We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Supernova

Pack 278 Celebrates First Townes Supernova in 70 Years

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As Pack 278 enters its 70th year as a chartered BSA Pack serving boys and girls in the FSK District, leaders are excited to award it’s first Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova to an Arrow of Light Scout, Finn H. The Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova honors Dr. Townes’ many achievements. While working on the Townes Supernova, Finn was given the challenge to research 5 different scientists and engineers. Finn chose to research Ralph Baer, Jane Goodall, Katherine Johnson and Alan Turing. He found they had similarities to Townes and his ability to believe in himself despite others telling him his ideas would never work. The fifth innovator Finn researched was Walt Disney. Walt Disney believed that if you could dream it then it was possible. Throughout his life, Disney pushed the boundaries of what was possible by inventing a multi-plane camera to create the first full-length animated motion picture, Snow White. Walt Disney inspired his Imagineers to combine their imagination with technology to create incredibly life-like animatronics and innovative theme park rides. Like Disney, Supernova Mentors strive to inspire youth to believe in themselves and push the boundaries.

Finn’s parents would say that Finn has an overabundance of imagination. That imagination routinely materializes through Lego creations and occasionally scotch tape. While working on the Townes Supernova, Finn interviewed John Morin, a mechanical engineer responsible for designing and building the equipment and hardware that attaches rockets to the launch pad on the Northrup Grumman’s Antares and Omega programs. Finn continued to investigate his interest in engineering while completing other Townes Supernova requirements. Finn designed and built a birdhouse out of PVC drainage pipe. He spoke with his den leader, Adam Fogle, about the importance of angles when building and discussed why a tool that looks like a triangle is called a square. He completed a science experiment to better understand the structural design of bridges. He tested how different shapes like triangles, squares, and trapezoids can add to their strength. Finn has proven through his hard work over the past 18 months that he has potential as a future engineer if he continues to believe in himself and his imagination. Finn will continue Scouting with Troop 1066 in Jefferson, Maryland.

Supernova Awardee Cub Scout Speaks at MD Senate Committee

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Cody W. of Troop 793 of Lexington Park, Maryland, is an exceptional Cub Scout who achieved his AOL as well as the Dr. Charles Townes Supernova Award. The Dr. Townes Supernova is the highest STEM Award in Cub Scouting, and Cody was one of only 45 Cubs in NCAC to earn it in 2021. On February 24, 2022, Cody read his testimony, part of his award-winning essay and personal testimony, to the Maryland Senate Committee in Annapolis.

After testifying, Senator Reilly personally talked to Cody, gave him a challenge coin and his business card, and told Cody that he would help him achieve his Citizenship Merit Badge. The legislators were amazed by the kids’ testifying and exercising their citizens’ rights and civic duty. While there, Cody and his mother Prescy met many Eagle Scout moms and dads, which was very exciting. Some shared with Cody inspirational experiences of their journey in Scouting, and some shared their children’s Scouting achievements.

Cody went to the event with his short testimony yet desire to be a good citizen; then, he came home with so much more than he expected. His words were, “Mom, this is the best experience I have ever had so far. I love Scouting. I am proud of my uniform. I love to perform my duty as a citizen. Thank you!” Prescy W. said, “As a mom, I am beyond grateful how Scouting helped Cody so much! Scouting has been a blessing to him.”

 

 

 

 

Super – Supernova cohort: Pack 104 adds 4 more Supernovas

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Congratulations to Pack 104 Webelos Sam Boyce, Reagan Lester, Ryan Parks, and Julian Price, on earning the Dr. Charles H Townes SuperNova award. After working on some Nova awards earlier in the year, Webelos from Pack 104 reached out to their counselor to start work on the Super Nova Award. In January, the four scouts began their scientific journey meeting both online and via Zoom with their counselor and guest speakers.

Along their journey the boys discussed scientific inquiry with their families, counselor, as well as Coach Micaela Pond, Gifted Services teacher at Key Immersion school in Arlington, Dr. Adela Roa-Varon, of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, as well as other scouters in scientific fields.

