Earth is Our Home Try-It

1. Clean and Green (Thurs. 4/22/10):

I made these natural cleaning products:

Glass Cleaner - made of vinegar and water. It was awesome! It worked so well.

Bathroom Cleaner - made of baking soda and water. That worked really well also.

Furniture Polish - made of canola oil and lemon juice. The furniture really shined!

2. Project Recycle

3. Stop a Draft (Thurs. 4/22/10):

I made a draft stopper out of an old towel, string, and decorations. It's a good size to stop a draft in the kitchen window.

4. Cooking with the Sun (Fri. 4/23/10):

The solar cooker was a good idea but it didn't get hot enough to roast the marshmallow. It did get warm, though.

5. Recipe for a Miniworld (Fri. 4/29/10):

I put purple flowers, moss, and some flat stones in a little container and it was so full, we couldn't put the lid on, but that's ok. I watered it with a watering can and set it on the kitchen windowsill.














Happy Earth Day!




6. Earth's Caretakers

Plants Try-It

1. Seed Race

2. Plant Rubbings (Sun. 5/2/10):

There were little dots on the tree rubbing and a little circle of dots on the tree rubbing. The leaf rubbing came out really well. It was a maple leaf.

3. Baby Beans











4/29/10 -- In progress. We are trying frozen soy beans called edamame because we didn't have dry soy beans or lima beans. So far, we just put the saoy beans in water to let them thaw out overnight. Stay tuned for the beans update!

4/30/10 -- In progress. We put the beans in the jar with the wet paper towel.

5/18/10 -- The edamame beans didn't grow, so we are trying again with dried red and white beans that we soaked overnight. We set them up in the jar with wet paper towel.

5/23/10 -- The beans are starting to grow and coming out of their shell! They are growing really fast! You can see the roots really well. The outsides separated and the sprout is coming out from the top part of the beans.


4. Leaf Hunt (Sun. 5/2/10):

My favorite leaf was the dandelion leaf. I liked that one because it looks like a million arrowheads all stuck together. Some people eat dandelions but I don't.

5. Simple Plants (Thurs. 4/22/10):

We wet the paper towel, waved the bread, gave it dust, wrapped in foil and placed in a dark spot. My favorite part was the waving of the bread!! Stay tuned for the mold update!

4/29/10

The Mold Update!

The mold update is that we found mold! We found it on the bread and also on the paper towel. the mold looks like diced green parsley. It smelled a little like garbage. It was very icky, but interesting.

Making Music Try-It

1. Move to the Music (Tues. 4/13/10):

I made up dances to songs on Kids Only and stories to go with them.

2. Singing in Rounds (Tues. 4/13/10):

We sang "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Sing We Together" in rounds. It was hard but we practiced them and got it! We took turns being the person who starts singing.

3. Action Songs (Tues. 4/13/10):

We learned the verses of the Brownie Smile Song and then put the hand movements with it. It was fun.

4. Melody Glasses (Tues. 4/13/10):

It was fun to make and play the melody glasses. I played "Twinkle, Twinkle" from the Try-It book.

5. Music Around the World (Tues. 4/13/10):

We learned the Brownie Friend-Maker song to a tune from Israel. I learned to sing the three verses and the chorus in between.

Math Fun Try-It

1. My Numbers (Tues. 4/13/10):

I am 9 years old. I am 4 feet tall. I made a poster with my numbers on it.

2. Telling Time

3. Can You Guess? (Mon. 4/19/10):

I put 67 M & Ms in a jar. Mom guessed 40, and Dad guess 41! Mom added M & Ms to the jar and didn't tell me how many. I guessed 88. She added 40 to mine for a total of 107!

4. Alphabet Code (Tues. 4/20/10):

I made a code that gives a number for each letter. The secret message was, "Can I go on Brainpop?" (Brainpop is a website where you learn about stuff.)

5. Budget for Your Troop

6. Money Words (Tues. 4/20/10):

Katie = .46

Dad = .09

Mom = .41

zebra = .52

Himalayas = .88

umbrellas = $1.03!!!!

Listening to the Past Try-It

Photo Courtesy of Morris County Park Commission

All Requirements for this Try-It were completed at the GSNNJ program "Listening to the Past" at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm.

