September

The September "Activity of the Month" is coming soon-just in time for the first troop meetings of the school year!!

May

Did you know that when you bite into a Wintergreen Lifesaver, it makes a spark?

With the beginning of summer drawing near, you can give it a proper welcome with a sparks show!! This short and simple activity requires only one supply item and no background knowledge.

The first thing you need is a bag (or two or three, depending on how many girls you have) of Wintergreen Lifesavers. The type of lifesavers is very important. They must be wintergreen flavor (mint, spearmint, or others will NOT work), and they must have sugar.

Next, you need a very dark room. The best place is probably a basement or some other place where there are no windows. You can even do it during a night hike! 

Have the girls sit facing each other. The best is for them to sit either on the floor or at a small table. They should have the lifesavers close and at the ready. Then, after you turn off the light (they should wait a few seconds to let their eyes adjust to the dark), one girl puts the lifesaver in her mouth, and crunches, being sure to chew with her mouth open (yay!!! All table etiquette goes out the window!). The second girl watches, and will see a spark!! Then switch roles, so the second girl can see the spark as well.

Why does this happen? Ask the girls what they think. The cause is when the sugar crystals break (as the lifesaver is chewed), it causes a spark. The scientific name of this phenomenon is Triboluminescence.

For Junior and Teen girls, you may want to extend this activity by having them experiment with other types of life savers, and then compare results. Then, they can use the library or internet to look up more information. They could give a short presentation to the group of their findings, or maybe locate other materials which display triboluminescence.