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Adventure

Out of This World at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

February 6, 2023 by Debra DeRuyver

Fourteen Cub Scouts in Pack 1280, based in Potomac, Maryland, (http://cubscoutpack1280.org/) discovered the wonders of space exploration, enjoyed a special behind-the-scenes tour of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and earned their “Out of This World” Nova Award.

Scouts followed two tracks to achieve their Nova Award. Some began at Camp Goshen last summer, while others began at the Pack’s Fall campout. At the campout, Scouts participated in an interactive activity where each of them took on the roles of various celestial bodies to demonstrate the differences between rotation and revolution/orbit. Then, after this dizzying bit of engaged learning, the entire pack was invited to attend a star party to look for constellations and gaze through the telescope of NOVA coordinator Dan Tobocman.

“Unfortunately, because there is so much light pollution in the region, during the viewing party Scouts had a tough time picking out constellations. However, we had a great view of craters on the moon, four of Jupiter’s moons and the rings of Saturn,” Tobocman shared.

Tobocman then arranged for Jonn Van Eepoel, an aerospace engineer at NASA Goddard Flight Center, to meet the Scouts at Observatory Park in Gaithersburg to discuss gyroscopes and his work on the Osiris-Rex mission to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid. Scouts also shared their Mars rover or Moon base models and discussed the research on the wobble of the Earth that was conducted at Observatory Park starting over 100 years ago. This research still plays a role in the GPS in our smartphones today.

Van Eepoel, who has a Master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was so impressed with the questions that the Scouts posed to him that he reached out to invite the group to visit him at NASA Goddard over winter break for a special behind-the-scenes tour!

The Scouts eagerly accepted the invitation and arrived on campus the morning of December 27th. After gathering their badges and passing through security, Scouts observed the largest Class 10,000 clean room in the world, learned about the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, saw a giant vacuum chamber, and talked with one of Van Eepoel’s colleagues about Solar radiation. At the end of the behind-the-scenes tour, Scouts made their way to the visitor’s center and outdoor rocket garden.

Best of all, participating in the NOVA and taking the special behind-the-scenes tour planted seeds of curiosity in our Scouts regarding space science and space exploration!

Learn more about Pack 1280 at: https://cubscoutpack1280.org

Learn more about Nova Awards at: https://www.scouting.org/stem-nova-awards/awards/cub-scout/

Learn more about NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at: https://www.nasa.gov/goddard

Filed Under: Adventure

Winter Golfing

January 3, 2023 by Cheryl McBeth

It may be winter, but that didn’t stop Scouts from Dale City Troop 102 from working on the Golf Merit Badge! They had a great morning at Burke Lake Park working on their posture, grips, putting, driving and chipping.

Filed Under: Adventure

Explorers Staff 100th National Christmas Tree Lighting

December 24, 2022 by NCAC Exploring

The Montgomery County First Aid Unit, AKA Explorer Post 742, comprises of 50+ girl and boy Explorers who participate with Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad. The purpose of this Exploring First Aid Unit is to provide the youth of the surrounding area with the opportunity to learn about, and gain hands on experience in emergency care. The adult volunteer leaders of Wheaton provide training to the Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) level (the level just before EMT), as well as leadership and team work training.

The youth then provide standby first aid coverage to private and public events in Montgomery County, MD, Washington, DC and the surrounding metropolitan area. Most recently and notably, Exploring Post 742 staffed the 100th National Christmas Tree Lighting. This event took place on the Ellipse in President’s Park on November 30th.

There is a youth command structure in place, consisting of an Officer’s Committee made up of a Captain (the youth head of the group), one 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenants and Sergeants. The officers are responsible for planning meetings, trainings (both recruit training and ongoing refresher training), maintaining supplies and equipment, planning group activities and organizing staffing for standby events. The Captain is responsible for making sure all this work is completed and maintaining coordination and communication between the members of the Officer’s Committee, and the Unit’s adult advisors.

