Girl Scouts of Washington Rock C

Let's Clean Up Our Act Patch Program Requirements

Let’s Clean Up Our Act

A Council Patch Program for All Age Levels

This on-going patch program is designed to educate girls about environmental issues and provide activities that will encourage their involvement in the environmental movement.

Daisy Girl Scouts

Complete four or more activities:

1. Help girls plant seeds in two paper cups. Place one cup on a window sill and one in a dark closet. For two to three weeks have girls observe what has been taking place in the cups. Talk about the effects of darkness and sunlight for a plant. Share what plants need to grow.

Visit a plant/flower nursery. Have someone talk with your girls about ways plants help our earth and what we can do to help plants live. Invite someone who works with animals (zoologist, environmentalist, veterinarian, etc.) to do a presentation on endangered species for your girls. Ask them to include ideas on how your girls can help endangered species.

2. Brainstorm ways to save water at home. Ask girls to try some of the suggestions and share the results with the troop.

3. Help girls find a place in the community where they can plant flowers. Visit the site from time to time so girls can see how the flowers are growing.

4. Attend and/or participate in a program on environmental awareness.

5. Take girls on a walk to a stream or small lake in different weather conditions. Each time you visit take pictures or tape-record their observations. Talk about any changes they see after each visit and suggest some reasons for the changes. Also discuss how these changes affect the living things in that environment.

6. With another troop, plan and implement a clean-up project in a schoolyard, retirement home, or park.

7. Complete the There’s Air in My Soda! Activity found:..

There’s Air in my Soda!

To help girls observe some characteristics about air, carbon dioxide, soda, and soda bubbles, you’ll need:

Small bottles of carbonated soda Baking soda

Vinegar Cups

Empty bottles Funnel

· Pour some soda in a cup. Let the girls look at and taste the soda and feel, see, and

hear the soda bubbles when they put their faces above the soda cup.

Have girls place a balloon over the neck of the carbonated soda in the bottle. Let them see what happens, and talk with them about what they think is happening. The carbon dioxide gas in the soda is escaping through the bottleneck and into the balloon, blowing the balloon up.
Next, girls can make their own carbon dioxide solution by mixing vinegar and baking soda. They can funnel the solution into an empty bottle and see if a balloon put on top of the bottle expands.

Brownie Girl Scouts

Complete five activities, including the ones starred

Invite someone to speak at your troop meeting who works to save endangered species. Plan and do a troop campaign to share what you have learned with others.
*Find a place in the community where you can plant a tree, shrub or flowers. Learn what it needs to live. Be responsible for its care for a few months.
Make a list of six things that your family can do to save water and energy and try showing them some of the things your family did to save water. Display your booklet or poster at your troop meeting.
*Do a troop recycling service project. Recruit another troop to work with your troop.
Attend and/or participate in an environmental awareness program.
Complete the Earth is Our Home Try-It, Activity 5, Recipe for a “Mini-World” in Try-Its for Brownie Girl Scouts book.
Visit a park or campsite. Using a magnifying glass try following a small trail back and forth. What clues did you use to find your way?
Natural environments are very important to wildlife. It provides food and shelter. Visit a natural area during different seasons. Draw, take pictures or even tape record what you observe. Has the environment changed each time you visited? In what ways has it changed?

Find out what the word “habitat” means. Draw a picture of your habitat and the

habitat of a small animal, such as a bird or fish. How are the habitats different?

How are they the same? Share your drawing at your troop meeting.

Find out ways plants help our air. Get a “Pet Plant” for your room. Find out what is needed to care for it correctly. Once a month, share with your troop how your “Pet Plant’ is doing. (Don’t forget to give it a name and read to it once in a while.)
Work with your troop to establish a wildlife habitat in your community. Make bird feeders, plant trees, and assist a park ranger in taking care of an already established wildlife habitat.

Junior Girl Scouts

Complete six activities, including the ones starred:

1. Go on a “tree treasure hunt” in your neighborhood. Find a tree that has blossoms on it, find a nest and one insect in a tree, watch a tree when the weather is windy, do a leaf or bark rubbing, find the oldest and youngest tree in your neighborhood. Record your findings.

