Science Mix
Offering a mix of science and engineering programs throughout the summer can help teens to identify talents, learn new skills, and explore their world.
The manual focuses on a variety of displays and programming focusing on germs, forensics, inventions, and zombie survival, but the possibilities are endless!
The manual focuses on a variety of displays and programming focusing on germs, forensics, inventions, and zombie survival, but the possibilities are endless!
Forensics: Crime Scene Techniques
Many cities have their own forensic department in their law enforcement facilities and with the popularity of shows like CSI and Bones, a forensics program might be a great fit for your teens.
You can make this program very easy by simply asking someone from your local police department to come in and do a presentation for your teens. You could make it a little more advanced by offering teens some hands-on activities.
If you choose to go with a presenter, you'll have to discuss with them what they deem appropriate, but you can suggest any of the following topics:
Forensics: Plaster Casting Footprints
The manual suggests offering teens the opportunity to make plaster casts of their own footprints as a hands-on forensic activity. You could do this as a separate program or as a part of a larger forensic science program.
What You Need:
Below are some other ideas that you might find helpful in your forensic science program planning:
*Programming So Good It's Criminal
*Follow the Evidence
*Forensic Science Program
*In the Forensic Lab (This information is geared toward children, but the games/activities could easily be adapted to work with teens.)
You can make this program very easy by simply asking someone from your local police department to come in and do a presentation for your teens. You could make it a little more advanced by offering teens some hands-on activities.
If you choose to go with a presenter, you'll have to discuss with them what they deem appropriate, but you can suggest any of the following topics:
- Fingerprinting
- Plaster casts of footprints
- Step-by-step instruction of what a crime scene officer looks for
- How DNA evidence is found and preserved
- Blood splatter evidence
- Insect evidence
- Body temperature evidence
- Arson investigation
Forensics: Plaster Casting Footprints
The manual suggests offering teens the opportunity to make plaster casts of their own footprints as a hands-on forensic activity. You could do this as a separate program or as a part of a larger forensic science program.
What You Need:
- Shoebox, wooden box, etc.
- Sand (or loose clean fill dirt)
- Plaster of Paris
mix - Water
- Box or bucket (that a foot with show can fit in)
- Cheap brush (optional)
- Dish soap (optional)
- Take a box of your choice (shoebox, wooden box, etc.) and fill it partway with sand.
- Slightly moisten the sand so that you can easily make and impression that holds its shape, but not so wet that it puddles.
- Pack the sand lightly.
- Have teens firmly press one shoe into the sand. the prints should be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep. You should be able to easily identify this print as a shoe print. If there are not treads or identifying marks visible, your mix isn't the proper consistency. You'll be able to tell by touch if it is too wet or too dry; if it is the former, add more sad. If it is the latter, add more water.
- Mix up the plaster, according to the directions on the package, so that it has a thick, creamy consistency. If the mix is too thick it will not enter all the cracks and crevices and the detail will be lost.
- Pour the wet plaster gently into the footprints.
- Let the plaster sit for 24 hours before removing the sand, but this may not be possible with your event. You can risk the shorter dry time, or send the drying molds home with your teens.
- Optional--clean mold once it is done (or send teens home with instructions to do so). This can be done by washing with mild detergent. A cheap paintbrush is also useful for this.
Below are some other ideas that you might find helpful in your forensic science program planning:
*Programming So Good It's Criminal
*Follow the Evidence
*Forensic Science Program
*In the Forensic Lab (This information is geared toward children, but the games/activities could easily be adapted to work with teens.)
Zombie Disaster Supplies Kit
Using the zombie apocalypse can be a great way to talk to teens in a sneaky way about disaster preparedness. The manual suggests working with teens to create a Zombie Disaster Supplies Kit, but gathering all the items to make these kids with teens could be prohibitively expensive. Below you'll find a few suggestions on how to work with teens on this topic in a more frugal way.
The Indianapolis Public Library did a series of Zombie Survival Workshops detailed here: *A Beginner's Guide to Zombie Apocalypse Survival. The Zombie Apocalypse Food Preparation is an example of an activity that allows you to offer a food at your library with the food as a logical component of the program. Plus the teens will learn how to make healthy snacks. Anna still hears from teens who continue to make the snacks they learned about in her Insomniac Café program in 2012. One further note on this link: Don't be discouraged if you can't afford to bring Mike Mullin to your library...he does Skype visits for free and is WONDERFUL to work with.
You should also check out this great activity from Teen Librarian's Toolbox: Humans vs. Zombies (with a Dr. Who twist!). "Your library is ground zero of a horrific plague. Food from the local gas station was contaminated with a genetic mutation and turn anyone who eats them into a flesh-eating zombie. No one knew. It took hours for the mutation to take place after eating them, and no one knew until after the library doors were closed for the library’s lock-in/program. The zombies currently look like anyone else, but after a while..." For humans, the goal of the game is survival; for zombies, it is to turn all the humans. Teens have other roles in the game as well--different player help or hinder the humans and zombies in various ways. This is a complex game, but it looks like tons of fun!
*Zombie Activity Ideas: This link is a compilation of activity ideas from tons of librarians who've done zombie programs in the past.
And finally, you might check out the Teen Librarian's Toolbox to read about their Teen Program in a Box: *It's a Dead Man's Party.
The Indianapolis Public Library did a series of Zombie Survival Workshops detailed here: *A Beginner's Guide to Zombie Apocalypse Survival. The Zombie Apocalypse Food Preparation is an example of an activity that allows you to offer a food at your library with the food as a logical component of the program. Plus the teens will learn how to make healthy snacks. Anna still hears from teens who continue to make the snacks they learned about in her Insomniac Café program in 2012. One further note on this link: Don't be discouraged if you can't afford to bring Mike Mullin to your library...he does Skype visits for free and is WONDERFUL to work with.
