The Boy Scout Planning Guide suggests a Forestry Troop Program Feature for April 2013.  This program feature offers the opportunity to introduce natural resource management and conservation in a troop setting. A PLC can use this program feature to plan a month of activities with a focus on forestry.

The plans for the Forestry troop program feature can be found in  Volume 2 of Troop Program Features from BSA:

Every Scout should know the importance of all natural resources and of the interdependence of forest, range, soil, water, and wildlife.

Forestry Programs

Younger scouts can work on their early rank requirements, including hiking, nature, and cooking requirements.  Older scouts can earn the Nature Merit Badge, Camping Merit Badge,  or Forestry Merit Badge.  Some other related merit badges include  Mammal Study Merit Badge, Geology Merit Badge, Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge, and Insect Study Merit Badge.

The featured activity for this month is a Leave No Trace campout. On this campout, Boy Scouts learn about Leave No Trace and practice low-impact camping. Experienced Scouts teach newer Scouts about camping methods which do not have a negative effect on the environment and leave the area the same or better than they found it.

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Boy Scouts who want to learn more about conserving our natural resources can work on the Soil and Water Conservation merit badge.

Conservation isn’t just the responsibility of soil and plant scientists, hydrologists, wildlife managers, landowners, and the forest or mine owner alone. It is the duty of every person to learn more about the natural resources on which our lives depend so that we can help make sure that these resources are used intelligently and cared for properly.

Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge Requirements

1. Do the following:
1. Tell what soil is. Tell how it is formed.
2. Describe three kinds of soil. Tell how they are different.
3. Name the three main plant nutrients in fertile soil. Tell how they can be put back when used up.
2. Do the following:
1. Define soil erosion.
2. Tell why it is important. Tell how it affects you.
3. Name three kinds of soil erosion. Describe each.
4. Take pictures or draw two kinds of soil erosion.
3. Do the following:
1. Tell what is meant by conservation practices.
2. Describe the effect of three kinds of erosion-control practices.
3. Take pictures or draw three kinds of erosion-control practices.
4. Do the following:
1. Explain what a watershed is.
2. Outline the smallest watershed that you can find on a contour map.
3. Then outline on your map, as far as possible, the next larger watershed which also has the smallest in it.
4. Explain what a river basin is. Tell why all people living in a river basin should be concerned about land and water use in it.
5. Do the following:
1. Make a drawing to show the hydrologic cycle.
2. Show by demonstration at least two of the following actions of water in relation to soil: percolation, capillary action, precipitation, evaporation, transpiration.
3. Explain how removal of vegetation will affect the way water runs off a watershed.
4. Tell how uses of forest, range, and farm land affect usable water supply.
5. Explain how industrial use affects water supply.
6. Do the following:
1. Tell what is meant by “water pollution.”
2. Describe common sources of water pollution and explain the effects of each.
3. Tell what is meant by “primary water treatment,” “secondary waste treatment,” and “biochemical oxygen demand.”
4. Make a drawing showing the principles of complete waste treatment.
7. Do TWO of the following:
1. Make a trip to two of the following places. Write a report of more than 500 words about the soil and water and energy conservation practices you saw.
1. An agricultural experiment
2. A managed forest or woodlot, range, or pasture
3. A wildlife refuge or a fish or game management area
4. A conservation-managed farm or ranch
5. A managed watershed
6. A waste-treatment plant
7. A public drinking water treatment plant
8. An industry water use installation
9. A desalinization plant
2. Plant 100 trees, bushes, and/or vines for a good purpose.
3. Seed an area of at least 1/5 acre for some worthwhile conservation purpose, using suitable grasses or legumes alone or in a mixture.
4. Study a soil survey report. Describe the things in it. On tracing paper over any of the soil maps, outline an area with three or more different kinds of soil. List each kind of soil by full name and map symbol.
5. Make a list of places in your neighborhood, camps, school ground, or park that have erosion, sedimentation, or pollution problems. Describe how these could be corrected through individual or group action.
6. Carry out any other soil and water conservation project approved by your merit badge counselor.

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The World Conservation Award recognizes Scouts who increase their awareness of conservation and its impact on the world community. Many Scouting organizations affiliated with the World Organization of the Scout Movement offer this award to their members. Each Scouting organization sets its own requirements for the award.

