Science in Scouting; Feeling cold after a dip in the water?

Yeah, so you're in the forest, playing around in the river.

WHOA! SO COLD!!
Ok, so you're shivering. How to heat up yourself?

Well, actually, when you're shivering, your body is just trying to increase muscle activity. The increase of muscle activity generates heat as a byproduct. And this byproduct is what we want to keep ourselves warm. Awh... our body is so cool right?

Hmm... increase in muscle activity eh? So that means if I exercise when I'm feeling cold, I'll feel warm again? Well, it's possible. Since when you exercise, you move your muscles more, releasing more heat. And also, when you exercise, you increase your heart rate. So, the heart can pump the warm blood throughout your body faster. So, the next time you feel cold right after a swim in the Freezing Cold River of Doom *cue dramatic music and lightning*, go do some push up! Lol!

Oh oh, and here's something I saw from Discovery Channel's Man vs Wild show. Oh, that Bear Grylls is a smart guy.

You see, the jungle has no heater or whatever to erm.. heat yourself up. So, the first thing that will come to your mind about warmth in the jungle is campfire right? Well, that's one way.

So, you go start a fire. Then eat a marshmellow or two and don't worry too much about the risk of starting a forest fire (hahaha!). When the fire is big enough, dump some big rocks into the fire. Yes, rocks. You want to heat those rocks up, until they are as hot as the woman in .... ahem... ignore that.

Sooner or later, the fire will "die". Scoop up a big pile of sand and dump it over the campfire just now. Build a thick layer of sand above the campfire. This sand will insulate you.

As you see, when the thickness of the sand is just right, the heat from those rocks will conduct through the sand. But since sand is a poor conductor of heat, the temperature of the thick layer of sand will be just right for you to lie on. And the warmth should be soothing enough. So, you'll have a warm bed to sleep on and recover. And somemore, the rocks can store heat for quite a long time, depending on their mass lah.

Be careful though, you don't want the layer of sand too be too thin. You'll know what will happen right, if you didn't place enough sand. The sand is just to protect you from the extreme heat from the rocks.

Science in Scouting: Is it gonna rain?

Some might say weather prediction is like rocket science. Well, actually, it's a little true, considering the random and unpredictable nature of the weather system. But the following tips may help you predict the weather, even though it may not be 100% accurate. Still, this proves that you don't have to be a meteorologist to predict weather.

The Red Sky
I dunno whether this works. Maybe sometimes, it may be due to luck. I heard this from a British science show, "Red sky at night, Shepard's delight, Red sky in the morning, Shepard's warning. " A red sky is produced by a low sun shining through clouds, so, as clouds are blown mainly to the west, as the sun sets, they are blown away, carrying the rain with it (not sure whether that applies here in Malaysia). The opposite happens in the morning, which means the poor shepards have to get their sheeps out of the rain. I'm not sure how this sentence came to be, but it may work sometimes.

This fact is from a website, regarding the red sky thingie:
If you see a red sky during sunset (when you're looking to the west), there is a high pressure system with dry air that is stirring dust particles in the air, causing the sky to look red. Since prevailing front movements and jet streams weather usually move from west to east, the dry air is heading towards you.

A red sky in the morning (in the East, where the sun rises) means that the dry air has already moved past you, and what follows behind it (on its way towards you) is a low pressure system that carries moisture.

Cows
Again, I saw this from the same British science show, "Brainiac". It's a very funny show actually. Anyway, it says that when it's going to rain, cows will prefer to sit on the ground, rather than standing up. This is because, they want to ensure a dry patch of grass beneath their udders, and dry udder means a happy cow. Again, I can't really say it's true, but it never hurts to experiment.

Clouds
Reference: http://www.scienceray.com/Earth-Sciences/Meteorology/How-to-Predict-the-Weather-Watching-Clouds.116193

Ooh, Stratus clouds. These are often guided by rain, ice crystals or snow.

Meet Mr. Altocumulus. These precede a cold front, and on a warm, humid summer morning, they signal that thunderstorms will generate later that day.

Cumulus clouds. These generate a lot of wind and can grow into a cumulonimbus cloud.

