A night filled with a fossil hunt, simulated oil spill, and making geodes for a group of Girl Scouts could be the start of a future career as a geologist at Braun Intertec.
The geology and engineering activity group developed from Braun Intertec Business Unit Leader Mark Keefer seeing an opportunity to introduce his daughter’s Girl Scout troop to geology and engineering. When the troop heard Keefer was a geologist, they saw it as a great opportunity to earn a science badge. The hour-long activity for the 8- and 9-year-olds started with an introduction to geology and engineering.
“We talked about what a geologist does,” Keefer said. “What is a geologist? What do we study?”
Then came show-and-tell for the nine Girl Scouts. Keefer brought different fossils and rocks from his own personal collection to show the girls.
“We talked about how rocks form, the three types of rocks and how fossils are created,” Keefer said.
He also built a sample aquifer, complete with concrete and cars to act like a street. They first poured water in to show the kids how water percolates through the ground. Then came the “cool” part – simulating an oil spill using colored water.
With a tube attached to a hand pump, “we pumped the dirty water back out to show how we clean up spills out of the ground,” he said.
Next stop was the Braun Intertec soils lab, where the Girl Scouts learned about concrete cylinder testing.
“John Pomranke crushed a concrete cylinder to show how we test concrete for strength,” Keefer said.
And true to Braun Intertec values, safety was at the forefront of their experience. Each child wore child-size safety goggles – in all different colors – that they could take home.
The kids’ final activity of the jam-packed hour centered around another hands-on activity and discussion about how fossils form. Keefer buried fossilized shark teeth and fossil shells in buckets and the girls used a sieve to find all their fossils, which they also were able to take home.
“The girls earned a little better understanding of the natural world,” Keefer said. “They got a better understanding of the different types of science careers that are out there. A little better understanding of the world around them.”
He also encouraged other Braun Intertec employees and those in the profession to consider hosting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education) outreach opportunities. “It doesn’t have to be some big, large-scale event,” he said. “It could just be something small and local. Doing that outreach is important to instill an interest in science and engineering in the young kids.”
Giving back to the communities we serve with a focus on STEM education, the Environment and Local Human Services is the Braun Intertec Foundation’s mission. The Foundation also supports the Girl Scouts of America as one of its charitable interests.
At the end of the night, the girls took home more than fossils and a new appreciation of science and engineering – they each earned their geology merit badge.
“Mark did a fantastic job keeping our girls engaged and excited to learn more about geology and our environment,” said Heidi Stepka, Troop leader. “Everyone had a lot of fun. Thank you for inviting us into your work environment and making it such a wonderful experience for the girls! The girls all said that was their favorite meeting!”