Girl Scouts explore science in special 'Eart, Sky and Beyond' program

Three tablespoons of baking soda were added to a plastic bottle containing vinegar, liquid soap and red food coloring, causing a reddish pink material to ooze onto a cardboard funnel Sarah Green held around the bottle's neck.

The reaction was bubbly and messy, and utterly delightful for Green and fellow 9-year-old girls clustered around a table Saturday at the Girl Scouts Illinois Crossroads Council headquarters in Vernon Hills.

"It looks like a slushy," said Green, a member of Troop 578 and a fourth-grader at Copeland Manor School in Libertyville.

Green and 79 other Girl Scouts from troops throughout Lake and Cook counties made their own messy volcanoes and geysers, launched a rocket, learned how to tell time using the sun, and researched the stars and solar system Saturday.

The activities made up Earth, Sky, and Beyond, part of the council's new Science Technology Engineering Math program. STEM was developed to help provide girls with skills in these subjects, as well as to provide technology resources and mentoring, spokeswoman Jessie Bylander said.

Each month, the Vernon Hills-based Girl Scout council holds STEM Saturday focusing on a different topic of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

"I've been impressed with what I've seen. It's all hands-on and they provide tons of material," said Sarah's mom, Susan Green, who leads Troop 578.

Girls Scouts used to be more about crafts and camping, said Green, who has been involved in scouting for 13 years. The new direction should benefit the girls, she said.

Girls also researched female astronauts online in the council's computer lab funded by a grant from Motorola.

"The girls have more input than they did in years past, and there is a greater emphasis on technology, math and science," said Kay Monroe, a longtime staff member who was leading the computer lab activity.

The council serves troops in Antioch, Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Gages Lake, Grayslake, Gurnee, Ingleside, Inverness, Lake Bluff, Lindenhurst, Libertyville, Northbrook, Round Lake Beach and Wildwood.