Environment night

Well it is a 2 weeks late, but better late than never, so here is the wrap from our Environment night.

To finalse the work started earlier in the year, the cubs were provided an opportunity to complete sections of thier Environment badge.

The first activity was to identify how trees absorb the pollution from the air. The trick here is to grab leaves from trees that are close to traffic or in parks. As trees and plants turn carbon dioxide or carbin monoxide into clean air, the gunk that is deposited on leaves after it absorbs the oxygen are easy to extract.

The experiment saw the leaders collect leaves from trees around where they work in and around Brisbane and the Gold Coast. There were a variety of leaves and locations provided a great bevy of things to test.

Cubs using clear sticky tape placed the tape on the shiny part of leaf and peeled it off to see what was left behind. I must say it even surprised me the levels of gunk on the leaves. Some of the tape was at least 50% black with what was collected. Obviouaky trees nearer to roads were dirtier than trees in parks and backyards.

The next experiment was to learn how to build a water filter. Using 1.25lt bottles, sand, small rocks abd a serviette we turned muddy water to clear water. the idea is to cut 1/3 of the bottle from the top, creating a funnel. Add serviette to funnel to prevent sand and rocks falling through, but also provide a layer of filtering, then add a cup of sand and rocks.

Taking a clear plastic cup and taking a cup of muddy water fro a bucket prepared earlier,the cubs ran it through the filter several times. The results were amazing and after several run throughs the water was clear enough to drink. I took a finger taste and even though sandy tasting it would be ok to drink if you boiled it. But in desparate need could be drunk.

The cubs had a ball, due to a long parade no games were played but thet still enjoyed the night.