The badge is worn as a temporary patch, centered on the right pocket.

The requirements below are for Boy Scouts, but BSA also offers a version of this award for Cub Scouts and for Venturers.

Boy Scout World Conservation Award

You can earn this award by earning the following merit badges:

1. Environmental Science Merit Badge
2. Either Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge OR Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge
3. Citizenship in the World Merit Badge

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During the winter, most Cub Scout units do less camping. But that doesn’t mean  you can’t still get outdoors. While you are doing your outdoor activities, your Cub Scouts can earn the Cub Scout Leave No Trace award.

This is not a difficult award for the Cub Scouts to earn. They are not to young to be aware of LNT principles and as Scouts they should already be doing most of these things when they go hiking or camping. Go over the requirements before you leave on your outdoor adventure, and then encourage your Cub Scouts to practice LNT principles while they are outside having fun.

Note that these are different than the requirements for Boy Scouts and for Scouters. If you are working with Boy Scouts, check out the Boy Scout Leave No Trace requirements instead.

There is additional information available from the Scouting.org website and on the Leave No Trace website.

Cub Scout Leave No Trace Award Requirements

1. Discuss with your leader or parent/guardian the importance of the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines.
2. On three separate outings, practice the frontcountry guidelines of Leave No Trace.
3. Boys in a Tiger Cub den complete the activities for Achievement 5, Let’s Go Outdoors; boys in a Wolf den complete Requirement 7, Your Living World; boys in a Bear den complete Requirement 12, Family Outdoor Adventures; boys in a Webelos den earn the Outdoorsman activity badge.
4. Participate in a Leave No Trace-related service project.
5. Promise to practice the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines by signing the Cub Scout Leave No Trace Pledge. (see below)
6. Draw a poster to illustrate the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines and display it at a pack meeting.

 Cub Scout Leave No Trace Pledge

I promise to practice the Leave No Trace frontcountry guidelines wherever I go:

• Plan ahead.
• Stick to trails.
• Manage your pet.
• Leave what you find.
• Respect other visitors.
• Trash your trash.

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To earn the Venturing Ranger award, a young man or woman must complete eight core requirements and four electives. One of the electives to meet the Ranger award requirements is Ecology.

To complete the Venturing Ranger Award requirements for Ecology, a Venturer must learn about the watershed and environmental studies. He or she must investigate an area. Then he or she must share this knowledge with others.

Venturing Ranger Award Requirements – Ecology Elective

1. Explain the basic natural systems, cycles, and changes over time and how they are evidenced in a watershed near where you live. Include the four basic elements, land use patterns, and at least six different species in your analysis and how they have changed over time. Discuss both biological and physical components.
2. Describe at least four environmental study areas near where you live. Include the reasons for selecting these areas, their boundaries, user groups, past inventories, any outside forces that interact with them, and a list of what things could be studied at each of them.
3. Plan a field trip to each of the above areas, including detailed plans for conducting various investigations. Follow all of the requirements such as trip permits, safety plans, transportation plans, equipment needs, etc.
4. 1. Under the guidance of a natural resources professional, carry out an investigation of an ecological subject approved by your Advisor. Inventory and map the area. Conduct a detailed investigation providing specific data for a specific topic.
   2. Document and present your findings to your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another group.
5. Teach others in your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another group how to carry out an ecological investigation. Use steps 3 and 4 above with the group so that they may also learn by doing.

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BSA provides Bear den meeting ideas for den leaders on the Scouting.org website. These Cub Scout Bear den meeting plans are step by step guides to carrying out a den meeting. Today’s article covers the fourteenth Bear Cub Scout den meeting plan which is all about Bear Achievement 6 – Take Care of Your Planet.

If you don’t already have the BSA den meeting plans, download BSA Bear Den Meeting Plan 14 to follow along with this article.

Bear Den Meeting Plans: BSA Bear Den Meeting Idea 14 – Take Care of Your Planet

Preparation and Before the Meeting

It is suggested that you do this meeting at your community recycling facility. This will be interesting to Bear Cub Scout, but if you can get it arranged, don’t worry. You can do this achievement almost anywhere.

You will need to remind the Bear Cub Scouts to bring their items to be recycled to this meeting.