2. *Survey a total of ten families, schoolmates, and /or friends to find out what they are doing with recycling. If someone is not recycling, offer ways your troop might help them get started.

Make a list of five things that are happening in your community that hurt the environment; (for example running car engines while the car is parked, littering, etc.). Brainstorm some solutions and contact an appropriate organization to learn how you might put your solutions into action.

3. Find out what the term “Greenhouse effect” means and how it is affecting the condition of our environment. Learn as much as you can about the problem and what is being done to help solve it.

4. Keep a list for one week or longer of things you did to help the environment. Share your list with your troop.

5. Attend and /or participate in a museum, nature center or environmental awareness program.

6. Discover what the word “erosion” means. Learn three different ways soil erosion can be prevented. Contact a community resource group (i.e. Dept. of Parks) that could help your troop develop a plan to help prevent soil erosion.

7. Make a list of ways you and your family can conserve energy and water. Try some of the ideas. Then make a poster or booklet that show your troop some of the things your family did.

Learn how to check for drafts. What parts of your home allow the most heat

to escape? Investigate ways to keep heat from escaping and try some.

8. *Make a list of why trees are so important to the environment. Then make a poster, booklet or three-dimensional display that will show others why we need trees.

9. Plan a Girl Scouts’ Own ceremony that takes place in the out-of-doors and shows appreciation for our earth.

10. Learn about endangered species through a program or library book. Prepare a display on one that is facing extinction. Include pictures, drawings, or models of the wildlife. Find out something that is being done to help save it.

Cadette/Senior Girl Scouts

Complete six activities, including the ones starred:

1. Take a group of younger children on a walk through the park. During the walk look for signs of wildlife. This could include animal tracks, droppings, nests and so on. Use magnifying glasses, binoculars, and/or animal picture books to identify what type of animal might have been there.

Give a presentation to a group of younger children that will tell them about an environmental problem and suggest ways they can help.

2. Find out what the term “landfill” means. How is a landfill formed? Locate a landfill in your community and plan a visit if possible.

3. Make notes on how vegetables and fruits are packaged. Compare prices between these items in glass, paper, and plastic. Which is less expensive? Which is better for the environment? Which would you choose and why? Discuss your findings at home and at your troop meeting.

4. * Find out how acid rain in formed and what damage it does to the environment. Learn what is being done in your community to address this issue and how you can help.

5. Find out about chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) and its harmful effects on our ozone layer. Research a list of products that once contained CFC’s. How has science and technology made these products safer for our environment? Can you think of other advances that have been made to better our environment?

6. Take charge of a recycling project in your home. Include newspapers, bottles, cans, clothing (passing it on to an organization such as Goodwill) and glass.

7. Investigate ways in which you can help make your home more energy efficient. Try at least two of the ways.

8. *Interview local wildlife managers, conservationists, foresters, park rangers, or others in the field of environmental and natural sciences. Learn what type of education and skills are needed for the career. Find out what types of employment opportunities are available. Find out what their responsibilities and roles are to the public as well as protecting the environment. Think of other questions you would like to ask.

9. Find out what the term “Greenhouse effect” means and how it is affecting the condition of our environment. Learn as much as you can about the problem and what is being done to help solve it.

10. Do an exhibit on the types of wildlife found within your community. Include information on their habitat, a collection of photos, books, magazine pictures, or drawings. Also include a list of suggested ways to help protect wildlife (i.e. clean-ups).

Find out what protected or endangered species of plants are in your area. Then devise and put into action a plan to preserve and protect them. The list of endangered and protected wildlife includes plants as well as animals. Because of the essential ties between plant and animal life, the eventual loss of any plant can mean the loss of home and/or food for any number of animals. Your plan to protect the plant life could include the construction of nature trails and protective walkways, conservational planting or an awareness campaign in your area.

11. Contact conservation groups and park departments in your area. Learn what happens to animals when their environment is damaged by pollution. What can your troop do to help?

Revised 12/06