On Saturday, October 12, 2019 the Baltimore-Washington Chapter of the Health Physics Society, a professional society of radiation protection professionals, hosted a nuclear science merit badge program at the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities. Approximately 60 Scouts, 15 parents, and 30 technical volunteers attended this unique event.
Activities included, tours of a nuclear reactor and a cyclotron, building of cloud chambers to see radiation tracks, detecting radiation sources with survey meters. Also a virtual reality tour of the Chernobyl exclusion zone using Oculus Go glasses, radiation fundamentals lecture, M&M candy half-life and mouse trap reactor labs, donut breakfast, pizza lunch and more.
At the end of the day Scouts received a variety of giveaways donated by several federal agencies and non-profit groups including periodic tables, SI unit charts, rulers, NS Savannah DVDs, radiological emergency preparedness fact sheets, health physics career brochures, atomic fireball and nuclear fusion candy, and science themed pencils.
Please enjoy this video slideshow of photos from the day: https://youtu.be/ztdcLDLzDpY .
On the weekend of February 15-17th, Scout Troop 996 of Alexandria, VA chartered by Aldersgate United Methodist Church cabin camped at Shrine Mont for a day of fun at Bryce Ski Resort. The scouts had 1 full-day of skiing or snowboarding with a lesson in the morning. Those scouts who were very good skiers helped other scouts learn so that everyone could have a great time. Many of the participating scouts earned the snow sports merit badge after this trip.