If you are doing a cleanup project, remind the Bears to bring some sturdy gloves for picking up trash. You will also need some trash bags for them.

Gathering

Check out my gathering activities page for some ideas.

 Opening

Do a simple indoor flag ceremony or an outdoor ceremony. Don’t forget to give each of the Bears a chance to participate in flag ceremonies.

 Business

Keep business short and sweet.

Activities

You need to do at least 3 of the requirements below to complete this achievement:

1. Save 5 pounds of glass or aluminum, or 1 month of daily newspapers. Turn them in at a recycling center or use your community’s recycling service.
2. Plant a tree in your yard, or on the grounds of the group that operates your Cub Scout pack, or in a park or other public place. Be sure to get permission first.
3. Call city or county officials or your trash hauling company and find out what happens to your trash after it is hauled away.
4. List all the ways water is used in your home. Search for dripping faucets or other ways water might be wasted. With an adult, repair or correct those problems.
5. Discuss with an adult in your family the kinds of energy your family uses.
6. Find out more about your family’s use of electricity.
7. Take part in a den or pack neighborhood clean-up project.

With ZM’s den we brought in recyclables and put them in the appropriate recycling bins at our chartered organization for the first requirement. Then we talked about energy use for the fifth requirement and the use of electricity for the sixth. For the seventh requirement, we walked around the sports fields at our chartered organization and picked up litter.

You can choose whichever of the requirements work best in your situation. Just make sure it is not all talking.

Closing

Close with the Law of the Pack or the Cub Scout Promise or this Native American Prayer .

After the meeting

If you did a trash pickup, make sure everything you collected is disposed of appropriately. And this is a good time to enlist some parents to help next time.

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BSA offers supplemental pack program ideas for each month. One theme for the October core value of Responsibility is a Jungle of Fun theme.

Here is what the  program helps say about this theme:

This jungle theme is used to show being responsible is an important part of any society. In the Jungle Book story used in the Wolf Handbook, Akela, Baloo, and the other jungle creatures take responsibility for Mowgli’s safety and learning the ways of the jungle, making him a responsible part of their pack. It directly relates to the Cub Scout Law of the Pack and how the leaders, parents, and Scouts are all responsible for the success of their pack. In today’s society, we understand our responsibility to preserve and protect the natural habitats of other creatures as we follow the Outdoor Code.

So this theme will revolve around the ideas of conservation and using natural resources wisely with an emphasis on how we treat other living beings. Several of the Cub Scout achievements and electives fit in with this theme.

Cub Scout Achievements Related to Jungle of Fun (Responsibility)

Tiger Cub Scouts

• Tiger Achievement 5 – Lets Go Outdoors
• Tiger Elective 31 – Learn about Animals
• Tiger Elective 32 – Feed the Birds
• Tiger Elective 33 – Cleanup Treasure Hunt
• Tiger Elective 34 – Conservation

Wolf Cub Scouts

• Wolf Achievement 7 – Your Living World
• Wolf Elective 13 – Birds
• Wolf Elective 14 – Pets

Bear Cub Scouts

• Bear Achievement 5 – Sharing Your World with Wildlife
• Bear Achievement 6 – Take Care of Your Planet
• Bear Elective 15 – Water and Soil Conservation

Webelos

• Naturalist Activity Badge
• Outdoorsman Activity Badge

Academics and Sports Program

• Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop and Pin

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To earn the Venturing Ranger award, a young man or woman must complete eight core requirements and four electives. One of the core requirements is Conservation.

By completing the Venturing Ranger Award requirements for Conservation, a Venturer must plan a conservation project, lead and carry it out, and then teach others about the project.

Venturing Ranger Award Core Requirement – Conservation

1. As a Venturer, plan, lead, and carry out a significant conservation project under the guidance of a natural resources professional.
2. Make a tabletop display or presentation on your conservation project for your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another youth group.

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BSA provides Bear den meeting ideas for den leaders on the Scouting.org website. These Cub Scout den meeting plans are step by step guides to carrying out a den meeting. Today’s article covers the twelfth and thirteenth Bear Cub Scout den meeting plans. This plan focuses on Bear Achievement 5 – Sharing Your World with Wildlife and the Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop. The activities in this plan are meant to be spread out over two meetings to allow ample time for finishing the birdhouses.

