Sponsored By
Senior
STEM Kits
“Six Pack
Soda Safety”
“Sow What?”
These activities were developed by Girl
Scouts - Western Oklahoma and correlate
with the themes and practices found
within the “Sow What?” Girl Guide book.
The STEM Kit in A Box contains the necessary supplies to complete each activity,
except where noted. You will use these
materials to help the girls earn their Journey badges as Seniors. These activities
MUST be completed as part of their Journey throughout the course of the year.
Each kit includes a leader guide that gives
background information on the activities.
It is recommended that the girls guide
themselves through these activities with
minimal guidance from you, the leader.
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
Senior
STEM Kits
“Sow What?”
“Six Pack
Soda Safety”
In this activity, teams of Seniors will follow the
engineering design process to invent a holder
for six cans that’s animal-safe, sturdy,
convenient, and easy to carry. They will learn
why discarded plastic six-pack plastic rings can
be a problem for wildlife and then brainstorm
animal-friendly ways to package six cans. They
will then build, test, and redesign their system
and discuss what happened.
Materials:
• 6 full cans of soda, seltzer, or juice
(supplied by you)
• Cardboard (approx. 8.5x11 in.)
• Copier paper
• Duct tape
• Wax paper
• String
• 4 paint stirrers
• Rubber bands
• Sponges and towels on hand in case
of spills
Background information:
These plastic holders that come on your six packs of
soda-- I'm sure you've used them. The six-pack rings
in the most common use today were first introduced
in St. Louis, Missouri, in the summer of 1960. Within
10 years, plastic rings had completely replaced the
paper and metal-based holders common at the time.
Today, manufacturers continue to produce six-pack
rings.
They're convenient for us, but they're responsible for
killing many animals in the wild. Since the late 1970s,
six-pack rings have been cited as a particularly
dangerous form of marine litter. Marine wildlife have
been found entangled in the rings and unable to free
themselves, sometimes being strangled to death.
This isn’t an issue just found at oceans or
lakes--anywhere trash is found, animals small enough
to get caught in these rings are at risk of getting stuck
and dying.
Inventors and engineers continually work to make the
world a better place. They know that being “green”
doesn’t just mean recycling or driving fuel efficient
vehicles. Engineers and inventors realize that it is also
important that they look for ways to improve
packaging systems and reduce litter and the need for
raw materials, as well as eliminate dangers to animals
and the environment.
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Senior
STEM Kits
“Sow What?”
“Six Pack
Soda Safety”
The Challenge
Today the girls are tasked with inventing a holder for six
cans that’s animal safe, sturdy, convenient, and easy to
carry. In this challenge, girls:
1. Will follow the design process to invent a solution to
the challenge
2. Learn why discarded plastic rings can be a problem
for wildlife
3. Examine plastic six-pack holders
4. Brainstorm animal-friendly ways to package six cans
You will want to start by introducing the challenge to
the girls. To grab their attention, read the following
story:
“It was getting all too common along the beach where
she lived. Birds and turtles washing up on shore,
tangled in the plastic rings used to hold drink cans
together. Up ahead was just such a bird. Fortunately, it
would live. With a snip of the girl’s scissors, the plastic
ring that was strangling the bird fell off. You know those
plastic rings, the ones for carrying packs of soda cans.
They may be strong, light, and easy to carry. But the
trouble begins when they become trash.”
(Next pass around a six-pack ring and allow
the girls to examine it. While they are doing
so, ask the following questions:)
ASK: How strong are the rings? How big?
How stretchy? How easy to use?
ASK: What are some advantages and
disadvantages of plastic? (Plastic is strong,
waterproof, lightweight, easily molded,
flexible, durable, inexpensive. But when it’s
thrown in the trash, it never biodegrades
the way paper, string, and wood do.)
ASK: Who would benefit from or be
interested in having safe six-pack holders?
(Animals, of course, manufacturers who
want to offer a safe product,
environmentalists, animal-rights groups,
and consumers who buy “green”
products.)
SAY: Now, animals get tangled in these
plastic rings and can’t get free. To help you
relate to this experience, slip a rubber
band loosely around your right wrist. Now
using the same right hand, try to remove it.
No fair using another body part like teeth
or your left hand!
Senior
STEM Kits
“Sow What?”
“Six Pack
Soda Safety”
(After a few minutes have the girls being to brainstorm ideas on designing safe packaging for the soda cans.
You can help them by asking the following questions:)
ASK: The cans in a six pack are all the same size and shape. Name some other containers that hold objects
that are the same size and shape. (Egg cartons, fruit cartons, a cash register drawer, pencil holders, etc.)
ASK: You need to be able to carry the cans easily. What are some different kinds of handles used to pick up
objects? (Luggage handles, backpack straps, wheelbarrow handles, tops of milk cartons, etc.)
ASK: How can you hold six cans together? Do the cans have to sit in two rows of three? (No. Kids can stack
their cans or set them on their sides.) Should you arrange the cans on end? On their sides? Stack them?
ASK: How can you keep cans together? (Tie them together, loop them with rubber bands, stick them with
tape, set them on a trays made of cardboard or paint stirrers.)
ASK: How will you remove the cans easily? How will you take one can out of your holder while still keeping the
other five together? (Leave and opening or make a way to pull the cans apart.)
ASK: How will you carry the holder?
ASK: Cans are heavy and will put a lot of force–pushes and pulls–on your holder. What are some ways a
holder can resist such forces? (Using sturdy materials, reinforcing joints where parts join together, and
reinforcing places where the cans put stress on the holder.)
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Senior
STEM Kits
“Sow What?”
“Six Pack
Soda Safety”
Give the girls as much time as they need to
complete the task. Be sure to have the girls
present, compare, and discuss the
prototypes they built today.
ASK: Which features worked best for
(NOTE: Here are some problems your designers might
face:)
Six cans are too heavy for a design. Even
though a girl may have a good idea, it still might not
support six full cans. They can strengthen their design
by reinforcing the sides or corners with cardboard,
adding a layer of tape, or cutting slots and inserting
materials.
The holder collapses when a can is
removed. Some designs use cans as part of the
support system. When a can is removed, the holder
caves in. Point out what’s happening and encourage
the girls to find ways to strengthen the holder so it
doesn’t rely on cans to maintain its shape.
A can ruptures. Keep spare cans for students to
use, along with towels and sponges to wipe up spills.
Kids want to drink the soda. If you don’t want
kids to drink the soda, tell them you need the cans for
another session, or use cans of a drink they probably
won’t like such as tonic water or seltzer.
holding cans together? Picking them up?
Carrying them?
ASK: Which design is sturdiest?
Lightest? Simplest? Uses the fewest
materials?
ASK: Your design had to withstand
bending, twisting, and pushing. How well
did you design resist these forces?
ASK: What are some ways an improved
holder could help the environment? (An
improved holder reduces litter, eliminates
the dangers to animals, and if the design is
reusable, reduces the need for raw
materials.)
ASK: If an animal were to eat some of the
materials you used today, it might still
cause problems. How are these problems
similar to or different from the problems
caused by plastic six-pack holders?
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