Cub Event - Learning STEM - United Synagogue of Hoboken

Cub Event - Learning STEM Topics

Cub Scouts Get a Taste of Real Science
We partnered with Stevens Institute to learn STEM topics
(Science, technology, engineering, and math)

Part 1 at the Stevens Babbio Center
Cub Scouts from all over Hudson County spent a morning at Stevens doing a few fun hands-on experiments. Then engineering student Bill Gilroy explained how scientists design a real-life "fair test" experiment "to compare possible explanations" for what was observed.

Pack 18 Scouts in the foreground were Niklas, Liam, and Zack.

Part 2 in the USH Social Hall - Preparing the Experiment
Each Cub prepared a bottle rocket that will be fueled when a load of baking soda is dropped into some vinegar. In this "fair test" the amount of vinegar will be the same, but each Cub will use a different amount of baking soda.

Den Leader Gretchen provided the chemicals and equipment.

Niklas went first, measuring out exactly one teaspoon of baking soda into a paper cartridge.

Part 3 in the USH Playground - The Launch!
Three runs, one at a time: 1 teaspoon, then 2, then 3. Use a stopwatch to time how long it takes to get enough fizz to pop the cork, then estimate how high the cork popped into the air!

Each Cub scientist got his cartridge ready to slip into the bottle of vinegar followed by jamming in a cork! All the other Cubs gathered round to watch.

Niklas went first with his cartridge, then Zack, then Liam. When the experiment ended, Liam considered the results and concluded, "The more baking soda you use, the harder it is to get the cork jammed in!"

Revised 08/16/16

The United Synagogue of Hoboken, and the programs it sponsors, do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.