Requirements

To earn this Badge complete at least SIX of the following activities.

1. Create a new design or design modification. The design can be as simple as a new paper clip or another unique solution to a problem in your life. Make the drawing to scale. You can use diagrams, drawings, articles and photos to illustrate your design.

2. Learn what makes a circuit work using a simple fl ashlight. Directions: You should have a fl ashlight and some wire in front of you. Take the fl ashlight apart and try to make the lamp (mini-light bulb) light with a battery and a wire. This is called a simple circuit. Symbols Draw a diagram of the circuit to show how you made the bulb light. Use the symbols above. What additional features do you think would make a fl ashlight better or more useful? What would this fl ashlight look like? (Draw a sketch.)

3. Create a booklet to explain the light bulb circuit to younger Girl Scouts. Be sure to include how the electricity moves through the wires and needs a complete circuit to work. Make sure to use diagrams, photos, and drawings to illustrate your booklet.

4. Make a rolling toy using any or all of the materials listed. The toy must travel 3-5 feet (1-1.5 meters) on its own power. (It does not need to go in a straight line.) [Leaders: go to http://www.intel.com/education/design/session05/ac... to view a video of the solution.] If you get stuck along the way, here are some hints: • Consider a wind-up toy. How does it work? • Wind-up toys convert potential energy into kinetic energy as they unwind. • How is the energy stored and released? (Often this is a spring.) • What could be used instead of springs to store and release energy? Supplies: One “Rolling Kit” per girl. • 1 fi lm canister with lid, with holes drilled (or punched) in each end • 2 size #30 or #31 rubber bands (dimensions 2.5” x 1/8” x 1/36” [6.5 cm x 3 mm x 0.7 mm], #31 is slightly heavier) • 2 washers (either ½” or ¾” [1.25 cm or 2 cm] outside diameter) • 1 piece of thick drinking straw the length of the canister 5. Job shadow an engineer for a day. Give a presentation to your Girl Scout troop on what you learned. Call the Society of Women Engineers to get a woman engineer to volunteer to sponsor you at her workplace. Write up what you learned.

An engineer is someone who uses scientifi c knowledge to solve problems. There are many types of engineers: Civil Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Environmental Engineers, and Mechanical Engineers are just a few. The different types of Engineers do different things; here is a list of some of the things engineers do: • Civil Engineers: design bridges, roads, water systems • Electrical Engineers: design electrical power systems, parts of computers • Environmental Engineers: solve water and air pollution problems • Mechanical Engineers: design cars or other moving machines • Electrical Engineers: design electrical power systems, parts of computers

6. Create a picture collage of examples of projects, buildings, bridges, electronics, environmental clean-up solutions that have been engineered using magazines, Internet sources, or newspapers. 7. Machines make work easier. The items listed below are examples of simple machines. Combinations of these simple machines are used together to make more complicated machines. Look up three of these simple machines in the encyclopedia. Find examples of three of the six simple machines listed. Look in your home, school, car or even toy chest. Document where you found them with a photo, drawing or list. Pulley Inclined Plane Wheel Lever Screw Wedge Do a simple machines scavenger hunt movie night. Watch one of the following movies and fi nd at least one example of each. Movies with lots of simple machines include Chicken Run, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Star Wars (any), and October Sky. 8. Take a fi eld trip to at least one of the following sites that you have not visited before: • Ride the MAX or Portland Streetcar and write down issues that the engineers needed to address in the design such as cross walks, safe intersections, wheel chair access, etc. • Visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum. Find out what engineering challenges were met in transporting the Spruce Goose to the museum. • Visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Set up a meeting with staff and ask them how they design their new exhibit space for each new exhibit. Ask to see their drawings of the exhibit space for their next exhibit or the existing exhibit. • Tour your local Drinking Water Treatment Plant or Wastewater Treatment Plant that serves your area and write down how the water is cleaned. • Visit Bonneville Dam. Find out how the dam was built and how electricity is generated. How does the dam accommodate river traffi c and fi sh migration? What sort of engineers work at the dam today? After your trip, discuss with your Girl Scout troop what was your favorite part of the trip, two facts that you didn’t know before you went and anything else that you would like to share. 9. Invite an expert on an engineering topic of your choice to speak to your Girl Scout troop. Ask the speaker to talk about a project they are working on and the design process they are using. 10. Interview a family member or friend that is an engineer. Try to video or audio tape a copy of this interview to share with others. 11. Make up a song for younger girls about one of your favorite things that you use every day and what type of engineers have designed it. Research the different types of engineering. 12. Engineers evaluate different materials for their properties. Materials are chosen for their rigidity, elasticity, resilience and other properties. Design a bungee jump for an egg (your crash test dummy) so that the egg stops within 2 inches of the fl oor when dropped from 5 feet. Gather nylon stockings, balloons, rubber bands, yarn and other items that could be used to create your bungee cord. Test how elastic the materials are. Make a test egg: fi ll a balloon with pennies, gravel or sand until it weighs about the same as your egg. Test your bungee design with the test egg. Measure how close the test egg comes to the ground. Evaluate your design. What changes can you make to improve your bungee design? When you’re confi dent in your design, try with a real egg? Did your egg survive the jump? What other materials could you use to make it safer for the egg?