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One Webelos Scout from Pack 1967 recently earned the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award, thus completing his achievement of earning all Nova awards (11) and Supernova Awards (2) available at the Cub Scout level.

Henrik M. of Den 4, Pack 1967, began his Cub Scouts STEM journey by earning the Nova Swing award (#1) in the spring of 2019. His den has finished all the Tiger adventures and began working on a Nova award at the end of the school year. Later on in his Wolf year, Henrik earned the Nova Tech Talk award (#2) by learning about different types of technology and that technology was all around them. He completed the award in December 2019 and visited the Area 9-Division 7 Office of the Virginia State Police to see a place where technology was used.

Henrik completed the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Cub Scout Supernova Award in March 2020. To earn the award, he visited Duck donuts to learn about the science that goes into making donuts, conducted an experiment using the scientific method (testing mentos in soda; diet ginger ale worked the best), and researched Dr. Alvarez and three other scientists: Nikola Tesla, Willard Libby (inventor of radiocarbon dating) and Dr. Louis J. Camati (the first veterinarian in the United States with a practice dedicated just to cats). Henrik completed the requirements for the award by visiting bank to learn about compound interest on March 12, 2020.

While he was touring Sun Trust, parents across the National Capital Area Council received the email that in-person Scouting activities was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But that did not slow Henrik down. Scouts in his pack were encouraged to put the outing in Scouting, even if it was only with their families. In April 2020, Henrik completed the Down and Dirty Nova award (#3) , learning about geology and ecosystems and visiting the park near his home to find and classify rocks.

In the summer of 2020, Pack 1967 created the Summer Adventure Club (SAC) that allowed Scouts to meet virtually to keep Scouting going and to earn a few Nova awards. In July, Henrik completed the 1-2-3 Go Nova award (#4) , learning about the math behind secret codes and how to create empirical probability distributions to make inferences. He and his fellow Scouts counted and graphed the number of m&m’s by color and used that to determine which factory their m&m’s were made (they were made in Cleveland, TN). In August, the SAC completed the Cubs Can Code (#5) and Uncovering the Past (#6) Nova award. For the Cubs Can Code award, Henrik learned the basics of computer programming and programmed a path used in Minecraft. Through the Uncovering the Past award, he learned about archeology and completed a dig.

As a Bear Scout, Henrik earned the Out of this World Nova award (#7) in January 2021. For this award, he learned about astronomy and constellations, and took a virtual field trip to a college planetarium. In March 0f 2021, he earned the Up and Away Nova award (#8), learning about fluid dynamics. For this award, he conducted an experiment about terminal velocity, measuring the speed that steel ball bearings fell through air, water, and corn syrup. In May 2021, he earned the Nova Wild award (#9), learning about food webs and invasive species. For this award, Henrik and his den visited Bear’s Den in Bluemont, VA, hiked the Appalachian Trail, and observed wildlife.

In the summer of 2021, the SAC returned and through it, Henrik earned the Fearful Symmetry Nova Award (#10). For this award, he learned about different lines of symmetry, how symmetry exists in nature, music, and art, and how symmetry can translate into strength for various crystalline structures.

In August and September 2021, Henrik completed the Science Everywhere Nova Award (#11), earning the final Nova award.  For this award, he learned more about the scientific method, and visited Luck Stone quarry in Manassas, VA, to learn about the science that goes into blasting.  His pack was lucky enough to meet with two of the blasters from Luck Stone and to watch a blasting!

Starting as a Webelos Scout in June 2021, Henrik began work on Cub Scouts’ most challenging STEM award, the Dr. Charles H. Townes Webelos Supernova Award.   This award is similar to the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez award but involves more detailed and more challenging requirements.  In addition to completing various STEM requirements, Henrik completed the Adventures in Science, Engineer, Build It, First Responder, Into the Woods and Into the Wild Webelos adventures for the award.  In June 2020, Henrik’s den learned how to wire simple circuits with a battery, LED lights and a switch.  They wired circuits both in series and in parallel and tested the differences in the lights that resulted.  Also in June, Henrik and his den visited Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers and met with the General Manager to learn how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics were used extensively in the frozen custard-making process.

In July 2021, Henrik met with representatives from Fairfax County and Sagres Construction as he and his den toured an active construction site.  Scouts and parents wore personal protective equipment including hardhats and safety vests as they toured the Burke Virginia Railway Express Connector site.  They learned about the geology that goes into a construction project, including how geology impacts where sites are built, what materials that are used, and how those materials can influence the way in which water run-off is directed.

As with the Cub Scout Supernova award, the Webelos award requires a Scout to research scientists.  But for the Webelos award, a Scout must research Dr. Townes and five other scientists or inventors.   For his five, Henrik chose William Higinbotham (the inventor of the first video game), Adolph Rickenbacher (one of the inventors of the electric guitar), David Baszucki (creator of Roblox), Satoshi Tajiri (creator of Pokémon), and Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone).

Henrik completed the Webelos Supernova Award by conducting a science experiment using the scientific method and writing a short report about the results.  He and his den conducted an experiment to test which soda cans would sink or float in a mystery solution, and then using the results of the experiment to calculate an upper and lower bound for the density of the solution.

Congratulations to Henrik Mann on an accomplishment three years in the making!  Pack 1967 is proud to have such an accomplished Scout in its ranks, and looks forward to more junior mathematicians, engineers and scientists in Scouting!