Meeting Activities:
Wonders of Water - Excursion to Denver Aquarium to learn to LOVE water and SAVE water.
Comments:
We kicked off our Wonders of Water Journey with a 3-hour behind-the-scenes tour of the Denver Aquarium hosted by Mr. Jonathan. Girls learned to act like a water molecule; to taste the difference between tap, filtered, salt, and “mystery” water; to experience the water cycle and make bracelets representing their water molecule’s journey; and to see how the staff at the aquarium care for all of the animals in the exhibits.
Activities:
We kicked off our classroom time by starting a Wonders of Water Journey poster. Girls signed their names and wrote about their favorite things about water like swimming in the ocean, using it to water plants, skiing in the winter, and providing a habitat for axolotls.
Mr. Jonathan taught the girls about the “Mickey Mouse” molecule, H20. They stood up and moved like water molecules: fast if hot as vapor, slow if warm as liquid, and stopped if frozen as ice.
They did a blind water-tasting experiment where they had to guess if their water sample was tap, filtered, salt, or “mystery” water, which ended up tasting sweet (watered-down Sprite). They did NOT like the salt water.
Mr. Jonathan brought the water cycle to life with a bracelet-making game. There were stations representing states of water set up with colored beads. Girls rolled a die to find out where their molecule would travel next, collecting beads from each visited station. Subtly, the dice had more sides with the ocean, rivers, and glaciers on them, so many girls got stuck at these stations, accumulating bracelets with the same colored beads. This served as a visual reminder of where most of the water is stored on earth and a powerful discussion point when reflecting on the activity.
We then went behind the scenes to learn about how the aquarium makes salt water for the exhibits and feeds its animals. Girls did NOT like the smell of the fishmeal.
The turtles came right up to the girls, thinking Mr. Jonathan was going to feed them.
We then collected our belongings and toured the front of the house. It was cool to compare the experience of looking into the exhibits rather than being above them.
Girls were thrilled to pet the rays.
Thank Yous:
Thank you to Mr. Jonathan for creating and delivering a curriculum that aligned so well with the WoW curriculum.
Big thanks to MaryEllen and Meredith for chaperoning, and Meredith for planning the excursion.
Family Follow Up:
See more photos HERE
Complete the activities in the homework pack, including the water cycle experiment and save-water experiments. Try the water-sense quiz!
See the meeting plan for the upcoming Tomahawk Ranch trip which details all the logistics, including dates/times for drop-off and pick-up, needed forms, planned activities, and a packing list.
Announcements:
The article from our pre-launch photo shoot at the DreamLab turned out great! Was published here in the neighborhood paper The Front Porch.
The GSCO DreamLab Grand Opening is Sat, Mar 12! You will need a timed entry slot.
Get your close-of-cookie program reports and girl’s rewards selections into Michelle by Sat, Mar 12!
Thanks!
Meredith (Mila’s Mom)