1. Community Stories (Sat. 4/10/10):

We learned how the farm was important during the time of the Fosters and how they used the equipment.

2. If These Buildings Could Talk (Sat. 4/10/10):

We learned that the farmhouse was rebuilt in the 1900s because the original one burned down. Caroline made the kitchen extra big in this one with a big arch between the kitchen and dining room so people in the dining room could be seen. Caroline lived in the mansion on the hill, and built the little house for relaxing and reading.

3. Visit the Oldest Cemetery

4. Tell Stories of the Past (Sat. 4/10/10):

We learned about Caroline Foster and her years on the farm. She was very smart and liked to read and ride horses. She also was strong and determined and was involved in a lot of things.

5. Acting Out

6. Games of the Past (Sat. 4/10/10):

Some of the old fashioned games were darts, puzzles, yo-yo, dominoes, checkers, tic-tac-toe, hoop and stick, badminton, jump rope, rope toss and pegs, potato and spoon, acrobat bear, wooden top, fishing. My favorite one was the hoop and stick.

Travel Right Try-it

1. Be Prepared

2. Busy Kits (Sat. 4/10/10):

My busy bag is a backpack I used to have in kindergarten. It has books, a drawing desk, My Little Ponies, and other fun stuff. It has my initials on it. I take it everywhere, especially homeschool meet ups. I like my busy bag!

3. Scenery Scavenger Hunt (Sat. 4/10/10):

Here are 10 things I expect to see on a car trip:

A lot of cars

Trains

Hills

Trees

Traffic lights

Crosswalks

Signs

Trucks

People

Buildings


4. Travel Journal

5. Sing a Song (Sat. 4/10/10):

Here is a song about traveling:

(Sung to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad")

We're a travelin' to places
All around the world
It's gonna be a lotta fun
We hope you can join, too!

We're gonna see some rest stops
And cool stuff too
This is gonna be a great trip
We hope that you can join, too!

We'll play the licence plate game
We'll sing some songs
We will have a lot of fun
We will have a great time
It will be fun
We hope you can join, too!

We're a travelin' to places
All around the world
It's gonna be a lot of fun
We hope you can join, too!

There will be a lot of stories
Tall tales, too
This is gonna be a great trip
We hope you can join, too!

6. Pack it Up (Sat. 4/10/10):

An overnight at a friend's:

Sleeping bag

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Pajamas

Slippers

A game

Pillow


A 2-hour car ride:

Books

Song sheet

Coloring book

Crayons

Pencil

Clip board

Portable toys

Mad Libs

Audio Book

MP3 player


A day at the beach:

Sunscreen

Umbrella

Hat

Tickets for rides

Sand toys

Snacks

Water

Chairs

Lunch

Bathing suit

Goggles

Boogie board

Safety Sense Try-It

1. Street Safety

2. Fire Safety Practice (Thurs. 4/8/10):

Our Brownie troop meets in a school classroom, and sometimes the events are held in the gym. For the classroom, the nearest exit is the front door of the school. For the gym, the nearest exit is gym door to the outside. If those exits are blocked, we can move ot another exit or go out the window.

3. Smoke Alarm (Thurs. 4/8/10):

A smoke alarm is also called a smoke detector. It is made up of two different parts -a detector that detects smoke and a very loud horn that wakes people up to warn them about the smoke. We have smoke alarms in our house on each floor. It sounds like a loud beep - very loud! When we hear the alarm, stay low and go out fo the nearest door. First you must check to see if the door is hot. If the door isn't hot you can go. If the door is hot, go to another exit. If you need to, you can go out of the window. Meet your family at the front tree or around the building at your meeting spot.

4. Playground Safety (Thurs. 4/8/10):

Some rules we can use to make sure playgrounds are safe:

Don't use playground equipment improperly.

Don't turn, misshape, or misform the swings.

No pushing.

Be careful when climbing on high things.

Always listen to an adult if there is something you should do to play safer.


5. First Aid (Thurs. 4/8/10):

We practiced the Heimlich Maneuver on each other and by ourselves. That actually works!

6. Safety Center