Members of the 1st Stoke Gifford Old School Rooms Scout troop have once again been taking part in the popular CREST award scheme, run by the British Science Association. The scheme provides opportunities for young people to explore real-world science, technology, engineering and maths projects in an exciting way.
In addition to giving young people the opportunity to undertake hands-on science, CREST Awards also build skills that are transferable to other subjects, further education and future employment (time management, project management, teamwork, communication).
The awards can count towards the skills element of the Duke of Edinburgh award and can be used to enhance personal statements linked to university applications.
Week 2 of the Scouts’ post-summer programme coincided with STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) week. Having already completed a Bronze CREST Award a few years ago with the UWE science department, leaders set the youngsters the task of making bath bombs, with the aim of securing further Bronze awards.
The session was run by Kathryn Gibbs, assistant Scout leader, who makes bath bombs as part of her business Lash Sparkle Shine Beauty.
Kathryn said:
“The Scout troop was split into three groups as we had three box sets of everything needed to make 15 bath bombs bought online from Cosmetics Made Easy. The packs have easy to follow instructions but as the troop has so many members, we topped the kits up with a dozen more plastic moulds.”
Each group was subdivided into three smaller groups making apple, lemon and orange scented bath bombs. This involved slowly mixing in the yellow, orange and green colour and spraying small amounts of water for binding.
The Scouts worked well completing all the mixing etc. to make one bath bomb each testing how much water needed to be added to keep the ingredients together but not too much that the water set off the bath bombs. Once firm they were left to dry and then wrapped.
The Scouts will now test their bath bombs at home and later, during half-term, make another set, changing a quantity of an ingredient and noting the change.
They will then complete their CREST workbooks, which will be sent off for adjudication and (hopefully) the awarding of certificates.
This article originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal magazine (on page 28). The magazine is delivered FREE, nine times a year, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
