On Monday, we had 11 Girl Scouts from Malad (K - 5th) and 2 of their friends (K & 4th) join Kristen McAdams from Girl Scouts of Silver Sage in Boise and I for an evening of Backyard STEM.  The girls started off coloring their own birdhouses, which are perfectly sized for a hummingbird.  They talked about different types of birds that they have seen and heard around town.   The girls worked as a group to make their first observation in their nature journal, a labeled

butterfly diagram.  

Next the girls split into pairs and rotated through child-friendly microscopes and two digital microscopes.  They looked at preserved specimens of butterflies, spiders, and different insects as well as some plants.  The girls took lots of notes and made diagrams of what they observed in their nature journals.  Each girl that participated got to take home a backpack with a magnifying glass and nature journal along with bird seed for their new birdhouse.   If you would like more information about joining or volunteering with Girl Scouts in Oneida County please email 
[email protected].