It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {Happy Thanksgiving!}

Happy Thanksgiving, Girl Scouts!  This year, Frannie has so much to be thankful for.  She is thankful for her fish family and all her Girl Scout friends that she gets to share fun water-wise activities with every week!  Frannie wants to share a fun upcycling Thanksgiving craft project that you can do with your troop.

Upcycling is the process of taking something that would normally be thrown away and making it usable again.  Upcycling reduces the need to use new, raw materials when making a new product.  By using old materials instead of new materials, less energy and water is used.  Furthermore, air and water pollution are reduced.

Frannie will be showing you how to make fun Thanksgiving table decorations - Thanksgiving hat candy holders!

Here's what you'll need:

•  Empty, clean K-Cups (one for each girl)
• Construction paper or cardstock
• Scissors
• Glue
• Yellow marker
• Small pieces of your favorite candy
• Optional: ruler
• Optional: paint or markers (white, brown, or black)

Here's what you do:

1.  Clean out your K-Cup (It's a little messy, be sure to rinse it out really well!)

2.  Frannie used a black permanent marker to make her K-Cup black.

3.  Next, Frannie cut a strip of her construction paper.

4.   Then she cut a small square piece of paper and colored it yellow.

5.  Frannie then glued the yellow square onto the end of the strip of paper and wrapped both pieces around the base of the overturned K-Cup.

6.  Using the black construction paper, Frannie cut out a circle.  Be sure your circle is a little wider than the base of the overturned K-Cup; this is where a ruler comes in handy.  Use the ruler to measure the base of your K-Cup so you can mark how big your circle should be.

7.  Next, Frannie filled the K-Cup with the candy and glued the circle piece of paper she cut out to the bottom.

8.  Use your hat as a table decoration during your Thanksgiving festivities or give it to a friend that you are thankful for!

This is an easy, fun activity that you can do with your troop!  While you are making your craft, play a fun Thanksgiving game.

If possible, have Girl Scouts sit in a circle while they work on their hats.  Choose a girl to start the game (the oldest Scout for example).  Have the first Girl Scout say what she is thankful for.  The girl sitting next to her will repeat what the first Scout said and then add what she is thankful for and so on and so forth.  For example,

Abby: "I'm thankful for my family."

Bailey: "I'm thankful for my family and my friends."

Clara: "I'm thankful for my family, friends, and my pets."

Frannie wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {The Hydrogeology Challenge}

Frannie is so excited to share this fun, online tool with high school aged Girl Scouts - The Hydrogeology Challenge!  You can use it to learn basic groundwater computer modeling concepts.

The Hydrogeology Challenge offers you the chance to learn about groundwater through a computer simulation.  It challenges you to design and conduct a scientific investigation and evaluate solutions to complex real-world problems.

What you'll need:

• A computer or tablet with internet access
• A calculator

Additional Resources:

• Video walk-through: this walks you through how to use the computer model.

Steps:
Before you start using the model, Frannie suggests you get to know a few groundwater basics:

1.  Know the basics
     a.  What is groundwater?
     b.  How does groundwater move?
     Groundwater is part of the hydrologic cycle - water is recharged to the groundwater system by rainwater, melting snow and streams, lakes, or rivers.  Check out the image below!  Groundwater can flow into surface water and surface water can contribute to groundwater recharge.

     c.  What do you need to know in order to model the movement of groundwater?  Using the Hydrogeology Challenge, you will calculate:

• Flow direction - Which way the groundwater is flowing.
• Gradient - You will be given the location of three wells, the water table elevation of each well, and the distance between the wells to determine the slope of the water table.
• Horizontal Velocity - The soil porosity (the amount of empty space in the soil, measured as a percentage) and the hydraulic conductivity (describes the ease with which water can move through pore spaces or fractures.  This is dependent on what the soil is made of - if the soil is sandy, it will allow water to move through it more easily, water does not move very easily in soil made mostly of clay).

2.  Run the model!

Follow the directions - the model is created as a learning tool, so it will walk you through each step.  First you will choose three wells.  And don't worry if you miss an answer, you can use check answer and show solution buttons to help you along!

Here are a couple of tips from Frannie:  

1.  Read the directions carefully. 
2.  If you want you can further learn about the assumptions that were made in creating the Hydrogeology model.  To do this, click on the "Reality Check" arrow as you work through the three steps.

3.  If you want to do it again:

• Choose different wells
• Turn pumping on
• Choose a different map

 
4.  Remember, if you need more help watch the video walk-through.
5.  Get your school involved with Science Olympiad and compete in the Hydrogeology Challenge!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish {America Recycles Day}

November 15, 2015 is America Recycles Day!

Frannie has taken the pledge to recycle more in honor of Keep America Beautiful's recycling initiative and has found a recycling event to participate in this coming Sunday!  Find an event near you to participate in!  America Recycles Day happens every year and helps educate people about recycling and promotes recycling all across the country.

Frannie found a fun activity to do in honor of America Recycles Day.  You can do it too!  The goal of the activity is to match the correct fun fact with the corresponding recyclable product.

Frannie printed off the instructions for this activity and gathered the supplies she needs, including:

• An aluminum soda can
• A glass bottle
• A piece of paper
• A plastic bottle
• A steel food can
• Scissors

Follow these steps with Frannie to do this activity!
1.  Print the fun facts from the website above (and the images of the items if you don't have the actual items).  Cut out the fun facts.

2.  Try to match up the correct fun fact with the corresponding item!

3.   Use the last page of the activity guide to see what the correct answers are.  Are you surprised by any of the facts?

Don't forget to recycle!

Share what you will be doing on America Recycles Day and you could be featured on Frannie's blog!

It’s Water-Wise Wednesday with Frannie the Fish! {The Groundwater Foundation’s National Conference}

Frannie had such a great time at The Groundwater Foundation's 2015 National Conference October 20-22!  Frannie and some of her Girl Scout friends shared the Let's Keep It Clean patch program at the Soak It All Up! Workshop on Tuesday, October 20.  These Girl Scout leaders showcased their groundwater knowledge and demonstrated activities that other Girl Scouts across the country can do to earn their groundwater patches and learn how to be water stewards!  These activities are fun and easy to implement with the extensive resources available for Girl Scout troop leaders!  The knowledge and hard work of these Girl Scouts made for a very successful workshop!

Girl Scout Cadettes share Frannie the Fish's Story at the Soak It All Up! Workshop.

Girl Scout Cadettes lead Soak It All Up! Workshop participants in the Awesome Aquifer activity.

Frannie also had a great time at the National Conference celebrating The Groundwater Foundation's 30th anniversary, hearing from expert speakers, and recharging her enthusiasm to protect and conserve groundwater!

Want to learn more about The Groundwater Foundation's Girl Scout patch program or the resources available to make leading your troop through groundwater activities a breeze?  E-mail girlscouts@groundwater.org.