We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

The Scouter Digest Staff

NATIONAL YO-YO DAY!

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Yo Cub Scouts!

Did you know that June 6th is National Yo-Yo Day? YOU DO NOW!

Did you also know that Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light Scouts have the chance to earn a unique Yo-Yo Preview Adventure? YOU DO NOW!

The first step for any activity is is learn the safety rules – To learn new tricks and play with a yo-yo:

  1. Only use a yo-yo in a safe area where there are no hazards or other people. You could draw a circle on the ground with chalk (if you are outside) or make a ring out of rope to keep the area around you clear.
  2. Before you throw, always make sure your yo-yo is attached to the string and the string is securely attached to your finger. We don’t want an loose yo-yos running away!
  3. Be careful not to hit anyone or anything with your yo-yo. Even thought a yo-yo is “just a toy” – A yo-yo can do some damage if it hits a person or objects around you.

Head over to the Yo-Yo adventure page on BSA’s website for the rest of the requirements and look for some tips and tricks posted to Patuxent District’s Facebook page throughout the day today!!

When you get good at a trick or learn something new, have your parent or guardian take a video and post it to the NCAC Facebook Page!

Be safe and have fun!

Sully District Scout Writes Article for STEM Publication

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Kyle Hogan, the senior patrol leader of Troop 1547 in the Sully District, recently wrote an article for a new publication, SIGNAL Kids. He interviewed a cybersecurity expert for the magazine, which focuses on STEM topics for kids ages 8-12.

Kyle, who is a sophomore at Westfield High School and started his Scouting journey as a Tiger in first grade, spoke with Dr. Gil Duvall, president and CEO, Data Security Strategies, about his decision—at age 14—to work for NASA and how he made that dream into a reality.

“Writing an article about kids going into STEM careers was very enlightening. I learned a lot about the past of the STEM field, as well as indicators of the future and the state of the present,” Kyle said. “He talked about how following his dream of working for NASA led him to where he was today, and he serves as a very positive example of someone being dedicated to their craft in STEM and achieving wonders through it.”

Duvall also offered Kyle, who is interested in a career in cybersecurity and computer science, some career advice.

“Talking with Dr. Duvall was incredibly helpful. He gave advice for students going into STEM careers in terms of academic classes and extracurricular activities that were extraordinarily in-depth, which was helpful for the article and as well as for myself personally, as I plan on going into a STEM career,” Kyle said.

In the interest of full disclosure, Kyle’s mom works for AFCEA and SIGNAL Magazine, which published SIGNAL Kids. His mom’s colleagues were impressed with Kyle’s writing ability and expressed sadness that they had to cut out several words and make changes to the article to make it more readable for younger kids.

In SIGNAL Kids, a robot named Link and his sidekick Obo, which stands for “off by one,” guide readers through the publication. Topics of articles include the Internet of everyday things and how to stay safe online. One story refers to Star Wars lightsabers and lightning to explain how researchers found a way to help protect systems from hackers.

Check out Dr. Duvall’s and Kyle conversation below.

Go to url.afcea.org/SIGNALforKids to read the digital version of SIGNAL Kids.

Year-long Effort for Six Pack 1967 Cub Scouts Pays off with Supernova Awards!

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Five Wolf Cub Scouts in Pack 1967 and one Webelos Scout worked all year to earn the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Cub Scout Supernova Award and the Dr. Charles H. Townes Webelos Supernova Award.

All six Scouts began their work on the award in July 2019, by learning that science, technology, engineering and math are an important part of almost every career. While the Scouts could have visited someone who works in a traditional STEM-based career, they met Mr. Kirkland, the manager of the Fairfax Duck Donuts, and learned that there was far more STEM involved in making doughnuts than they ever thought. And they learned that science can be delicious.

In August, they learned about the scientific method by testing which soda and configuration of Mentos would result in the tallest soda geyser using 2-liter bottles. The Wolves conducted a little research before the meeting and learned that diet sodas produced the tallest geysers. The Wolves designed their experiment to control as many variables as possible and tested 12 different diet sodas using six Mentos for each trial. The Wolves’ measuring stick was 10 feet tall, but for many of the geysers, that was not nearly enough. Both Diet Ginger Ale and Diet Tonic water had geysers estimated at 20 to 25 feet tall!

For the Dr. Charles H. Townes Webelos Supernova Award, Scouts must not only lead an experiment using the scientific method, but write a short report on their experiment. The Webelos Scout designed an experiment to calculate the density of, and then test whether, various types of soda cans would float or sink in a bucket of a mystery solution (mostly water). Noting that sinking cans were denser than the solution and floating cans were less dense than the solution, he was able to determine an upper and lower bound for the density of the solution.

