Cub Scouts Fun: Popcorn Bag Tower Competition

I have been in scouts for a long time.  Those years have included my time as a cubscout, a boyscout, a parent, an assistant den leadear, and a den leader.    My time in scouts has inspired me to teach kids along with my own two boys what scouts taught me.  There are so many great ideals embedded within this program as well as the fact it gets my kids outdoors to take in the beauty of our Earth.  The one things that remains constant is that scouts relies on volunteers and when needs arise I have been happy to help where I can.  So this was the first year I have put on the Cubmaster hat.

Now if there are other Cubmasters out there, I am guessing you felt as lost as I did when trying to understand what we are supposed to do.   Yeah the 3 hours!! of online training might have helped a tiny bit (at least for my style of learning) and the retiring scoutmaster was and still is an unbelievable mentor.  So once I jumped in and also learned more from the den leaders, the assistant cubmaster, and others who have been in scouts the role started to become a little more comfortable.

One of the roles of the Cubmaster is to lead the Pack meeting.  The Pack meeting is where everyone from the entire pack gets together once a month.   During this meeting, our Pack 200 of 40-60 boys, their parents and all the scout leaders get together in the gymnasium of the First United Methodist Church in Cary, NC.   Here is where we celebrates achievements together across our dens which have boys in the age range of 1st to 5th grade.

I think the Pack meeting is one of the biggest challenges of being a Cubmaster because it is not always easy to hold the attention of this many boys across that age gap.   I have to say the scouting program is full of resources and they even have plans for each pack meeting of the year.  I personally do not always find every plans to fit my personal style, but there are definately pieces of them that I find useful. 

This link is a library of all the plans.  Even if you are not into scouts, but work with kids then you may find some nuggets here:  https://www.scouting.org/programs/cub-scouts/pack-meeting-resources/pack-meeting-plans/

There are also lots of resources on the web from other packs since these meetings have been going on for years and years across the country.  Since I am grabbing information from so many people and resources, I wanted to give back a little and share too.

The last pack meeting I ran was the kickoff meeting for the year.  It is also a tough one because it is a time we share information for our one and only fundraiser of popcorn sales.  So how do you couple popcorn selling information with some fun for the boys?  The answer was having a compitition between the dens to see who could build the tallest tower out of theater popcorn bags.  For this activity you only needed two supplies

1.  Popcorn bags - 25 per den of 5-8 boys
2.  One roll of  yellow masking tape for each den - Represents the butter for your popcorn


I found the popcorn bags on amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I0A9GV0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The objective is to use the bags and tape in anyway you want to build a self standing tower.  The only rule was the tower had to start on the ground, had to be stand by itself, and only the bags and tape could be used.  We gave the dens 15 minutes to work on the activity before seeing which den had the highest tower.

This activity turned out pretty well.  I was not sure how it would turn out but the kids, the den leaders and some of the parents really got into it.  If you ever need a popcorn theme activity or if you just need to have a fun teambuilding activity try this one out.

Enjoy!

Scouting: Making fire without matches

I recently went camping with the cub scouts and one of their requirements was to start fire without matches.  I had to brush up on my knowledge to make sure I could even start a fire without matches.   Flint and steel in my opinion is the easiest way to get a spark and thus a fire if matches or a lighter are not a possibility.   Modern "flint" that is an alloy is actually a little better than real flint and is found anywhere that sells camping gear.

Artificial flint

The spark is the easy part; getting the spark to turn into a fire is the hard part.  That is where the "tinder" becomes important.  There are three tinder's that I wanted to show the boys that can easily go into your survival pack.  You can always make a tinder nest out of pine straw, leaves, dry grass, etc., but carrying these can things much easier.

1.  Cotton Balls
2.  Steel Wool
3.  Char Cloth

Cotton Balls

I think this cotton balls are probably the easiest to find and use. Just fluff the cotton ball up real good and throw a spark on it.  To make it even easier, rub petroleum jelly on the cotton ball.  A small tube of the petroleum jelly is easy to carry in a backpack, but if you don't have it a cotton ball all by itself will do just fine.

Fluff the cotton ball (on the right)

Get a spark on the cotton

Steel Wool

Steel Wool is amazing stuff because once a spark catches hold of it, the entire thing of steel wool will turn into one big ball of hot metal.  Steel wool comes in different types from course to fine.   Use super fine steel wool for the easiest path to a fire.  Small fibers of steel wool will break off and give you a splinter so be careful.  However, the advantage is even if your steel wool gets wet just ring it out and it can still be used as a fire starter.

