very wet and slippery (but is not still runny), remove it from the container and knead it in your hands. In a few minutes, any extra Borax solution will evaporate or be absorbed.

9.       Place the slime into a sealable plastic bag and it should keep for a while.

Make sure you wash your hands after playing with the slime.

Green science:

You are blending together different types of materials to form a non-Newtonian fluid. The borax and glue (in particular) bond together at lots of different points (at a chemical level), to create a flexible, different type of material.

To finish the meeting, we told the girls that they had restored the colours and we blew some bubbles for them to pop. 

Everyone had a great time, and almost all of the Brownies who came to visit then chose our unit to register in for next year!