Highlights from their journey included making personal flashlight with a switch out of household materials, experimenting with exploding soda and mints and other household materials, planting and caring for a personal terrarium, geocaching, and personal research into varied scientific subjects.

The culmination of their hard work was presented to the Pack via a Super Science Zoom where their personal experiments were shared via video. Final projects included study the light effect on crystal growth (Ryan), cloud formation and condensation in a controlled environment (Julian), reaction of egg and vinegar/how long to dissolve the shell (Reagan), and studying the factors that affect the function of homemade black powder (Sam). Each experiment left our young scouts with further questions to explore, and made for a wonderful show.

These newest SuperNova recipients bring the Packs total to 5 with Jacob Nadherny now with T167 being the first to complete the award in 2020.

A Stellar Performance for a Supernova Award Winner

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It is AOL crossover season once again, and this year the National Capital Area Council’s very own Pack 698 in Burke, VA had one Arrow of Light Scout who became the first ever Cub Scout in his Pack to receive the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award. Lian Flinner is a fifth grader at White Oaks Elementary School and has been in Cub Scouts since he was old enough to join. As a Tiger Scout, he was always interested in building Legos like most children, but his interest grew as the years went on. He started to become curious about electronics, computers, and eventually robotics. As he neared the end of his Cub Scout journey, he decided to put his skills to the test during his final months in Pack 698. He chose to complete the challenging Supernova Award for the Webelos rank with less than a month to spare. While navigating a pandemic that challenged his ability to complete the requirements, he successfully completed his goal, and on May 1, 2021, he was awarded the medal alongside his fellow AOL Cub Scouts, who all received the Down and Dirty Nova Award.

While working together with his mentor, Neal Erickson (Cubmaster for Pack 698), Lian learned about famous scientists including Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Stephen Hawking; performed at-home experiments with his Dad (safely!); and discussed the method of creating a hypothesis and how to apply it to the scientific method in order to complete his main project. Lian’s first experiment involved growing crystals at home formed by two different compounds: magnesium sulfate and aluminum potassium sulfate. He watched them grow in different environments for several weeks and analyzed the growth patterns as well as the shapes they transformed into. He also included sugar as a part of the experiment and was able to make some tasty at-home rock candy!

The main project Lian completed was his “Arduino Car Experiment” for which Lian decided to use his Arduino UNO kit, a microcontroller board designed to take programming enthusiasts to the next level of computer programming and electrical engineering. With the kit, he built and programmed a speed tracker for three of his favorite Hot Wheels cars, which he happily mentions in his final report as being three out of more than one hundred cars that he owns! He measured the weight of each car and then tracked their changes in speed at different angles. Once the experiment was complete, he determined the winning car, analyzed the results, and investigated what could be done differently to make the experiment better the next time. After completing the whole project, Lian thought about how this could be applied to activities like the Pinewood Derby to help measure the speed of every scout’s car and perhaps introduce a new award for the derby that could connect packs across the NCAC: the fastest pinewood derby car based on an actual calculated speed. He looks forward to using his kit and the scientific method in the future to test new projects and perhaps even build his own robot. Speaking of which, he has already been eyeing the robotics merit badge in Boy Scouts.

The Supernova Award was a significant accomplishment for Lian. Along the way to achieving this award, he came across two powerful quotations from an inventor he now admires, Thomas Edison. The first quote is “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” The second is “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” The crux of these two quotes are time and effort, both of which Lian demonstrated good use of to successfully complete the Supernova award. As Lian becomes a supernova of his own, we can only look forward to his next stellar performance. Congratulations, Lian!

 

Star Scout Completes Bernard Harris SUPERNOVA Award!

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My name is Titus Er from Troop 20, in Oak Hill Virginia. From the NCAC BSA council, I am a Star Scout, currently working to achieve Life rank, and a 7th grader at Rachel Carson Middle School. I completed the SUPERNOVA Bernard Harris Award on July 2nd, 2020. In order to receive this award, I completed NOVA Whoosh, Shoot, Splash, and watched a total of 9 hours of STEM related videos (which was quite difficult!).

