We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

Supernova

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!

NCAC Cub Scout earns all 13 Cubs’ STEM Awards!

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NCAC is pleased to announce a unique recognition for Caden Coffee who earned all the Nova & Supernova Awards available to Cub Scouts within BSA!

Caden Coffee is currently a fourth grader at BASIS Independent McLean and a Webelos in Pack 1344 of Patriot District. Caden earned his first Nova Award in early 2018, as a Wolf, and he has since then pursued every single Nova Award (11) & Supernova Award (2) that BSA currently offers to Cub Scouts.

Topping off Caden’s long and dedicated journey of STEM in Scouting, Caden remarkably finished the final requirements to the highest Cub Scout Supernova Award during social distancing lockdown (due to Covid-19).

The NCAC STEM Committee reviewed Caden’s application for the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award virtually. Dr. Arden Dougan, the NCAC STEM Committee Chair, recognized Caden in a virtual STEM@Home event and Caden’s father, Brett Coffee presented Caden with his Supernova medal.

During the virtual recognition ceremony, Caden mentioned that one of his most memorable projects was an experiment in which he had investigated how changing the shape and surface area of the Mentos dropped into a Coke bottle would affect the reaction. Caden shared the photos so you can see why; one of his experimental groups “2 Mentos” went almost 9 feet high!

Please join us in congratulating Caden Coffee for the rare feat of earning all the STEM Award in Cub Scouts; we can’t wait to see Caden’s continued pursuit of STEM!

To learn more about BSA’s Nova & Supernova Awards, click here.

Cub Scouts Receive Supernova Award During Pandemic

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A total of 28 NCAC Cub Scouts have earned a Supernova Award during these first months of Covid-19.

Congratulations to the 19 Bears and Wolves from 6 Districts who earned the Dr. Luis Alvarez Supernova Award, and congratulations to the 9 Webelos/AOLs from 4 Districts who earned the Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award!

While the requirements for each award are distinct, all of these Cubs had to earn at least one rank-specific adventure, learn about famous scientists, participate in a science experiment and connect with their teachers.

Supernova Awards are approved at the Council level, and must be earned under the guidance of a registered Supernova Mentor. A tremendous thank you to all of these Cub Scouts’ Supernova Mentors!

To see the requirements for the Cubs Supernova Awards, click here.

To learn more about BSA’s Nova & Supernova Awards, click here.

Four Pack 1500 Cub Scouts Earn the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award Electronically!

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Four Wolf Cub Scouts in Pack 1500 spent the year working not only on regular advancements and standard NOVA awards, but also striving towards the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award. Already a tough award to achieve due to the level of effort required, these Wolf Scouts were on the verge of completing their supernova requirements when suddenly COVID-19 happened and everything was locked down.

Undeterred, the Scouts (and their fearless mentor) started doing meetings over google hangouts in order to discuss and complete the requirements. Eventually, each scout finished up the grind of the supernova requirements.

Each parent of these Scouts had originally been working hard with their Scouts and collecting everything the Scouts had worked on in a binder to mail to NCAC. After NCAC closed, however, physical submissions were impossible and instead they were starting to be accepted via email. The brave supernova mentor went and picked up each of the binders on the door steps of the scouts houses and brought them back to his house.

After getting the binders, the supernova mentor (it’s too late to go into first person at this point) solicited help from his wife, a teacher and a den leader, to help convert the binders of information into an electronic package for the NCAC STEM committee.

After a lot of scanning, collation, and formatting, each Scout’s binder was converted into a google document that included links to all of the required material, photos/videos of all the activities, and all scanned hand written artifacts that the Scouts had produced. Once it was all collected, the supernova mentor emailed it to the NCAC supernova address and waited.

After a period of time it was announced that the four Scouts had been awarded the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award and that the STEM committee had considered the digital applications exceptional! Truely, the Scouts hard work and determination exemplified the Scout motto, “Do your best.”

