We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

STEM

Science Fair Project Inspired by Merit Badges – What Keeps Food Cold the Longest?

by

My name is Russell and I am a tenth grade student. I’m a Life Scout with Troop 1577 in Herndon. My science fair project this year was inspired by Scouting and my project won second place for my school.

My project was about DIY refrigerants. I tested which materials keep food cold the longest.

I got this idea from working on my Cooking, Hiking and Backpacking merit badges. For those badges, we learn about keeping food safe when you are outside for a long period of time. While the safest option might be dehydrated foods, I like to eat non-dehydrated foods like cheese. I wanted to know which refrigerants might work best for the longest period of time.

For the experiment, I bought a wireless thermometer and put it in a Styrofoam cooler. I put different refrigerants in the cooler with the thermometer and monitored the temperature. It was important to use a wireless thermometer so I would not open the cooler and impact the temperature.

The refrigerants that I tested were:

  • 330 mL of water, 170 mL of rubbing alcohol, 125 mL of salt (the salt dissolved and did not increase the volume)
  • 500 mL of dish soap
  • Two plastic sponges in water with 500 mL of water
  • Commercial ice packs
  • Control = 500 mL water

I got the ideas for these refrigerants by reading blog articles by backpackers. I also researched the concept of “phase change,” meaning materials that release or absorb energy and provide useful heat or cooling.

What were the results? The frozen sponge refrigerant maintained the lowest temperature for the longest time, although the control (water) and commercial ice packs performed similarly.

However, for my next hiking trip, I won’t freeze sponges. I will just use frozen water. Then I can drink it and not have to carry sponges. But I definitely won’t bring commercial ice packs which add a lot of weight to my pack.

So when you work on these badges, you can show your merit badge counselors this information, and use frozen water to keep your food cold as well.

Eco STEM Sailing Adventure to USVI – summer 2022!

by

Are you ready to take your STEM interest out on the open seas? Are you interested in studying the marine environment in the crystal clear waters around the US Virgin Islands? Join STEM Lab 991 in St. Thomas this summer at Sea Base for a STEM-oriented sailing adventure! Spend a week on a sailboat with your fellow STEM Scouts, sailing the ocean and studying the science involved in doing so. You’ll be underway for a week on a sailing vessel or around St. Thomas, USVI, snorkeling the beautiful reefs near St. Thomas. You’ll also study astronomy, navigation, fish identification and coral reef ecology. This is a six-night, seven-day adventure. Registration for the 2022 STEM Laboratory 0991 – sponsored Sea Base Eco STEM Sailing adventure is now open, and spaces are limited, so don’t miss out!

Photo from: https://www.facebook.com/seabase.st.thomas/

DATES: Tuesday 07-26-2022 1:00 PM ET to
Monday 08-01-2022 10:00 AM ET

LOCATION: Sea Base – St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (USVI)

CREW SIZE: A Sea Base crew has a minimum of six and a maximum number of eight participants with at least two adults, and a majority of youth participants.

 

AGE REQUIREMENT: Every participant must be at least 13 years of age by their date of arrival at Sea Base. No exceptions can or will be made.

Photo from: https://www.facebook.com/seabase.st.thomas/

REGISTRATION & PAYMENT:

The total estimated cost for each participant is $1,655 to $1,700. This includes the Sea Base fee plus airfare, taxi, meals and tours. The trip cost consists of following items: Sea Base fee is $1025 for the ship, captain and food. Meals will be prepared by the scouts. Airfare from Ronald Regan, Washington National Airport (DCA) to Cyril E. King (STT) Airport is estimated to be $450-$550; round trip person taxi fare between the Sea Base Sapphire Beach Resort Marina is estimated to be $80 (the taxi cost each way is $40). Meals will be prepared by the scouts.

Payment Amount Due Date
Initial (deposit) $100 With request
Incremental $450* April 30, 2022
Final (estimate) $475 June 30, 2022

If interested to register, please contact Mark Gray, STEM 0991 Associate Lab Manager, at 78548b@Gmail.com. This trip is available on a first-come, first-served basis. All NCAC STEM Scouts who meet the Sea Base age, medical, weight, training and fitness requirements are welcome to participate!

There is one trip available for the STEM 0991 Laboratory which will include provisional crew members from other NCAC STEM units. Sign up for this this trip is “first come first serve” basis.

 

Training: 

Several STEM 0991 – sponsored training sessions will be held during the Spring 2022 timeframe. These will (tentatively) include sailing skills, snorkeling, and preliminary marine ecology studies. Attendance by the entire crew is required. STEM Scouts co-registered in a BSA Troop can earn Oceanography Merit Badge over the course of this trip if interested. Direct questions to Mark Gray, STEM 0991 Associate Lab Manager, at 78548b@Gmail.com or Burt Wagner, STEM 0991 Lab Manager, at bwagner3@gmail.com

Welding and Composite Materials

by

On April 23 and May 21, 2022, Building Momentum in Alexandria, VA will host Welding and Composite Materials merit badge sessions, packed with hands-on experiences. Each merit badge class is a half-day session. Scouts BSA (and friends, same age friends are invited to join too!) may elect to only attend one class, or both classes.