I have to admit that I am not a huge STEM fan, so these requirements were especially difficult for me. Each NOVA award takes roughly around 4-6 hours including the 3 hours of videos. I had to glean information from the videos, watch very carefully, analyze the information and take notes on it. This requires 100% concentration which was challenging for me, because I wasn’t necessarily always interested in the topic, although many videos were interesting.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have a huge advantage because of the amount of time I have to watch videos and complete the requirements for the NOVA. During a school week, I don’t have the time to complete as many requirements, because I am busy with school, sports, practicing instruments, and homework. Since there is a pandemic and school’s out, and most activities shut down, I was able to work with my mentor virtually to discuss the requirements.

My first NOVA award was Shoot. I completed it on April 23rd, 2020. It was a challenging NOVA, because space was a topic I rarely researched before. One of the requirements stated to research a satellite in your area and take a look at it in space. My Dad and I stood outside when it was freezing for 15-30 minutes! We saw two lights in the sky, and were determining which one was the right satellite. When we finally truly saw the satellite, it was very small from afar. It was truly a great experience doing this NOVA.

My second NOVA was Whoosh completed on June 1st, and at first I thought that the NOVA was about wind! I found out that it wasn’t, but I learned so much from it. During Elementary School, I learned a lot about simple machines, but doing this NOVA award took it to a whole new level. I discovered energy and how energy works in different simple machines, and I looked at ordinary places such as playgrounds and saw how simple machines were involved. It was a fascinating topic, because I realized now that energy is moving everywhere! I will never regret doing this NOVA.

My third NOVA, and last required NOVA was Splash completed on June 9th. This was a NOVA award I was certainly looking forward to. After doing this NOVA award, I was very aware of the long and relaxed showers I was taking and made sure to cut them by half. I learned that water is essential in everyday life. We simply cannot live without it, and I became aware that drinking water is not the only thing vital to our survival. After looking at the crazy amount of water that my family was using, I decided we had to change. I am very glad that this NOVA award has changed my mindset about water, and forever will.
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In addition to completing NOVA awards, the scout has to complete the requirements in the SUPERNOVA itself. One of the requirements is earning the Scholarship Merit Badge. At first, I thought that this merit badge was going to get me into a college for free, although that is not true. I did certainly learn from it though. One of the big challenges for me was contacting my Principal and asking for a letter about my good behavior, leadership, and service. I was nervous about this because I seldom talked to my Principal, and I was afraid of what she would say. In the end I got a great response.

Another challenging requirement was conducting an experiment for a Cub Scout Den. This was difficult for me, because I did not know a lot of experiments and did not participate in many experiments. I was quite good at magic, so I decided to incorporate magic into my experiment. I had to do some research about my specific magic trick, and I figured out that every magic trick has scientific reasoning. In addition, because of COVID I had to do it virtually. I honed my communication skills, because I had to look at the camera and not my experiment. In the end, I was very satisfied with my experiment, because I figured out how to incorporate science into my life in a very fun way for me.

I also learned about the Scientific Method, and as I researched a topic, I had to figure out the two competing theories about the topic. I also had to figure out which theory I thought was more accurate and had more facts. On top of that, I had to make a slideshow for my mentor and analyze the controversies and competing theories of each topic. I have never really researched a single topic, and analyzed two theories so this was a new challenge to me. I enjoy researching, so this was a great experience for me. I am sure this activity will help me do better in my studies and I hope that I will use the Scientific Method my whole life.

Overall I enjoyed this Bernard Harris SUPERNOVA award, and I think that it will help me in my studies throughout my life. It will help me get a much better understanding of STEM, and will allow me to better appreciate science. After accomplishing this SUPERNOVA award, I feel like I have grown in my understanding of STEM.

For all scouts out there, I highly recommend doing NOVA and SUPERNOVA awards, because it really enhances your knowledge, from Science, Technology, Engineering, to Mathematics, and helps you get a much better understanding of the world and how it functions. It may be a challenging journey, but it is definitely worth your time. After completing the Bernard Harris SUPERNOVA, you will feel a deep sense of satisfaction inside your mind. Whenever you see the medal, you will know that you worked hard for the award. These are STEM topics that will help you in different aspects of life.

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!