You will be building birdhouses from kits for this meeting. If your budget is tight, you can find inexpensive bulk kits like this set of 12 birdhouse kits for $17. Another option is to make a Gourd Birdhouse.

If you don’t already have the BSA den meeting plans, download BSA Bear Den Meeting Plan 12 and 13 to follow along with this article.

Bear Den Meeting Ideas: BSA Plan 12 and 13 – Sharing Your World With Wildlife

Preparation and Before the Meeting

You will need to purchase supplies, including the kits (see note above about inexpensive kits). You should arrange for some extra parents to be at this meeting to lend a hand. Also, have your information ready about extinct and endangered species. See my article about learning about endangered species in your area for some help.

Gathering

Check out my gathering activities page for some ideas.

 Opening

Do a simple indoor flag ceremony or an outdoor ceremony. Don’t forget to give each of the Bears a chance to participate in flag ceremonies.

 Business

Keep business to a minimum.

Activities

Remember – these activities are meant to be done over two meetings.  The meeting plan mentions the Wildlife Conservation Beltloop, but never really explains how it fits into the meeting. But you can easily fit the requirements into these two meetings. Just take a look at the Wildlife Conservation Beltloop requirements.

Do Achievement 5a

Choose a bird or animal that you like and find out how it lives. Make a poster showing what your have learned.

Next do Achievement 5c:

Explain what a wildlife conservation officer does.

Do Achievement 5e and Wildlife Conservation belt loop requirement 3:

Name one animal that has become extinct in the last 100 years. Tell why animals become extinct. Name one animal that is on the endangered species list.

Learn about an endangered species. Make a report to your den that includes a picture, how the species came to be endangered, and what is being done to save it.

Finally work on Achievement 5b by building the bird house kits:

Build or make a bird feeder or birdhouse and hang it in a place where birds can visit safely.

 Closing

Close with the Law of the Pack or the Cub Scout Promise. Remind the Scouts about the items they need to complete at home. It might be a good idea to send home a printed list, since there are several things they need to complete.

After the meeting

Arrange some help for the next meeting. And follow up with the parents to remind them about the home assignments for this achievement.

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Boy Scouts will learn how to make their own paper when they earn the Pulp and Paper merit badge.

Here’s an astonishing number to digest. Each person in the United States uses about 700 pounds of paper each year. Paper is everywhere in our lives. Every year in the United States, more than 2 billion individual books, 24 billion newspapers, and 350 million magazines are published on paper.

Pulp and Paper Merit Badge Requirements

1. Tell the history of papermaking. Describe the part paper products play in our society and economy.
2. List the trees that are major sources of papermaking fibers. Then discuss what other uses are made of the trees and of the forestland owned by the pulp and paper industry. Describe the ways the industry plants, grows, and harvests trees. Explain how the industry manages its forests so that the supply of trees keeps pace with the demand, and tell about one way the industry has incorporated a sustainable forestry concept. Give two ways the papermaking industry has addressed pollution.
3. Describe two ways of getting fibers from wood, and explain the major differences. Tell why some pulps are bleached, and describe this process.
4. Describe how paper is made. Discuss how paper is recycled. Make a sheet of paper by hand.
5. Explain what coated paper is and why it is coated. Describe the major uses for different kinds of coated papers. Describe one other way that paper is changed by chemical or mechanical means to make new uses possible.
6. Make a list of 15 pulp or paper products found in your home. Share examples of 10 such products with your counselor.
7. With your parent’s and counselor’s approval, do ONE of the following:
1. Visit a pulp mill. Describe how the mill converts wood to cellulose fibers.
2. Visit a paper mill and get a sample of the paper made there. Describe the processes used for making this paper. Tell how it will be used.
3. Visit a container plant or box plant. Describe how the plant’s products are made.
4. Visit a recycled paper collection or sorting facility. Describe the operations there.
5. Using books, magazines, your local library, the Internet (with your parent’s permission), and any other suitable research tool, find out how paper products are developed. Find out what role research and development play in the papermaking industry. Share what you learn with your counselor.
8. Find out about three career opportunities in the papermaking industry that interest you. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you.

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To earn the Venturing Ranger award, a young man or woman must complete eight core requirements and four electives. One of the core requirements is Leave No Trace.