All of the classes balance instruction with hands-on shop time so the youth can gain practical experience with Welding and Composite Materials. In order to maximize their workshop experience and project time, youth are asked to come prepared with a few pre-requisites.

Welding Pre-requisites

  • Requirements: 1a-b
    o We recommend that scouts earn the First Aid MB in advance, but at a minimum, please come prepared to demonstrate first aid knowledge as it requires to Welding MB requirements 1a-b.
  • Requirement: 5a
    o One of the processes that scouts research should be MIG welding.

Composite Materials Pre-requisites

  • Requirement: 1a-c

For more detail about the event, please visit the event page and register here: https://scoutingevent.com/082-buildMoSTEM

 

Building Momentum is a problem-solving organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. Their Innovation Academy empowers youth and adults in 21st Century technology, to become a creative problem solver, and work in a hands-on environment! NCAC is thrilled to introduce our scouting merit badges with BuildMo!

Akela Chess Classic – Join the Tournament!

by

Take on the fun and challenge of playing chess!

After a brief hiatus in 2020, the NCAC BSA Chess Tournaments are back.

The tournaments will be held on Feb 5 & 12, 2022 at the Marriott Scout Service Center in Bethesda, MD.

Brackets

The Feb 5th Akela Chess Classic is a five-round chess tournament open to all Cub Scouts from Lions through Arrow of Light and STEM Scouts in Junior Labs.  Tournament play is in two brackets: Lions/Tigers/Wolves and Bears/Webelos/Arrow of Light/Junior STEM.

The Feb 12th Akela Chess Classic is a five-round chess tournament open to all Scouts BSA, Venturers, STEM Scouts in Technology Labs, and Sea Scouts from age 10 to 20. Tournament play is in three brackets: age 10-12, age 13-15, and age 16 and up.

Registrations

Cub Scout Tournament on Feb 5, 2022: https://scoutingevent.com/082-ChessCubs

SBSA Tournament on Feb 12, 2022: https://scoutingevent.com/082-ChessClassic

Background

In this video, NCAC BSA Tournament Director Roger Claff talks about the origin of the tournament in a broadcast with BSA’s Scouting Magazine! Life Scout KL also shares his tips for a game of chess – be sure to check it out!

Prior to the pandemic, the Chess tournament has been held at Trinity Church in Herndon, VA and at the Microsoft Technology Center in Reston, VA. Photos are from February 2020, pre-pandemic tournament. This year’s tournament will look different – following county guidelines, participants will be wearing masks.

To see more STEM events check out the NCAC STEM page.

Five PACK 1280 Scouts Complete NOVA WILD! Award

by

Congratulations to the five Pack 1280 Scouts who participated in the NOVA WILD! program in Fall 2021.

The Scouts kicked off their NOVA WILD! experience with a boat tour around Clopper Lake where they observed local wildlife and talked with a ranger. Next they learned about weather forecasting, food webs, and native vs. invasive species and shared what they learned during virtual check-in meetings.

The program closed with an in-person gathering where Scouts shared their final reports with the NOVA counselor and played a spirited game of EcoFlux.

Scout Inventors, with thanks to the USPTO!

by

This summer, the United States Patent & Trademark Office hosted a multi-day virtual event for over 150 Scouts BSA to earn the Inventing Merit Badge. In July, youth were welcomed to a virtual learning session by Elizabeth Dougherty, the Eastern Regional Outreach Director of the USPTO and David Gooder, the Commissioner for Trademarks at the USPTO and Eagle Scout.

Keynote presenters included National Inventor’s Hall of Fame Inductee Eric Fossum and multi-patent owner Rory Cooper, both of whom are Eagle Scouts.

Stephen Yanchuk, the Special Advisor to the Director of the EROO – USPTO, led a session on intellectual property and helped familiarize scouts with resources such as the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, USPTO’s virtual museum, and Google Patents.  A panel of inventors – Dr. Stanley Fricke, Anna Hopen and Mitchell Kempisty – moderated by Tomeka Oubichon of the EROO-USPTO then shared their stories of why they invent. Finally, scouts split into breakout rooms to brainstorm their own inventions. Each breakout was facilitated by a couple USPTO or industry Merit Badge Counselors who shared their expertise.

The nearly 2 dozen merit badge counselors continued to counsel the scouts through a multi-week expedition during which the scouts invented various objects. All of the inventions had to “solve a problem” to meet the Merit Badge requirement as well as the ‘usefulness’ criteria required to earn a patent. Several scouts demonstrated prototypes in a virtual inventing showcase,  some video clips of which are here.

 

In culmination of the event, scouts heard from another inventor, and BSA STEM Scout from Denver, Colorado, Gitanjali Rao. Gitanjali Rao was named the 2020 TIME Kid of the Year and had just recently received a patent for her device, lead contamination detecting device Tethys! You can watch the interview with STEM Scout Inventor Gitanjali on Facebook Live.

Our tremendous thank you goes to the many Inventing Merit Badge Counselors who made this learning session a reality. Over 100 Scouts BSA earned their Inventing Merit Badges with the tutelage of the USPTO’s summer events, and we are so grateful!

Above all, we thank the Eastern Regional Outreach Office of the USPTO for developing the infrastructure to counsel the Inventing Merit Badge and for encouraging youth inventors!