I would like to thank the parents for their support in helping their Scouts and my wife for supporting us all when we were all trapped inside.

As a bonus, I have created an example of our supernova submission with the PII removed (although a few photos of my son remain). You can find it here.

Congratulations to David Cohen, Olivia Cohen, Zander Collins, and Whit Stallings on their achievement!

NCAC Eagle Scout Earns Dr. Bernard Harris Supernova Award

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Eagle Scout Tyler Schroder, of Troop 577 in Clifton, VA, has been awarded with the Dr. Bernard Harris Bronze Supernova Award. Schroder becomes one of less than twelve scouts in all of NCAC to have earned this award.

The Boy Scouts of America developed the STEM Nova Awards program to excite and expand a sense of wonder about STEM in scouts. By working with an adult counselor or mentor, the various modules allow scouts to explore the basic principles of STEM and discover the fun and fascinating world of STEM. There are three levels to the Supernova program: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Tyler Schroder is a junior at Centreville High School. He is a junior assistant scoutmaster to Troop 577, a member of Amangamek-Wipit Lodge, Order of the Arrow, and a member of Venture Crew 893.

Schroder’s Supernova journey started in 2019 with his mentor by working on three Nova activities. These covered topics such as programming, water conservation, and rocketry. He also earned merit badges touching on STEM topics such as composite materials. Earning the STEM merit badges is the first step toward earning this award as four STEM merit badges are required. To complete the requirements, Schroder helped teach Cub Scouts Can Code and hosted a lunchtime talk about the Supernova at the first NCAC STEM at home event.

What makes the Supernova program stand out from the regular Nova awards are the research requirements. A part of that requirement is the Supernova activities. These are deep dives into the four different STEM (Science, Technology, Mathematics, & Engineering) areas. Schroder chose Mathematics and Science for his two. When asked what his favorite activity was, “Mathematics was by far my favorite and proved to be a great area for a real-world experiment on voting methods”[1]. Schroder also participated in his regional science fair in engineering mechanics, and shadowed a Cybersecurity professional as part of this requirement.

Learn more about the Nova and Supernova awards program from Tyler himself at the NCAC Capital Camp-In on May 23rd.

[1] You can view a copy of Schroder’s Supernova report, A Paradox of Counting: Voting Methods and Fair Decisions, online at https://www.rts2.us/assets/SupernovaReport1.pdf.

Cub Scout Recognized for Achievement in STEM Activities

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A local Cub Scout, Marco J Martin of Pack 539 has earned the Alvarez Supernova.

“I wanted to do the Supernova because there were fun activities,” said Marco. “And I would learn a lot about mathematics, science and engineering.”

Marco entered into the Lion Pilot Program at Mt. Ennon Baptist Church located in Clinton, Maryland at the age of 5. He has gone through the ranks of Lion and Tiger, and is currently at the rank of Wolf. As a Tiger, Marco wanted to earn the Supernova, however, Tigers are not eligible to earn the Cub Scout Supernova award.

“I was not able to start the Supernova until this year when I became a Wolf,” said Marco. “I continued in Cub Scouts because it was fun and I have friends in Cub Scouts.”

The Cub Scout Supernova award recognizes superior achievement by a Cub Scout in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To earn the award, Marco learned about Dr. Luis Alvarez and other famous scientists, participated in a science project at school, visited a workplace where STEM technology is being used, and conducted an experiment of his own choosing. The requirements provide options for pursuit, and since Marco enjoys mathematics, he concentrated his efforts in that area.

Since 2014, 128 Cub Scouts have earned the Alvarez Supernova in NCAC. Less than 2500 Alvarez Supernova Awards have been earned Nationwide. Since 2018,  70 Supernova Awards from all ranks have been earned in NCAC.

Current NCAC records show that Marco is the first Cub to earn the Alvarez Supernova in the Patuxent District.

“When I was reading books or doing experiment I learned new stuff and it was fun. I thought it was going to be hard, but it was just a lot of work.”