You should also check out this great activity from Teen Librarian's Toolbox: Humans vs. Zombies (with a Dr. Who twist!). "Your library is ground zero of a horrific plague. Food from the local gas station was contaminated with a genetic mutation and turn anyone who eats them into a flesh-eating zombie. No one knew. It took hours for the mutation to take place after eating them, and no one knew until after the library doors were closed for the library’s lock-in/program. The zombies currently look like anyone else, but after a while..." For humans, the goal of the game is survival; for zombies, it is to turn all the humans. Teens have other roles in the game as well--different player help or hinder the humans and zombies in various ways. This is a complex game, but it looks like tons of fun!
*Zombie Activity Ideas: This link is a compilation of activity ideas from tons of librarians who've done zombie programs in the past.
And finally, you might check out the Teen Librarian's Toolbox to read about their Teen Program in a Box: *It's a Dead Man's Party.
*MythBusters
Capitalizing on the popularity of a TV show is always a great way to bring teens into your programs. MythBusters is a great science show on the Discovery Channel. Lots of teens will have seen (or at least heard of the show) so this is a great way to draw them in.
In addition, using the MythBusters format gives you a great excuse to expose teens to a lot of fun science experiments in one sitting. We had a MythBusters program in Council Bluffs in 2012. For the program, we split the group into teams. The size of the teams can be determined on the spot based on how many teens you have show up at the program. We had 5 MythBusters experiments ready to go and each team had to guess if the Mythbuster statement truth or myth before we would conduct the experiment. They were then given a list of supplies to retrieve and instructions to complete each experiment. If they were correct, they were given one point. The winning team was allowed to pick a prize from our prize cabinet (books, ice cream coupons, discount movie tickets, etc.).
To see what our guess sheets and lists of instructions looked like, see MythBusters Program Guide and MythBusters Teen Instructions & Forms.
In addition, using the MythBusters format gives you a great excuse to expose teens to a lot of fun science experiments in one sitting. We had a MythBusters program in Council Bluffs in 2012. For the program, we split the group into teams. The size of the teams can be determined on the spot based on how many teens you have show up at the program. We had 5 MythBusters experiments ready to go and each team had to guess if the Mythbuster statement truth or myth before we would conduct the experiment. They were then given a list of supplies to retrieve and instructions to complete each experiment. If they were correct, they were given one point. The winning team was allowed to pick a prize from our prize cabinet (books, ice cream coupons, discount movie tickets, etc.).
To see what our guess sheets and lists of instructions looked like, see MythBusters Program Guide and MythBusters Teen Instructions & Forms.
*Galaxy T-Shirts
The teens in Council Bluffs are always game for a t-shirt design program - we do one every summer and we definitely plan to SPARK A REACTION with these Galaxy T-shirts. To keep costs down on T-shirt programs, we always require teens to bring their own shirts--just be sure you're explicit about this on all of your publicity.
Here's what you'll need to pull off this program with your teens:
1. Bleach
2. Spray Bottle
3. Fabric or Acrylic Paint: Purple, Blue, Red, White, and Yellow
4. Sponges
5. Old Toothbrushes
You can make this program as educational or non-educational as you like, depending on your audience. You can focus on the design alone, or spend some time talking about stars, planets, and galaxies far, far away. Do what works for you and your teens.
For a full tutorial, check out Autostraddle.
Here's what you'll need to pull off this program with your teens:
1. Bleach
2. Spray Bottle
3. Fabric or Acrylic Paint: Purple, Blue, Red, White, and Yellow
4. Sponges
5. Old Toothbrushes
You can make this program as educational or non-educational as you like, depending on your audience. You can focus on the design alone, or spend some time talking about stars, planets, and galaxies far, far away. Do what works for you and your teens.
For a full tutorial, check out Autostraddle.
Self-Directed Program Ideas
If you don't have much time to dedicate to teen programming, consider self-directed options that allow teens to participate when they have time and allow you the flexibility you might need if you can't get time away from your service desks to dedicate to teen programs.
Gross Out Science: The Teen Manual (p. 36) recommends the experiment, Naked Eggs, an activity that runs over the course of a week. You could have this displayed somewhere near your service desk so that teens could observe the full process and even experiment with the egg once it's rubbery. The manual also suggests gathering bits of information from the Grossology web site to create displays and bulletin boards. Another idea would be to use the gross facts as posts on your library's social media sites.
Gross Out Science: The Teen Manual (p. 36) recommends the experiment, Naked Eggs, an activity that runs over the course of a week. You could have this displayed somewhere near your service desk so that teens could observe the full process and even experiment with the egg once it's rubbery. The manual also suggests gathering bits of information from the Grossology web site to create displays and bulletin boards. Another idea would be to use the gross facts as posts on your library's social media sites.
From the Web
Candy Experiments Blog: This site is listed as a resource in your manual (p. 55) for the Mad Scientist Party in the Science Fiction and Fun Chapter, but you could structure a whole program around this blog and have tons of fun! I think it's a better fit for this more general science section.
Superhero Science
Science from Trash: No Magnet Motor
Peep Science
Ice Cream Chemistry
Cheshire Public Library Science Programs: This link includes an array of different ideas that would be adaptable for teens in your library.
Superhero Science
Science from Trash: No Magnet Motor
Peep Science
Ice Cream Chemistry
Cheshire Public Library Science Programs: This link includes an array of different ideas that would be adaptable for teens in your library.