Type

Activity Descriptions

supplies

Badge

Craft

The Blue Planet Necklace

Explain to the girls that Earth is called the Blue Planet because so much of it is covered with water. However only a very small amount of it is drinkable and useable by plants and animals.

Explain the difference between fresh water and salt water.

To demonstrate the percentages of fresh water, salt water and the percentage of fresh water we can actually utilize, show them your Blue Planet Necklace that you made ahead of time. It will have 97 blue beads, 2 white beads and 1 green bead on a piece of lanyard.

Explain that the1 00 beads represent all the water found on our earth. 97 of the beads are blue representing the oceans which are comprised of salt water. There are 2 white beads and 1 green bead representing all the fresh water on the earth. The 2 white beads represent the fresh water that is frozen on the continents. The green bead represents the drinkable water available on earth.

This shows that although there is a lot of water on our earth, very little of it is useable for us, so we must conserve and protect what it available because as they learned in the first session, we don't get any new water.

Allow the girls to make their own necklaces. Give them an opportunity to reiterate what each color represents so they understand the meaning of their Blue Planet Necklace.

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana

Pony beads

string

Water

Craft

Water Droplets Conserving Water

Explain how important it is to conserve (save) water. Ask them to list times they have seen water being wasted. Give them an example (leaving water running while brushing teeth, filling the bath tub too full, running the hose outside for no reason etc .. ) Chart their responses on the chalkboard or on chart paper.

Part of our Girl Scout Law states that Girl Scouts should use resources wisely. Explain that water is a natural resource.

Have them share an ideas for conserving water.

Read page 48 in the Girl Book with the girls to understand how much water we use. Read pages 56-59 in the Girl Book to show ways people can conserve water.

Water Droplets- Hand out four water droplets to each girl

On two droplets ask them to write two ways they pledge to conserve water. (i.e. turn water off when brushing teeth, ask mom to turn water off and on when washing dishes, shower instead of taking a bath or only filling tub half full). Have themwrite the same two pledges on the other two droplets.

Have the girls attach two water droplets to the WOW! Map. They promise as Girl Scouts tohonor those two conservation pledges this coming week and see how long they can do it.

They will take the other two home to remind them of their promise.

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana

Water Droplets printouts

Water droplets.pdf

Water

Craft

Making Rainbows!

You might say “Do you remember a time when you saw a rainbow? What was the weather like? As each girl tells her story, guide the group to see what their stories have in common. Ask the group “Is there anything that all these rainbow stories have? Is it something that we’ve been talking about? (Answer: Water! And light! Rainbow

stories all have water and light, even if the water comes from a garden hose or sits in a puddle and the light comes from a flashlight.)

Explain that there are ways to make a rainbow indoors and that’s what they are about to do!

Method 1: If your meeting room gets sunlight:

Fill a glass or glass vase with water. Place the glass on a table in front of a sunny window.

Invite one of the girls to place a sheet of white paper on the floor in front of the table and window.

Ask the girls to arrange themselves on both sides of the paper without blocking the light from the window.

If no rainbow appears, invite the girls to assist you in adjusting the glass and paper until a rainbow is visible.

Method 2: If your meeting room has white walls and can be darkened:

Place a mirror inside a full glass of water.

Place the glass either on the floor or on a low table.

Ask the girls to stand around the glass.

Invite them to take turns shining a flashlight into the water, moving it around until a rainbow can be viewed.

Method 3:

Fill a shallow pan with water until it is three-quarters full.

Place a mirror at the pan’s edge.

Invite each girl to shine the flashlight directly into the mirror, while another girl positions a sheet of white paper so the reflection of the light shines on it. (You can advise them to move the piece of paper until it “captures” the light. You may also need to adjust the mirror until the girls can see the watery reflection on

the paper).

Regardless of which method you use; Invite the girls to look closely at the edge of the reflection and describe what they see.(They should be able to see all the colors of the rainbow). Invite them to explain what is happening. Here’s the science behind rainbows: When light travels in a straight line, it is known as white or clear light. When light is bent by water or water vapor, it breaks into the seven colors of the rainbow. The colors always appear in the same order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Water

Discussion

The Water Cycle Discussion

Show the girls a filled water bottle. Ask them how old they think the water in the bottle is? After several guesses, let them know that it is as old as the earth!

Ask them if we ever get new water? Tell them "no". All the water gets recycled.

Begin with a cloud and explain that it is filled with water droplets. Just like a sponge, when it gets too full, it releases the water droplets. They fall to the earth in form of rain, snow or sleet.

Ask them where does it go from there? Get them to understand it goes on mountains and flows down mountain streams which flow into lakes and then rivers and eventually all of it flows into the ocean.

Water that hits the ground can also be absorbed into the ground where it will actually findan underground stream and eventually become part of a river that flows into an ocean.

