Discovering a love for science
Through new unit meeting activities developed with the Royal Society of Chemistry, Girlguiding wants to show girls how fun and fascinating science can be. If you’re worried you won’t be in your element as a leader, never fear – we’ve got the solution
Discovering a love for science
Through new unit meeting activities developed with the Royal Society of Chemistry, Girlguiding wants to show girls how fun and fascinating science can be. If you’re worried you won’t be in your element as a leader, never fear – we’ve got the solution
Emily Howe from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s education team
As part of our partnership with the Royal Society of Chemistry, we’re developing a new set of unit meeting activities called Clever chemicals, which will be available from 2021. These are part of the Skills for my Future theme and are fun, easy and safe for girls and leaders alike. But for many volunteers, the thought of leading science experiments can be a touch intimidating – particularly if you’re not experienced in the subject. What if the girls know more about the topic than you do? What if something goes wrong? Emily Howe – who works in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s education team, supporting teachers to inspire and engage their students in chemistry – says not to worry. ‘As a volunteer, you’re not necessarily trying to teach the girls the theory behind a particular subject – you’re trying to introduce them to a broad range of experiences and skills,’ she says. ‘The activities provide an opportunity for the girls to explore through trial and error – not necessarily to learn chemistry, but to engage with it in a different sphere, and get experience of thinking in a scientific way.’
“Part of our role as volunteers is to help develop the girls’ curiosity and introduce them to things they might not have done before”
Emily is also a leader in training at 1st Ely Brownies. She says to look at past guiding experiences to help you tackle this one. ‘There are things we do within our units all the time that we’re not actually expert at. Part of our role as volunteers is to help develop the girls’ curiosity and introduce them to things they might not have done before. Science lends itself to that – it’s all about asking questions and seeing what happens in different situations.’ Some girls might already have an interest in science, which can only be a good thing. ‘If you think a member knows more about a topic than you, make the most of it! It’s great that some girls will be really interested in science and will be able to share what they already know,’ says Emily. Understandably, lockdown could pose some challenges to running the experiments, particularly because it can be harder to branch off and work in smaller groups like you could in person. But running simple activities is a good way to get girls thinking scientifically. Emily recently had her unit create tinfoil boats with the goal of making the boat that carries the most weight before it sinks. The concept was easy to explain, and the girls could tackle it in their own way.
Emily studied chemistry at university and says she’s always been attracted to the problem-solving part of it. She says chemistry is fundamental not only in everyday life, but in helping us solve so many of today’s global challenges. ‘Chemistry is helping us create new vaccines and treatment methods for Covid-19. It’s also important for climate change, in terms of looking at different ways we use materials and produce energy. It’s chemists who are helping to develop those solutions for the future, and chemistry is really integral to solving these problems.’ This fits in well with the Planet Protectors topic within the Future Girl initiative, and with what we know girls are interested in – last year, 88% of girls aged between 7 and 21 told us they felt it was urgent that we all do more to protect the environment. For girls considering a career in chemistry, Emily says to look beyond the stereotypical white lab coats and beakers. ‘Chemists are really important in education, in healthcare and in industry – from scaling things up and making them usable in ways that protect our health and the future of our planet to creating the technology we use every day. They’re also involved in communicating to the public about what’s going on and influencing government policy.’
Emily adds: ‘People using chemistry skills and knowledge could end up working on all sorts of things, from developing biodegradable plastics or making food taste better to creating life-saving medicines.’ Ultimately, the new unit meeting activities are designed to inform, entertain and inspire. ‘I want the girls to be excited by this and be inspired to find out more about how things work. I want them to get a sense that chemistry, and science more broadly, is a really interesting subject with wide-ranging applications,’ says Emily. ‘There are so many different routes you can take chemistry in. But they will so often be linked to making a real difference to the world.’
Resources
A Future in Chemistry A website for young people looking to explore a career in chemistry. It has information about possible careers (including the recent Making a Difference resources and videos) and study options at age 14, 16 and 18. Chemistry in your cupboard A series of videos that demonstrate simple experiments that can be done from home. These are a great resource for leaders to watch before they run the activities. Clever chemicals As part of our Adventures at home festival in May, we teamed up with the Royal Society of Chemistry to create a series of step-by-step science experiments to try at home, which are visual presentations of some of the unit meeting activities from the Clever chemicals topic. Here are four to get stuck into, all of which are also part of the Skills for my Future theme: Rainbows: What is that? Brownies: Slime time! Guides: Can’t believe it’s butter Rangers: Fudge factory
“I want the girls to be excited by this and be inspired to find out more about how things work”
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