Cub Scout Investigations

It was the second full week of summer vacation and I was back in the classroom!

I was given an offer to volunteer and teach the science investigations lab at our local cub scout day camp in Erie.  Two of boys wanted to attend the camp, so it was a win-win.

The theme was "CSI" for "Cub Scout Investigator".  I got to do multiple experiments with the students each day.  I saw 10 groups each day for 4 days!  So I ended up teaching 40 lessons this week.

Here is some of the cool things that we did.  They were created by the camp coordinator to help the boys earn badge and belt loops:

Day 1 was the five senses...we looked a tray and tried to remember the 5 items, we studied a picture looking for details, we examined a marshmellow, and finally we tasted 4 ingredients to see which one might be the missing ingredient in a "chocolate recipe".  The students tasted vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and sugar!  Cool fact that I learned was that we have 9000 taste buds.

Day 2 was cryptography!  We created invisible ink with equal parts baking soda and water...then revealed the message with grape juice concentrate.  This was a sticky fun project.
Secondly, students read and wrote basic encrypted messages.   Students saw two similar codes below:





Day 3 was chromatography!  The first activity was to see how inks are not all the same and can be broken down in a solvant like water.   To show this students wrote a simple word in a basic black marker and a sharpie on coffee filter.  The coffee filter was then dipped in water.  The results were amazing to the students.  We talked about how this could be helpful with ransom notes or other written evidence.  Secondly, I demonstrated how a leaf soaked in a different solvant (rubbing alcohol) could be broken down to show the clorofyl.  Finally, students talked about rainbows and the colors in rainbow.  We made mini rainbows using white paper, a CD, and a flashlight.

Day 4 was FINGERPRINTS!  This was my favorite topic, but least successful experiments.  A cool fact that I learned was how fingerprints are formed in utero based on the baby's movement which is why no two fingerprints are alike!  To examine our fingerprints, we attempted to apply corn starch to our index finger, apply tape, peel it off and put it on a black piece of paper.  Second we used an ink pad to get a fingerprint.  Then put the finger print on a balloon and blow up the balloon to see the patterns.  We looked for whorls, loops, and arches patterns on our fingerprint.

It was a challenge and learning experience.  Feel free to comment below on which experiments you have tried since camp!

NOTE: I did not include pictures since I do not have permission to show student faces on my blog!