Sponsored By
Junior
STEM Kits
“Get Moving”
“It’s Your Planet - Love It!”
Journey STEM Activities
These activities are from the Leader’s Guide Book, “How
to Guide Juniors Through ‘Get Moving!’” These activities
correlate directly with the science activities found in your
Leader Guide. Your STEM kits in a box contain the supplies necessary to complete each of these activities,
except where noted.
You will use the material in these kits to help the girls
achieve their Journey badges as Juniors. These activities
MUST be completed as part of their Journey throughout
the course of the year.
Each activity includes a leader guide that gives background on the information covered in the activity.
Chris Simon, STEM Coordinator
Girl Scouts – Western Oklahoma
[email protected]
Phone: 405-528-4475 or 1-800-698-0022
This kit is provided through an award from the Oklahoma NSF EPSCoR program
and is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIA-1301789.
Project title: “Adapting Socio-ecological Systems to Increased Climate Variability.”
Any opinions, findings & conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s)
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. www.okepscor.org
Sponsored By
OK NSF EPSCoR Content Reviewers: Dr. Jody L. Campiche, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and
Extension Economist, Oklahoma State University; Dr. Renee McPherson, Associate Professor of Geography and
Environmental Sustainability and Girl Scout, University of Oklahoma
Junior
STEM Kits
“Get Moving”
Session 1
“Making Paper”
Activity
Materials:
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Paper scraps –
various types
Food blender
Warm water
Shallow bucket or pan
Corn starch – five
teaspoons per project
Measuring cup
Felt sheets, cloth
towels, or newspaper
(Note: towels with
texture will result in
textured paper.)
Roller pin
A mold and deckle to
form the paper
Hair dryer
Juniors will gain an understanding of how recycled paper can
be used to make new paper. They will make the connection
that paper contains fibers from plants and trees. By making
their own paper, girls will recognize the importance of
conservation and recycling.
Background information:
Paper is very important in our daily life. The history of paper
began in ancient Egypt over 5,000 years ago with the use of
papyrus, a plant from the Nile River. The word “paper” comes
from “papyrus”, the Greek name of the plant. Much later,
parchment was made from the skin of animals. In 105 AD, the
Chinese are known to have invented the type of paper we use
today.
Most types of paper can be recycled. Newspapers have been
recycled for decades, and recycling of other paper is growing.
New paper pulp prices have soared in recent years, prompting
construction of more plants capable of using waste paper.
The key to recycling is collecting large quantities of clean, well
sorted, uncontaminated, and dry paper. It takes less energy
and raw materials to produce recycled paper than to make
new paper.
Junior
STEM Kits
Session 1
“Making Paper”
Leader Guide, Page ?
Facts
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People used to communicate by writing on stone,
animal skins, or fabrics, but today the primary
ingredient in letterhead or stationary is paper.
Egyptians used leaves from the papyrus plant as a
writing surface as far back as 5000 BC, but even
though the Greeks and Romans continued to use
papyrus, this was not the real beginning of paper.
Paper was first created in China in 105 AD using tree
bark made into a pulp. It is considered one of China’s
four greatest inventions (the other three inventions
are the compass, gunpowder, and printing).
In the Middle Ages, Europeans changed the formula
for paper and began using cloth rags from discarded
clothes to make paper.
The world goes through approximately 330 million
tons of paper each year, with the United States using
approximately 50 million tons.
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Paper recycling started around six centuries ago!
Today the world recycles about 160 million tons of
paper per year.
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An average tree can make 2,700 copies of an average
daily newspaper.
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Recycling one ton of paper saves about 17 trees.
“Get Moving”
Key Terms:
Cellulose - the main constituent of the
cell wall in most plants. It is important in
the manufacture of numerous
products such as paper
Pulp - a mixture of cellulose material,
such as wood, paper, and rags, that is
ground up and moistened to make
paper.
Slurry - a thin mixture of a liquid
(usually water), and any of several
finely divided substances that cannot
be dissolved in water.
Mold - the mold is the bottom portion
of the papermaking form that includes
the stiff mesh that the screen rests on.
Deckle - a removable wooden frame
or "fence" used in manual
papermaking.
Junior
STEM Kits
Session 1
“Making Paper”
Leader Guide, Page ?
“Get Moving”
Directions:
SAY: In our “Get Moving” Journey book, on Pages 27 to 29, we read some interesting facts on the wasted
energy that goes into the production of paper and packaging materials. The average American uses
approximately 748 pounds of paper each year. The United States, as a whole, uses 25% of the world’s
paper products.