By completing the Venturing Ranger Award requirements for Leave No Trace, a Venturer must learn the principles of Leave No Trace (LNT), practice those principles, and help others learn the principles. The LNT principles encourage those using outdoor resources to use them wisely and responsibly so others can also enjoy them.

Learn more about the principles of Leave No Trace from the Leave No Trace website.

Venturing Ranger Award Core Requirement – Leave No Trace

1. Recite and explain the principles of Leave No Trace.
2. Participate in three separate camping/backpacking trips demonstrating that you know and use Leave No Trace principles.
3. Make a tabletop display or presentation on the Leave No Trace principles and how they affect the environment and attitude of campers for your crew, another crew, a Cub or Boy Scout group, or another group; or become a Leave No trace trainer and teach a Leave No Trace Awareness course.

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Boy Scouts learn about the connection between living things when they earn the Nature merit badge.

There is a very close connection between the soil, the plants, and all animal life, including people. Understanding this connection, and the impact we have upon it, is important to preserving the wilderness, as well as to our own well-being as members of the web of nature.

Nature Merit Badge Requirements

Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, some plants and animals are or may be protected by federal law. The same ones and/or others may be protected by state law. Be sure that you do not collect protected species. Your state may require that you purchase and carry a license to collect certain species. Check with the wildlife and fish and game officials in your state regarding species regulations before you begin to collect.

1.  Name three ways in which plants are important to animals. Name a plant that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk.
2.  Name three ways in which animals are important to plants. Name an animal that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk.
3.  Explain the term “food chain.” Give an example of a four-step land food chain and a four-step water food chain.
4.  Do all of the requirements in FIVE of the following fields:
1. Birds
1. In the field, identify eight species of birds.
2. Make and set out a birdhouse OR a feeding station OR a birdbath. List what birds used it during a period of one month.
2. Mammals
1. In the field, identify three species of wild animals.
2. Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild mammal.
3. Reptiles and Amphibians
1. Show that you can recognize the venomous snakes in your area.
2. In the field, identify three species of reptiles or amphibians.
3. Recognize one species of toad or frog by voice; OR identify one reptile or amphibian by eggs, den, burrow, or other signs.
4. Insects and Spiders
1. Collect, mount, and label 10 species of insects or spiders.
2. Hatch an insect from the pupa or cocoon; OR hatch adults from nymphs; OR keep larvae until they form pupae or cocoons; OR keep a colony of ants or bees through one season.
5. Fish
1. Catch and identify two species of fish.
2. Collect four kinds of animal food eaten by fish in the wild.
6. Mollusks and Crustaceans
1. Identify five species of mollusks and crustaceans.
2. Collect, mount, and label six shells.
7. Plants
1. In the field, identify 15 species of wild plants.
2. Collect and label the seeds of six plants OR the leaves of 12 plants.
8. Soils and Rocks
1. Collect and identify soils found in different layers of a soil profile.
2. Collect and identify five different types of rocks from your area.

NOTE: In most cases all specimens should be returned to the wild at the location of original capture after the requirements have been met. Check with your merit badge counselor for those instances where the return of these specimens would not be appropriate.

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BSA provides a set of Tiger den meeting plans for Cub Scout den leaders. This is a review of the 16th den meeting plan in the series. This den meeting idea covers Tiger Elective 33 – Cleanup Treasure Hunt, Tiger Elective 23 – What Kind of Milk?, and Tiger Elective 25 – Snack Time.

You can download the complete meeting plan from the BSA website: Printable copy of BSA Tiger Den Meeting Plan 16

BSA Tiger Den Meeting Plan 16 – Cleanup Treasure Hunt, What Kind of Milk?, and Snack Time

Preparation and Before the Meeting

Communicate with the adult partners beforehand that each Tiger Cub should make a snack beforehand and bring it to the meeting beforehand. If you don’t think this will work, you could also have them make a simple snack together at the meeting. See my Cubs in the Kitchen page for some ideas.

You will also need to gather your supplies for the Cleanup Treasure Hunt. My Cleanup Treasure Hunt article has a printable list you can use.

Gathering

Check my gathering activities page for some appropriate activities for your gathering time. Or play a simple game.

