Junior Math In Nature Survey Results

 This is the last in a series of posts looking at the Math in Nature badges as well as what people believe is necessary to earn them.  I surveyed members of some Facebook groups for Girl Scout leaders to acquire the data presented and I make no representations about the data other than stating how I got it.  I have three other posts in this series:

• General information and conclusions
• Daisy Math in Nature badges
• Brownie Math in Nature badges

Junior Shapes in Nature 

Symmetry is the main topic for Juniors.  "Identify Symmetry in Nature" deals with lines of symmetry. "Explore Bilateral Symmetry in Nature" is about Bilateral Symmetry. "Create Nature Inspired Art with Circular Symmetry" is, yes, about circular symmetry.  "Find Fractals in Nature" is about defining and identifying fractals, and "Search for the Fibonacci Sequence" is about recognizing it in nature.  

Junior Craft and Tinker

 

This is the third in a series of posts on the Craft and Tinker Badges.  I previously wrote about the Daisy and Brownie plans.  I did this review by reading the VTK plans.  I do not have the badge brochure, and as I do not have Juniors, have no intention of buying it.  If you have it, I'd love it if you'd leave a comment about how it is different from VTK. 

Badge Steps

Learn how to make something with care, skill, and imagination and then improve it.

• Explore crafting and tinkering
• Tinker with a craft
• Learn about users
• Craft for form, fit, and function
• Tinker with your project

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to craft and tinker to solve problems.

New Badge Review: Junior Design With Nature

 

The third Math in Nature badge introduced this year is called "Design With Nature". Here is what Badge Explorer gives as the requirements:

Juniors use math to plan and organize an outdoor adventure. They'll decide where to go, how long they'll be gone for, and what to bring.

        Steps

            1. Find your hiking pace

            2. Choose a hiking trail

            3. Find changes in elevation on a map

            4. Decide how much food to bring

            5. Pack for your adventure

        Purpose

When Juniors have earned this badge, they'll know about different types of maps. They'll know how to calculate distance, pace, elevation changes, and area.

Junior Paddleboat

 As the virus numbers climbed and the weather got cold, I moved to Zoom meetings and I decided to try mechanical engineering.  The Juniors made paddleboats.  

Requirements

According to Badge Explorer, the requirements were:

Explore how paddle boats work and engineer your own paddle boat.

• Explore how paddle boats work
• Design and build a rubber band-powered paddle boat 
• Test your rubber band-powered paddle boat 
• Analyze and share your results 
• Brainstorm ways to improve your design

When you've earned this badge, you'll know how to build and test a paddle boat and understand buoyancy, potential energy, and kinetic energy.

Sources

I used the plans in VTK, along with the plans from Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida. 

Our Meeting

I had asked girls to find some things they thought would float and some things they did not think would float.  I had also asked parents to have a buckect/pan/sink of water available.  We tested things and talked about why some floated and some didn't---and why some floated for a while but eventually sunk.  

The initial hypothesis was that light things floated and heavy things sunk.  I then asked if it was easy to pick up a coin and of course they said yes.  I asked if they had ever seen boats or ships on the river or lake, and they said yes.  I asked if they could pick up the boats/ships and of course they said no and then I talked about weight vs size and how that held stuff up--made it buoyant.  

Next we reviewed potential and kinetic energy and how we could store energy in various ways, like twisting a rubber band or lifting things up high.  

The parents had picked up packets with rubber bands and pencils and I showed the video on the plan from GSSF.  The girls then made the boats, tested them and adjusted them.  

We had trouble getting the boars to move.  I think the rubber band for the propeller should have been smaller.  We did find that moving the pencils down further on the container helped.  Still getting the wheel situated so that it spun and hit the water was hard--and the power source did not last long  

Making Friends, Social Butterfly and Holiday Party

 One thing I've noticed about my troop is that there is an "inside" group that has been together since kindergarten and an "outside" group that has joined the troop later.  Its not like anyone is mean, its just that they really aren't one group and I'd like to do something to work on that.  Unfortunately, facilitating interactions and friendships is probably my weak point as a leader.  

Since we usually have a holiday party, I thought we could tie it into the Making Friends and Social Butterfly badges.  Let's take a look at them.