This year GSUSA came out with STEM Career Exploration badges for Brownies, Juniors and Cadettes. I reviewed the Junior version here. Today I'm taking a look at the VTK plans for Brownies. I have not seen the insert for the Girls Guide, if you have, I'd love it if you would leave a comment telling us if it has other ideas.
According to Badge Explorer: Find out how all the things you love—like camping, baking, and walking your dog—can become a job that changes the world.
Then, create a plan to turn your dreams into a reality!
1. Explore your interests
2. Discover the possibilities
3. Learn about the day-to-day
4. Brainstorm your next steps
5. Share your goals
When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to use STEM to help others.
As girls enter the first meeting on this badge, they are asked to draw a picture of themselves as super hero, and to think of the superpowers they would have. In the opening circle the leader talks about careers and how they help people. Girls talk about their pictures and their superpowers. The leader points out that they can change the world.
Explore Your Interests
VTK gives two choices for this step. The first is to do a collage about you--your interests, strengths, talents etc. The meeting resources include some cut-outs the girls can use. The second is to watch a series of videos about women in various STEM careers and then do an activity relating to that aspect of STEM.
Discover the Possibilities
VTK only has one choice for this requirement. First, girls are asked to brainstorm about jobs that utilize STEM. They talk about them and how they use STEM.
To prepare for the next activity, leaders are asked to put signs up around the room which say:
- Video Games
- Apps
- The Outdoors
- Animals
- Inventing Things
- Building
- Jewelry Making
- Costume Design
- Sports
- Helping Other People
- Cooking
- Gardening
The signs can be printed from VTK. Girls are asked to walk around the room and look at the signs. They are supposed to write their name on three of them--the three in which they are most interested. The leader then goes through the signs and talks about each one and what careers apply. (Script provided). She asks the girls if anyone had anything about these careers on their collage and gives the girls a chance to talk about it. Optionally, she can show short videos on women who work in the listed STEM area. The videos are from If/Then, which is a digital asset library of women STEM innovators, for educational and other noncommercial use.
In the closing circle, the leader asks the girls which areas interest them the most.
The second meeting focuses on these fields: Computer Science, Nature & Environment, Engineering, Creative Technology & Design, Health & Wellness, Food & Agriculture. The leader is asked to gather tools used in each area. At the beginning of the second meeting, girls are asked to see if they can match the items with the field and then act out how they would use that in a job. In the opening circle the leader goes through the items, talks about how they are used and asks the girls to act out using them.
Learn About the Day to Day
The first option for this step is to have a guest speaker who works in a STEM field come and talk about her day to day duties and activities. The other option is to set up stations for each area of STEM shown above. Each station has a list of related careers and an activity for the girls to try. The activities are:
- Computer Science,: Write your name in Morse Code
- Nature & Environment: Write down four observations about the meeting room
- Engineering: Build structure as tall as a table
- Creative Technology & Design: create a symmetrical design for the front of a speaker
- Health & Wellness: Time yourself to see how long it takes to do 10 toe touches, 10 jumping jacks and 10 sit ups.
- Food & Agriculture: Make a snack with the provided materials, write down the recipe to share with others
Brainstorm Your Next Steps
After going through the stations the leader calls the girls back together and asks them which career they are most interested in. The girls are then divided into groups by the area of most interest. They roll a paper die with these questions about that they can do to learn more about STEM careers, and then discuss them:
- What's something you can do at school?
- What's something you can do at home?
- What's something you can do by yourself?
- What's something you can do with others?
- What's a new skill you can learn?
- What's one wild idea to help you on your career path?
The idea is to get the girls to realize they can make small steps toward their goal in a lot of ways, such as GS programs, school classes, or research on the computer or at the library.
Share Your Goals
Brownies draw a picture of themselves in a STEM career. They are asked to show the tools they are using and how they make the world a better place.
As with much of the recent STEM programming, girls are asked to complete a survey at the end to say how much they liked it and whether they learned anything. In the closing circle girls share their drawings and get their badges.
My Comments
I think this would be a great badge for a Service Unit event.
If I was running one, I'd have the girls make the collages as an opening activity. Those who come in earlier have longer to work and those who straggle can probably get a couple of things down.
I'd have stations set up for the six areas and at each station I'd have a computer ready to play one of the If/Then videos. Hopefully I'd have a mom or another woman who worked in that area at the table so she could talk a little about her job and show off some of the tools of the trade. If not, I'd have the tools there with an adult or older girl who could at least go over the career possibilities in the area. Then the girls would do the listed activity. I'd probably budget 15 minutes per station.
For Brainstorm the next step, I'd put together a display area (another station) showing some possibilities, both inside Girl Scouts and in the wider community, and ask girls to pick one they would like to do, and I'd have some library books to display and let the girls know they will be back in the library shortly.
Then I'd have the girls draw the picture and share it with their friends. They could pick up their badge on the way out the door.
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