Water Wonders Patch Program For Junior Girl Scouts, Grades 4 – 6

Cost per Scout: $15

Cost per Chaperone: $8

Minimum number of participants: 10

Maximum number of participants: 25

Patch:

Scouts who complete the day of programs will have completed the requirements for a Water Wonders patch. Scouts receive an Aquarium patch to recognize their accomplishments in water education.

Program Agenda:

Scouts begin the day at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, where they are oriented on the day’s activities. They meet the Instructor that will be conducting these programs, and takes a self-guided tour through the Aquarium.

Scouts explore a maritime forest, salt marsh and open beach habitats with an Aquarium Instructor, who explains how the type of vegetation and animals found in each area depends on whether the water supply is fresh and saltwater. Scouts pull a seine net to sample some of the life found in the marsh pools, and pull a plankton net to discover some of the smallest members of the marsh and ocean food webs. These samples are used later to test for pH and salinity, and the plankton is observed under a microscope. While out in the marsh, scouts try their hand at crabbing. The blue crab is one of the top commercially important shellfish on the East Coast and is a common inhabitant of our saltwater marshes. Scouts learn all about the blue crab’s life cycle and anatomy, and harvesting regulations.

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Finally, the Instructor sits back and allows the students to become teachers. Scouts are given poster boards, markers and crayons to create a water cycle masterpiece that they will present to the group.

9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Orientation and Self-Guided Tour

10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Salt Marsh Exploration; sampling and checking temperature

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch (not provided)

1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Clearwater Classroom Activities: Look at plankton collected and test for pH and salinity

2:15 p.m. – 3 p.m. Water Cycle Poster Preparation

3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Water Cycle Presentations