Throughout the year, these six Scouts worked on their normal rank adventures and somehow also found time to research the award namesakes although with other scientists and inventors who impacted our lives by studying dinosaurs, inventing the printing press, studying chimpanzees, inventing the alternating current motor, inventing a robot, and inventing Coca-Cola.

The five Wolf Scouts completed the requirements for their Supernova Award on March 12 by visiting SunTrust bank and learning about interest. The used their new knowledge of interest to calculate sums using the current interest rate and a more math-friendly rate. While touring the bank, the Scouts’ parents received the email from NCAC announcing the cancellation of all in-person Council and District Scouting events starting on March 13. The Wolves literally finished the requirements for the award less than 24 hours before activities were suspended. Talk about timing!

And, as if completing the Supernova Awards were not enough for these six Scouts, during the course of the year, each of them completed at least two additional Nova awards for a grand total of 16 awards between the six of them!

Congratulations to Joseph Crowley, Henrik Mann, Henry Speidell, Brennan Goetz, Holden Riley, and Cormac Mann on their achievement!

Pack 278’s First Supernova Award in Over 60 Years of Chartered Existence

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Finn H., a Bear with Pack 278, spent the year working towards earning the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award. The Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award is an achievement for Wolf and Bear Scouts in the Cub Scouts, BSA. Over the course of a year, Finn worked with his Supernova Mentor, Clare Davis, to complete nine different requirements in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Pack 278 is located in Braddock Heights, Maryland and has been chartered with the Braddock Heights Volunteer Fire Department for over 60 years. Finn H. is the first Scout in the history of the Pack to earn this award.

In July of 2019, Finn began the journey by completing his first requirement; visit with someone who works in a STEM-related Career. Finn’s grandfather, an Eagle Scout, is an oceanographer who works for the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Eric Powell has been in the field of oceanography/marine biology for the past 34 years studying shellfish and oyster restoration. Finn interviewed Dr. Powell to learn what he enjoyed most about his work. Dr. Powell’s favorite parts of the job were learning new things that were not known before and computer programming.

Learning about influential people in the STEM fields is a large part of the process in earning the Supernova Award. Along with learning about Dr. Luis W. Alvarez himself, Finn had to choose three other famous scientists, technology innovators, engineers, or mathematicians. Finn chose to investigate the lives of Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, and Josef Kates. Upon learning about these men, Finn learned that they had many similarities in their lives. All had a curious streak as children that would occasionally get them into trouble but ultimately drove them to excellence in their careers.

Throughout the year, Finn completed Bear electives investigating different science fields. During the Forensic Adventure, Finn learned about fingerprints and chromatography. The highlight of this adventure was watching a Police K-9 dog conduct a working track. During the Make It Move Adventure, Finn learned about the physics behind simple machines and created a Rube Goldberg-type machine with the help of his den.

With only two requirements left to complete, the COVID-19 lockdown threatened Finn’s successful completion of the Supernova Award. Finn completed a science experiment investigating how solar ovens work and planned on presenting it in the Annual Frederick County Public School Science Fair in April. Due to the lockdown, Finn’s mother had to record his presentation from home and send it to his Mentor. Finn’s last requirement was to participate in a NOVA Award activity with his Pack. Finn joined several Scouts from his pack and a Scout from Pack 651 in Adamstown to complete the Up and Away Nova over Zoom.

Without the dedication of Finn’s Supernova Mentor and Pack Leaders, Finn would have had difficulty finishing this award during regular times. As Finn’s mother, and fellow STEM enthusiast, I would like to thank all those that helped Finn complete and earn the achievement. He is already excited to start again this summer on the next one, the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award!

Crew 1785 Conducts Drive-thru Scouting for Food Drive

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On Saturday morning, May 30th, Venturing Crew 1785 of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mechanicsville, MD conducted a drive-thru food drive to benefit a community food pantry. Crew members advertised the food drive in their own neighborhoods and individually set up tables or bins roadside in their yard or community open space for members of the community to drive up and drop off their donations while maintaining physical separation.

The crew also ran a drive-thru drop off station in the parking lot of their charter organization with one Venturer and adult family member at a time rotating to supervise the drop offs there. The sum of everyone’s individually coordinated effort was 721 pounds of food and $45 cash donation were collected to help our local food pantry respond to the increased demand resulting from our current public health situation.