Stratocumulus. They don't bring lot of problems themselves, only drizzle, light rain or sometimes snow, but they are often on the front or tail of worse weather, in the form of thunderstorms and gusty winds.

Cumolonimbus. These can cause rain, snow and thunderstorms.

Cirrostratus. RAIN!

Well, these are just some examples from that website.

Wind Direction
Taken from a website:
If unable to immediately detect the wind's direction, throw a small piece of grass in to the air and watch its descent. Easterly winds can indicate an approaching storm front, westerly winds the opposite. Strong winds indicate high pressure differences, which can be a sign of advancing storm fronts. Deciduous trees show the undersides of their leaves during unusual winds, supposedly because they grow in a way that keeps them right-side up during typical prevalent winds.

The scent of nature
Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and smell the air.

• Plants release their waste in a low pressure atmosphere, generating a smell like compost and indicating an upcoming rain.
• Swamps will release gasses just before a storm because of the lower pressure, which leads to unpleasant smells.
• A proverb says "Flowers smell best just before a rain." Scents are stronger in moist air, associated with rainy weather.

Animals
Animals can also be a good indicator of rain.

• If birds are flying high in the sky, there will probably be fair weather. (Falling air pressure caused by an imminent storm causes discomfort in birds' ears, so they fly low to alleviate it. Large numbers of birds roosting on power lines indicates swiftly falling air pressure.)
• Seagulls tend to stop flying and take refuge at the coast if a storm is coming.
• Animals, especially birds, get quiet immediately before it rains.
• Cows will typically lie down before a thunderstorm. They also tend to stay close together if bad weather's on the way.
• Ants build their hills with very steep sides just before a rain.
• Cats tend to clean behind their ears before a rain.
• Turtles often search for higher ground when a large amount of rain is expected. You will often see them in the road during this period (1 to 2 days before the rain).
• A very old wives tale says if birds feed in a storm it will rain for a long time, if they don't it will clear soon.

Camp fire
Make a camp fire. The smoke should rise steadily. Smoke that swirls and descends is caused by low pressure (i.e. rain on the way).

Circle around the moon, rain or snow soon
If it is reddish or pale, dust is in the air. But if the moon is bright and sharply focused, it's probably because low pressure has cleared out the dust, and low pressure means rain. Also, a ring around the moon (caused by light shining through cirrostratus clouds associated with warm fronts and moisture) can indicate that rain will probably fall within the next three days.

Well, these are just some examples on how to predict weather. Due to the unpredictable characteristic of the weather system (and probably global warming), it may not be 100% accurate. Still, it may be of use to you during camps in the jungle, where rain is something you have to look out for.

reference: http://www.wikihow.com/Predict-the-Weather-Without-a-Forecast

Have fun rain hunting!

LIKE, HELLO ?!

LIKE OH - MY - GOSH !

I can honestly slaughter someone right now.

like maybe you, whoever that's reading the blog anyway.

during the last COH meeting,
the scouters said that THE IT DEPARTMENT needs more ... interactive things!

AND YOU KNOW WHAT ?
I don't know if you've noticed,
but I've been VERY interactive lately!

like, hello?!
I started a FORUM on the main website and only TWO scout joined.
which is ME & SECKWEI.

AND SECKWEI ISN'T A 17PJ SCOUT ANYMORE.

gosh.
can't you guys be more supportive?!

I've been trying really hard to make this blog a 'thing' for you guys to visit / discuss about.

but only 4 has subscribed to our blog!
are those the only scouts left in our troop?!!

please,
be more supportive?
either for me, for scouts or for yourself.

GET INTERACTIVE DAMNIT !
or the blog is plain useless same goes to the main webpage!

did you know my application to submit our main webpage as a SCOUT website was REJECTED,
like R- E- J- E- C- T- E-D
because there's a lack of visitors and activity going on on the webpage?!

LIKE WE BLOODY GOT REJECTED FOR BEING AN OFFICIAL SCOUT WEBPAGE !!!

do you know how depressing that is?!!!

* breatheee. breathee.

okay sorry I highlighted and coloured so many words in red.
I use red a lot when I'm pissed, so yeah. :(

so, well, I don't know.
it's up to you lah.