Use super fine steel wool when possible

Get a spark on the steel wool

Blow gently to really make the wool get hot

Char Cloth

This is one my dad showed me when I was a kid.  I had to look up how to make it again.   If you have an old cotton t-shirt just cut it up into squares.  Throw the squares of cloth into a metal tin.  An old Altoids candy tin or similar container works well.  I used a small evaporated milk can.  A soup can or any metal can would work.  Remember to remove the paper label.  If you have a tin with a lid place a small hole in the lid.  If you have a soup can then place aluminum foil as tight as possible over the top and poke a small hole on the top of the aluminum foil.  Now just place the can on heat.   A bed of coals from a fire works the best, but other hear sources will work fine.  I made some of the grill.  I had to place the can directly on the burner shield instead of the grill grate so I could get it hot enough.   After 10 minutes or so a billowing column of smoke will start to come out of the hole.  When the smoke stops coming out the container then you are done.  You will be left with charcloth, a slow burning fuel.  It is now a blackened material that can easily catch a spark.  Throw a spark on the cloth and then you can lightly blow on the cloth to make the spark spread and eventually get your fire going.

Closed metal tin with a lid (add a hole to the lid)

Charcloth

Gently blow to make the cloth get hotter

Once you get one of these tinder types lit with a spark, the rest is just building up bigger and bigger twigs until you get fire.  So next time you you forget your lighter, don't worry.  If you can make a spark, then you can make fire.

Spark onto steel wool = FIRE

Girls Scouts: I love those GMO cookies

I work at Bayer CropScience and as you might expect we talk about GMOs and public acceptance quite a lot.  I get a lot of ideas from interactions I have with the friends, family and even strangers when the topic of GMOs come up, but my colleagues at work feed me a lot of ideas too.  It was just the other day that we were talking about GMOs at work when someone brought up the girl scouts.

I love scouting.  It is a wonderful program designed to teach kids valuable skills and develop them into leaders.  I have two boys that actively participate in cub scouts and I have enjoyed being a den leader as well as going through the ranks of boy scouts when I was a kid.  However I have not had much experience with girl scouts.  I have a daughter, but she is still too little to be involved.  That does not keep me from buying the infamous girl scout cookies when they come knocking on the door.

http://www.abcsmartcookies.com/thin-mints

So what do GMOs and the Girl Scouts have in common?  Well, my respect for the organization grew even more when I started fact checking the connection myself.  The truth is those girl scout cookies that I love so much are made with GMO ingredients and the Girl Scouts have not changed that stance even with pressure to do so.

The cookies use GMO ingredients but there has been plenty of pressure to switch to all non-GMO ingredients.  A petition was started in 2013 by a girl scout to get the Girl Scout organization to stop using GMO ingredients.  The Facebook page is still going strong and the petition has over 47,000 signatures.

I was hunting for the reason why the girl scouts are being petitioned to remove GMO ingredients and found the letter describing the anti-GMO position.

This letter sums up the information war that sadly anti-GMO groups are winning and the misconceptions that the industry is having a hard time changing.  Let's look at this letter in depth.

1.  "If Girl Scouts continues to make cookies with GMO ingredients, our soil will continue to be saturated with pesticides"

GMOs in many cases help decrease the use of pesticides.  Quoted right from the publication Science, "Overall pesticide use on U.S. farms dropped 0.6% a year from 1980 to 2007."   Bt corn is a prime example of a product whereby insect eat the plant and die so less pesticides need to be applied.

http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/pesticides/infographic.xhtml

2.  "Our Farmer’s will continue to pay higher prices for seeds and purchase larger quantities of pesticides."

It is easy to say farmer's pay a higher cost for GMO seed, becuse at face value that is correct.  However farmers are more than willing to pay a higher cost for GMO seed because the yields and thus the profits are higher.  I really encourage you to read this article:  https://gmoanswers.com/ask/what-difference-cost-production-gmo-vs-non-gmo 

 I can summarize just a small part of this issue from that link.  

A farmer in Maryland has grown GM and Non-GM corn and soy and run the numbers.

GMO seed does indeed cost more.  There are research costs associated with new technology.  A lot of scientists put in hard work and time to bring a better solution to the farmers.   However look at the gains.  Income per acre is much higher because the GM solution provides higher yield.    Delve into the article for even more comparisons and perspective.   Even more important, talk to farmers about GMOs and see what they use and think.  Get their perspective and you may be surprised that most farmers want new biotech solutions if it means higher yields.

3.  "Our bees will continue to die off."

There is no dispute that bees are dying off.  The issue is complicated because there is not just one thing killing the bees.  Instead there are many factors and they are all coming together.  Climate change and the parasitic varroa mite are all part of the issue.   Certain pesticides if not applied properly can kill bees.  And now hot off the press is more research that was just published in Science that shows a virus called the deformed wing virus may be part of the problem too.  We know the varroa mite can pick up viruses from the bees blood and transmit it to other bees.  If the varroa mite and deformed wing virus are in the same hive the results are dead bees and estimates are that the two have joined to kill millions of bees.  Bee death is a challenge we must solve, but no where in this discussion is anything about GMOs killing bees.  In fact GMOs may be a tool to help protect bees from insecticide use.  If less insecticides are used due to GM technology there is less risk that insecticides are used improperly and will kill bees. 

Take a read on the new science:  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/bee-decline-two-diseases-are-combining-destroy-global-honey-bees-1547415




4.  "In eating the cookies we will continue to gamble with our health."