When the Unit sets up a first aid station at an event, the youth officers are in charge of the station and the care provided to the attendees of the event. While there is always an adult advisor present in the station, the officers handle station operations and treat the patients unless adult assistance is needed.

The events for which Explorer Post 742 provide coverage range from small 5K runs, to 50-4,000 person company picnics at Smokey Glen Farm in Gaithersburg, all the way to 250,000 – 1.8 million person events on the National Mall. Working with the National Park Service, we routinely provide coverage to the 4th of July festivities on the Mall, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the White House Easter Egg Roll, the National Christmas Tree Lighting and the Presidential Inaugurations.

All photos in this article belong to Montgomery County, Wheaton Volunteer Fire Department’s Post 742 and show past events and trainings of the Explorers. For more information about the Exploring Post, please see: The Montgomery County First Aid Unit, Explorer Post 742 | Facebook

Filed Under: Adventure Tagged With: Explorers, Exploring

Troop 1577 Explores Mallows Bay

November 18, 2022 by Carla Brown

 

In October, Troop 1577 went canoeing at Mallows Bay. This bay has a fascinating history as a “shipwreck graveyard.” Hundreds of ships were purposefully sunk here after World War I when they were no longer needed as transportation. Many of the wrecks broke up and bits floated away, but there are still some wrecks which you can tour by canoe or kayak at low tide. They are now covered with vegetation and provide wildlife habitat. But you can still see giant metal bolts and ship components embedded in the wood. There are also a few other wrecks including a car ferry called the Accomac which houses osprey nests, and an old Sea Scout wreck. It takes about 2 hours to view the site. It became the most recently created National Marine Fisheries Sanctuary in the nation in July 2019.

The troop camped at Cedarville State Forest about an hour away. There is a closer state park with youth group campsites called Smallwood (only 15 minutes away) but it is closed for renovations until 2023. In the evening, we had Dutch oven meals including monkey bread and played board games.

 

Filed Under: Adventure

Scouts Honor Veterans

November 18, 2022 by Russell Pittman

Each Veteran’s Day scouts from around the George Mason District place flags on Veteran’s graves at the National Memorial Park/King David Memorial Gardens in Falls Church, VA. This year the event drew over 300 people (Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Sea Scouts, Girl Scouts and Heritage Girls) who placed ~2,700 flags. Our thanks to Dignity Memorial for supporting this effort and proving food, drink and the flags.

Filed Under: Adventure

2023 National Jamboree

November 10, 2022 by Alexandria Keenan

SPACE STILL AVAILABLE FOR YOUTH CONTINGENT MEMBERS!

2023 National Jamboree Registration is on-going!

Sign up today for the 2023 Jamboree scheduled for July 19-28, 2023.
Registration is open on the National website at https://jamboree.scouting.org. The National Capital Area Council is sending up to 10 contingent units to Jamboree. Adult registration to attend as part of the Council contingent is now closed.

The early-bird pricing has ended, but registration has not. NCAC cost for Jamboree is $2125 per person and includes the Jamboree, transportation to and from Summit, patches, and more! Camperships are available for youth participants. The campership application is available on NCAC’s website.

Youth must be at least 12 years of age to attend; participants age 18-21 will attend as youth for this Jamboree. Participants will be assigned to a contingent unit the end of 2022. There will be a mandatory overnight event scheduled at Camp Snyder in June 2023. Contingent units will also meet prior to departing for Jamboree; details will be distributed by selected Scoutmasters.

Check out this video (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i8AErWKYa0sSnG0g5dEyrkZgHzs44A3H/view?usp=sharing) to see what Jamboree has in store for you.

More information, including payment schedule, and campership applications are available on the Council’s website at http://ncacbsa.org/jamboree. If you have any questions, please reach out to Alex Keenan at ADLKeenan@gmail.com or Bob MacKichan at robert.mackichan@hklaw.com. We look forward to seeing you at Jamboree next year!

Filed Under: Adventure

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