ASK: Do you use a lot of paper at home? Think about all the mail that comes to your house. How often
you use other paper products such as paper plates, paper towels, and toilet paper? Also think about your
homework, telephone books, and the books on your family’s bookshelves. Does your family receive the
newspaper or buy magazines? Now, thinking of all those things--does your family use a lot of paper?
(Allow time for the girls to answer.)
ASK: Did you know that an average tree can make 2,700 copies of a daily newspaper? Or that recycling
one ton of paper saves about 17 trees? (Allow girls to answer and/or comment.)
ASK: What can we do to reduce our use of paper? If we can’t reduce, what can we do so that we’re not
cutting down so many trees? (Allow girls to discuss freely.)
SAY: Recycling paper has come a long way since its beginnings. By recycling paper, we reduce the
number of trees needed to be cut down each year. Currently, we get 33% of the pulp needed to make
paper from recycling. We get another 33% from cutting down trees and another 33% from scraps and
sawdust from sawmills.
ASK: Which of those three sources of paper pulp would you like to us use more of? (Allow girls to answer.
Hopefully they choose recycling.)
SAY: Recycling would be the one I would choose, too.
ASK: What would be a way to increase the usage of recycling? (A call to action, petitioning their city
council to adopt a recycling program, maybe as the troop’s energy conservation project.)
SAY: Today we’re going to recycle paper by turning those used papers into brand new sheets of paper
that we will make ourselves.
Junior
STEM Kits
Session 1
“Making Paper”
Leader Guide, Page ?
“Get Moving”
SAY: Come up here and watch as I show you how to make a sheet, then
you can make your own. (Allow time for girls to gather around.)
SAY: The first thing we need is to collect some scrap paper. You need to tear or cut the used paper into
small pieces. You need enough cut pieces to make 2 cups worth. (Allow time for the girls to prepare the
scrap paper.)
Now place the two cups of paper scraps into the blender. (Put the cut pieces into the blender.)
SAY: Now add 4 cups of warm water to the blender. (The warmer the water you use, the better the
project works.) If you do this at home, you can boil the water ahead of time if you have your parents’
permission to do so and you’re comfortable handling hot water.
Normally, you should soak the paper in the water for a few hours, but that is not always necessary.
Finally, add three teaspoons of corn starch. The corn starch will act as glue for the paper fibers and help
bind them together.
Now blend the mixture together. (Turn on the blender.)
(NOTE: DO NOT USE YOUR HOME BLENDER. THE PROCESS OF MAKING PULP CAN DAMAGE
YOUR APPLIANCE.)
SAY: What is being created in the blender is called pulp. Pulp is a mixture of cellulose material that is
ground up and moistened to make paper. Cellulose is the fibrous part of a plant wall that stores glucose
or sugar. When you finish blending, your pulp should be the consistency of mashed potatoes or oatmeal.
(Indicate the plastic tub filled a quarter full of water.)
SAY: Now pour the blended pulp mixture into a plastic tub filled with about a quarter-tub full of water.
What we have created is now called slurry. Slurry is a thin mixture of a liquid, especially water, and any of
several finely cut substances, like our pulp, that cannot be dissolved in water.
(Show the paper mold and deckle.)
Junior
STEM Kits
Session 1
“Making Paper”
Leader Guide, Page ?
“Get Moving”
SAY: These two things are called the mold and deckle. The deckle is placed on top of the mold. It makes
a fence around the pulp to form the shape of the paper you want. The other part is called the mold. It has
a screen attached to it that filters the water through and leaves the pulp on top of the screen.
SAY: Stir the mixture to guarantee the pulp has not settled to the bottom. Then submerge the mold and
deckle, and then raise it out of the water. (Demonstrate the procedure.) As you can see, the pulp
attaches to the screen. If the pulp is uneven, dip the frame in the water one more time. Make sure to allow
the excess water to drain back into the tub.
SAY: Now we take the deckle off the mold. Then we place a cloth, piece of felt, or newspaper on top of
the pulp and gently flip it over onto the counter. Lift away the screen and place the other cloth or
newspaper on top of your molded pulp.
(Grab the roller.)
SAY: Now, we use the roller on the cloth (or newspaper) to extract even more of the water.
SAY: Next, we can use a hair dryer to evaporate the rest of the water from the paper. You can also use an
iron, but only if you have your parents’ permission.
SAY: If you like, you can trim the edges of your paper when it’s fully dry. And that is how you make paper!
ASK: Can any of you think of a recycling message you can write on your new paper?
(NOTE: You will have slurry left that contains pulp. DO NOT pour the mixture down the drain,
because after the water evaporates, you will have a huge clog of paper in the middle of your pipes. It is
best to pour the leftover slurry into a bucket and wait for the water to evaporate so you can use the pulp
again, or you can discard it in a recycling bin.)