I have shown and talked about GMO safety in many previous blog entries.  Take a look back at the science.   This info graphic sums up safety quite well.  GM food is safe and we have the science to prove it!

http://www.foodinsight.org/biotechnology-gmo-food-safe-who-infographic

5. "Please research GMOs thoroughly and understand no long-term studies have been done."

Yes, please really research GMOs including the "1783" studies that have looked at safety.  Research the benefits including higher yields and less pesticide use.  Research projects like Golden Rice (GMO rice with increased vitamin A) and the humanitarian efforts that GMO crops can provide the world.   Talk to farmers and get their perspective.  Talk to scientists doing this work over dinner and see that they are trying to make a difference.  There is no corporate conspiracies.  We love science, we love agriculture and we want to provide farmers with a tool to help feed people.

In the end the Girl Scouts did do their research and listened to the science instead of the fear.   Their stance is listed on the Girl Scout website.  So when the Girl Scouts come to my house next time I might just have to buy a few extra boxes.

http://www.girlscouts.org/en/cookies/all-about-cookies/FAQs.html

Science for kids: Parallel vs Series Circuits

It has been awhile since I last sat down to type, but hopefully I can get back to my rambling.   We are finally getting settled down into a new home and I can start looking at a computer more than boxes!  What a good feeling!

We are heading into Christmas and the holiday period.  So maybe you have some time off work with your  kids or just to be a kid yourself. This is an easy project I did with the scouts a couple weeks ago for one of the Adventures in Science requirements.  The boys had to understand the difference between a Series and Parallel circuit and build each circuit.

There is a very easy way to build these circuits and understand the differences using the following supplies:

1. 2 pieces of paper
2.  Glue and Scissors
3.  Aluminium foil
4.  9 V battery
5. 2 small wattage bulbs:  I used a 6 W indicator bulb, but make sure they are only 12 V bulbs and not      120 V bulbs

Have you been putting up lights on a Christmas tree and one light goes out followed by all the lights going out?  This is a fun project because it will be easy for the kids to grasp why that happens.

Here are the circuits  my son made.  Just cut the aluminum foil into strips and glue them down on the paper.   The foil should be making very good contact with other piece of foil in places where you are connecting pieces so don't use too much glue.   For both the series and the parallel circuit leave a small gap at the top for the 9 V battery.    These circuits are set up to light 2 bulbs at a time.  The pictures below just show 1 bulb lighting up because you need a second person to hold the other bulb and I was being lazy.  .

The series circuit is how many Christmas lights are set up.  Looking at the pictures below you can see that if one light is removed you break the circuit which makes all the lights go out.  Using one light at each of the 2 gaps will make both lights work, but remove one light and they both go out.

The Parallel circuit is better because the circuit is still complete even when one light is removed. The top gap is again for the battery.  Then one light is used for each of the two gaps.  Removing one light will not affect the other light.

In order to make the lights work you need to make a strand of aluminum foil.  The socket part of the light should be wrapped tightly.  The bottom of the light should make contact with the circuit aluminum foil and the opposite end of the foil wrapped around the light should span the gap of the circuit you created and touch the aluminum foil.

To get light, make sure the battery is on the foil where you made a small gap at the top of the circuit.  With the light wrapped with a strand of foil place the light firmly on one side of a gap.  The other end of the strand attached to the light should cross the gap and make contact with the foil.  You can place another bulb at the bottom of the circuit to light two lights at a time.  Play around with removing either light.

The series can be set up the same way. In the picture below I added a "switch" instead of a second light by placing a small piece of foil across the second gap.  Remove lights or the switch to see what happens.

Have fun playing with electricity in a safe manner.  Once you place the battery down on the foil, it will start discharging and can become pretty hot. Just watch how hot it gets and don't leave it discharging too long. It will run the battery down pretty quickly as well.

Scouting: Foil Cooking

School has started back and with two boys that means cub scouts is back in full swing.  For those of you who like camping and want your little ones to help with some of  the cooking here is a super easy dish.

Just take some aluminum foil and place it on a flat surface with the shiny side up.  Place a hamburger patty on the foil.  You can break it up into quarters if your want it to cook a little faster.  On top of the burger place some of your favorite vegetables.  We added carrots, sliced potatoes, and peppers.  Add any spices along with salt and pepper and then it is time to wrap everything up.  Just grab the ends and connect them.  The vegetables are supplying the dish the water source that is needed to get some steam.  The steam is what is going to help cook the dish.   So when you wrap the dish up, leave a little air pocket in the top between the food and the foil.  This is to give the steam a place to hangout and cook your food thoroughly.  Then fold the other ends together.  Once it is wrapped up, then you can just place the food packet on some coals for about 4-5 minutes on each side.

This is a great way to get the kids involved in preparing their own food on a camping trip.  There are many other things you can cook this way.  Several different books are out there to give great recipes for foil cooking if you do a quick search.