Or when it goes into the ground it can be absorbed by roots in trees, bushes and plants that use it for food. The plants release water into the air through their leaves. The droplets are so tiny you can't see them with your eyes!

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana

Water

Discussion

Water Around the World Discussion

Begin a discussion about how important water is to all the activities the girls listed on the WOW! Map. Ask them how they would feel if there wasn't enough water to do their activity? Ask them if they think all people around the world have all the water they need? Share with them that not all people have enough water to drink, to bathe and to use for crops.

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana

Water

Discussion

Favorite Water Discussion

Give each girl a liquid tight container and ask the girls to bring their favorite water with them for the next meeting

Send home the letter to the parents/guardians.

At the next meeting, gather the girls in a Share Circle. Have them bring their water they collected and give each girl an opportunity to share where they collected their water and what she liked about that water source. Ask the girls some specifics about the water such as "Is it freshwater or saltwater?" "Is it clean enough to drink?" "Were animals living in that water?"

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana

Water

Game

Act out the water cycle

Have the girls become the water cycle! There arefour stages of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and runoff. Ask for four volunteers and have them stand in a circle. Hand each of the four girls something to represent each stage of the water cycle. For evaporation use a picture of a sun. For condensation use some cotton balls. For precipitation, use a paper snowflake (it will remind the girls that precipitation comes in many forms!). For runoff, use blue paper streamers. Now, ask for another volunteer to be the water drop in the water cycle just like in the story. Hand her a prop to represent the water

droplet. Then, ask her to walk around the circle. As she is walking, she will meet her Brownie friends in the circle.

When she does, she exchanges her prop for the one she is carrying, physically going through the stages of the water cycle! Give each girl a turn to be a water drop.

props

Water

Game

Water Jugs

Water Transportation-Have the girls read p. 49 in their Girl Book. Discuss the idea of having to put jugs of water on their head and transport it to their house every day.

Have the girls try carrying water jugs on their heads

Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana 

Milk Jugs filled with water

Water

Game (15 min)

Playing with Raindrops

Session 2—Option: States of Water Stations

Fill spray bottles with water.

Cut a one-foot by one-foot square of wax paper for each girl.

1. Give each girl a sheet of wax paper and a straw.

2. Spray each girl’s sheet of wax paper with a spray of water.

3. Have the girls move their water droplets around with the straw. They should notice that the smaller water droplets stick to each other. The more they play with the water, the more likely they are to have fewer, larger droplets. Explain that this is what happens to water droplets in clouds. Eventually they become large enough to fall to the ground as raindrops.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Wax paper

Spray bottle

Water

Plastic drinking straws

Paper towels

Optional: Plastic trays

Water

Opening Activity

Water Penny:

Put a penny on a stable table. Provide girls with a cup of water and an eyedropper.

Count how many drops you put on the penny. Introduce the concept of surface tension, but don’t expect them to totally grasp the idea.

Water

Game (10 min)

Brownies LOVE Water Because…

Session 1—Opening Ceremony: Favorite Water

1. Have everyone stand in a circle. If you have a large group, have them split into smaller groups to save time.

2. Have girls start by saying, "My name is ________ and I love water because…" As each girl finishes the

sentence, have her perform an action showing why she loves water.

E.g. " My name is Pam and I love water because I can go swimming" and make a swimming action.

3. Have the next person in the line repeat what the first girl said, with the actions, and then add their own description and action.

E.g. "Her name is Pam and she loves water because she can go swimming” and make a swimming motion, “My name is Jenny and I love water because I can drink cold lemonade on a hot day" and pretend to drink from a straw.

4. Continue around the circle. By the time you get all the way around the circle, you will likely have to help girls remember some of the things said.

5. As a group, repeat all the reasons the girls love water with the actions.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Water 1

Game (20 min) and At Home

Water Conservation Charades

Session 1—Protecting Water: Living the Girl Scout Law and Session 2—Send it Home: MY Water Promise

Print and cut out the “Water Conservation Charades” cards at the end of this activity plan.

Print and cut out paper water droplets at the end of this activity plan.

1. Have the girls split into groups of two–three. Give each group a “Water Conservation Charades” card.

2. Give the groups about five minutes to come up with a skit that demonstrates the water-saving strategy on their card and explains why it helps save water.

3. Have each group take turns acting out their skit. Have the girls watching guess the strategy. Give further explanation, if needed.

4. If time allows, repeat Steps 1-3 with different cards.

5. Have girls pick one way they learned to save water or come up with one of their own. They will each make a promise to do one thing to save water before the next meeting.

6. Hand out paper water droplets. On the front of the drop, have the girls write one thing they know about water and one thing they love about water. On the back of the drop, have girls write their water conservation promise.

At the next meeting:

Sharing Our Water Promise

Girls should have made a water promise at a previous meeting.