I can't exactly force you all to be more active,
but show some effort, at least?
like contribute in our forum in the main webpage?

*sigh.

I don't know what else to say.

yours in scouting ,
melinda.

Meeting Canceled

The meeting on this Saturday (17/4/09) is canceled. Sorry for the late notice but this was only known today. Why? Well, apparently, the teachers won't be in school tomorrow, so yea. Sad news.

Ok, it's been like 3 months since I last posted a Science in Scouting thingie. Ok ok, here's something you can do while camping.

How to chill a drink while in camp?

Obviously, you can't bring fridge there, now can you? So, how to chill your drinks? Ok, this method may not chill your drink until like 4 degrees Celsius, but at least, it'll cool down your drink a bit.

What you do is, take your drink, and for it to work properly, it's best to use a metallic container (mass tin) to hold the drink, because you know right, metal conducts heat better than non-metals. Then, sprinkle the outside of the container with water.

Next, blow it until the water droplets outside the container evaporates. If you don't like using your lungs, just let nature do the job (hopefully, the campsite is windy). A few minutes later, the drink will cool down, but won't be as cold as the stuff chilled in a fridge. Still, it won't be warm right?

Then after that, cheers!

But, exactly how does it work?

That method is based on our body's natural cooling mechanism, perspiration. You see, when the water evaporates, it carries away with it the heat from the body, or in this case, the container. When the container is cooler than the liquid inside, it'll conduct heat from the liquid so that it'll be in equilibrium with the liquid. Nature is all about balance. So, from there, the liquid will cool down.

You can actually test this out right now! Lick your finger, then blow it. Doesn't your finger feel cooler? Yea, that's basically what we're trying to do, but instead of your finger, it's a metallic container.

Next tip:

OMG, no river! And no more water! What to do??

Don't panic, the ground may hold the key to solve your water crisis. If you don't mind digging the ground until you find a water spring, go ahead. But let's try another way, but this will be painstakingly long, so it won't be practical, and I don't really recommend it if you're in a desperate moment, unless you're really patient. This fact is just for your knowledge.

You see, there should be some water trapped in the earth. But how to extract water from mud?

Before I continue, I must let you know, I saw this from a TV show. I haven't really tested it, so I can't confirm that it'll work. Here goes:

You must have a sheet of plastic and a container. First, dig a hold in the ground.

Ok, the picture should be quite clear! Anyway, after that, put the container right in the middle. Then, lay a plastic sheet over the hole. Use stones to hold it in place so that it won't get blown away. Next, place a small stone on the plastic so that it's above the container. This is just to make the plastic curve downwards towards the cup so that whatever water that's caught on the plastic sheet will flow towards the cup.



Then, let the sun do its job. The sunlight will evaporate the humidity from the earth. Then the water vapour will condense on the plastic sheet. The condensed water droplets will flow down the curved sheet and drop into the container. The water caught in the cup should be pure because this is like distillation, unless, of course, your plastic sheet or your container isn't clean.

It's not recommended, though, to drink too much of really pure water because they lack essential minerals, and sometimes, very pure water is considered as "poison".

Seriously, this is not very practical. But if you really need water, and there are no other sources, this may help you. And, it'll be efficient if there's more surface to condense the water, ie, dig a wider hole (not deeper yea) and get a bigger plastic sheet and lay it over the hole.

So, have fun!

monkey bridge

                                     me(kerwiin) why is my butt facing the camera??
                                                  matthew leong
                                                phuay yee (sherly) hahahaha

Troop meeting 4/4/09

Wow troop meeting on the 4/4/09 was a super tiring wan ....... the juniors did monkey bridge ...(i will post pics soon i hope (:  ) a few of us stayed  back after troop meting to finish up the monkey bridge.. form 2 i think was me wei yao phuay yee sabrina cheryl xinjin .. apparently only me wei yao and phuay yee manage to stay all the way haha we walk across the bridge super fun well thats all ai ....

-kerwiin-

Scouts Meeting this Saturday, people!

There's gonna be an official meeting this Saturday (4/4/09) from 7.30am to 11.30am (the usual time lah). Will update this post if there are any more important details regarding this meeting. Nights!