1. Have everyone stand in a circle. If you have a large group, have them split into smaller groups to save

time.

2. Go around the circle and, one at a time, say "My name is _________ and the water promise I kept was

3. Explain that the girls have now earned the LOVE Water Award

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

“Water Conservation Charades” cards

Water Conservation Charades.pdf

Stop watch

Paper water droplets (one per girl)

Water 1 and 2

Discussion

Water Cycle Discussion

Session Two—“Green” Tea for a Blue Planet: From Hot to Cold and Vapor to Solid

When water falls from the clouds, it’s called precipitation. Do you know of any other types of precipitation besides rain? Snow, sleet, freezing rain, drizzle

Besides clouds, where else can you find liquid water? Lakes, rivers, oceans, ponds streams

What about hidden water? Can anyone think of other places water is hiding? Think about what happens when you drink water or where we get our drinking water. Water can be found in plants and animals, as well as in the soil and deep underground. When water is below the

surface, it is called ground water.

What happens to water when it gets very cold? It freezes into ice. Where can you find ice on earth?

In snow, in sea ice, also called glaciers, or in ice packs on top of mountains and at the poles.

What happens to the puddles after it rains? Does the water stay liquid? Some water flows into lakes and rivers, but some evaporates into a gas. Does anyone know what water is called when it becomes a gas? Water vapor. Where on earth can we find water vapor? Everywhere!

Even though we can’t see it, it is all around us. That’s why some days it feels really sticky outside because there is a lot of water vapor in the air.

Does anyone know what it is called when water moves around the earth while turning from water into ice and water vapor and back again? The water cycle.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Water 2

Game (15 min)

Gathering Water

Session 3-Gathering Water

Setup an area for the obstacle course in your meeting space as described below.

Put two pitchers on the ground. They should be on opposite sides ofthe obstacle course area. One pitcher should be empty. This will serve as the start of the obstacle course. The other pitcher shouldbe full and will serve as the "well" where girls will collect water.

Put the cups and baby dolls by the empty pitcher.

Create two clear paths of paper for the girls to step on, but only one path around the four cones.

Secure the paper to the floor with tape.

If you have more than 16 girls, you should set up an additional obstacle course in the interest of time.

1. Explain to girls that in some countries, it ·s difficult to find water. Often, wells are very far avvay. They may have run dry or contained contaminated water that could make a family sick. Explain to the girls that thesmall cups they will represent large containers of water girls and women have to carry for many miles to get water.

2. SpliL the girls inlo two teams. If the teams are uneven, have an adult helper parlicipale. Explain that the two teams will be running an obstacle course against each other to collect water. They will take turns taking an empty cup to the "well'' (full pitcher) on the other side of the room and adding it to their "water supply" (empty pitcher). They will have some challenges to face when they do this.

When many girls carry water they don't do it alone. As girls complete the obstacle course they will have to carry their ''baby brother or sister" (baby doll) with them. When they fnish putting their water in the empty pitcher. they will hand the doll and their cup to the next girl in line.  Tell the girls many people in the world don't have good shoes to protect their feet so they have to be careful where they step. In our obstacle course, the paper will represent spots that are safe to walk. Demonstrate walking by only touching your feet to the sheets of paper.

Often the road to the water is not straight and the girls have to take winding paths. In the obstacle course, girls will have to walk around four cones to represent the long path. Demonstrate how the girls should walk around the cones.

Often jugs are so large, girls can't carry them in their arms. Instead they put them on their head.

For the obstacle course, each girl will use her hand to hold her "jug" (cup) on her head. Remindgirls that water is a valuable resource so they don't want to spill any.

3. Have the girls take turns going through the obstacle course. The team that gets all their girls though the obstacle course first is the winner.

4. Once girls are finished, congratulate the winning team and have the girls clean up any spills with the paper towels.

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Pitchers (2)

Water

Small cups (2)

Cones (4) (or you can useanyth·ngthat the girls will be able to run around)

Paper (8 p·eces)

Baby dolls (2)

Tape

Paper towels

Gathering Water Game.pdf

Water 3

Discussion (10 min)

Choose a Project Discussion

Session 4- Choosing a SAVE Project

Tell the girls that they will be doing a project to help water in their local community. The answers to the questions should have given them ideas to get them started. Here are some brainstorming

questions to help them decide:

How do we want to help water? Do we want to conserve it? l<eep it clean? Protect water habitats?

How can we accomplish this goal? Should we have a clean up project? Educate others?

What did the water advocates we just learned about do to protect water?

Who could we get to help us?

You will earn the SHARE Award by sharing the results of our SAVE project with others? How can we measure the success of our project? Who can we share the results with?

Read the stories of water advocates to get ideas

From: Girl Scouts River Valleys

Water Advocates.pdf

Water 4