Opening

Start with a flag ceremony and the Cub Scout Promise.

Business

Have them share their snack during this part of the meeting (Elective 25) and discuss the different types of milk they drink (Elective 23).

Activities

Go outside and do the  Cleanup Treasure Hunt (Elective 33). Allow some time at the end to let them talk about what they cleaned up. If any of them found anything unusual, they will want to share that.

Closing

Just do a simple closing – like the Law of the Pack.

After the Meeting

Have Tiger Cub Scouts help clean up. Dispose of the items they cleaned up. If you don’t have recycling containers at your meeting place, send those home with somebody to be disposed of properly. This is a good time to arrange for some of the other parents to help you with the next meeting.

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The Fly Fishing merit badge will teach Boy Scouts how to tie their own flies and then go after the big catch.

Fly-fishing is a specialized form of fishing that combines skill and artistry. Because it is so rich with tradition, it is a passion for millions of people. The beauty of the water, the solitude, and the skills that the sport requires have made fly-fishing very important in the lives of many notable people.

Fly Fishing Merit Badge Requirements

1. Do the following:
   1. Explain to your counselor the most likely hazards you may encounter while participating in fly-fishing activities and what you should do to anticipate, help prevent, mitigate, and respond to these hazards. Name and explain five safety practices you should always follow while fly-fishing.
   2. Discuss the prevention of and treatment for health concerns that could occur while fly-fishing, including cuts and scratches, puncture wounds, insect bites, hypothermia, dehydration, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and sunburn.
   3. Explain how to remove a hook that has lodged in your arm.
2. Demonstrate how to match a fly rod, line, and leader to achieve a balanced system. Discuss several types of fly lines, and explain how and when each would be used. Review with your counselor how to care for this equipment.
3. Demonstrate how to tie proper knots to prepare a fly rod for fishing:
1. Tie a backing to a fly reel spool using the arbor knot.
2. Attach backing to fly line using the nail knot.
3. Attach a leader to fly line using the needle knot, nail knot, or a loop-to-loop connection.
4. Add a tippet to a leader using a loop-to-loop connection or blood knot.
5. Tie a fly onto the terminal end of the leader using the improved clinch knot.
4. Explain how and when each of the following types of flies is used: dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, streamers, bass bugs, poppers, and saltwater flies. Tell what each one imitates. Tie at least two types of the flies mentioned in this requirement.
5. Demonstrate the ability to cast a fly 30 feet consistently and accurately using both overhead and roll cast techniques.
6. Go to a suitable fishing location and observe what fish may be eating both above and beneath the water’s surface. Explain the importance of matching the hatch.
7. Do the following:
1. Explain the importance of practicing Leave No Trace techniques. Discuss the positive effects of Leave No Trace on fly-fishing resources.
2. Discuss the meaning and importance of catch and release. Describe how to properly release a fish safely to the water.
8. Obtain and review a copy of the regulations affecting game fishing where you live or where you plan to fish. Explain why they were adopted and what is accomplished by following them.
9. Discuss what good outdoor sportsmanlike behavior is and how it relates to anglers. Tell how the Outdoor Code of the Boy Scouts of America relates to a fishing enthusiast, including the aspects of littering, trespassing, courteous behavior, and obeying fishing regulations.
10. Catch at least one fish and identify it. If local fishing and health regulations allow, clean and cook a fish you have caught. Otherwise, acquire a fish and cook it.

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Earning the Energy merit badge will help Boy Scouts think about the supply and demand issues for energy in our modern world.

Saving, producing, and using energy wisely will be critical to America’s future. If we are to leave future generations with a world in which they can live as well or better than we have, Scouts and other potential leaders of tomorrow must begin the hard work of understanding energy and the vital role it will play in the future.

Energy Merit Badge Requirements

1. Do the following:
1. Find an article on the use or conservation of energy. Discuss with your counselor what in the article was interesting to you, the questions it raises, and what ideas it addresses that you do not understand.
2. After you have completed requirements 2 through 8, revisit the article you found for requirement 1a. Explain to your counselor what you have learned in completing the requirements that helps you better understand the article.
2. Show you understand energy forms and conversions by doing the following:
1. Explain how THREE of the following devices use energy, and explain their energy conversions: toaster, greenhouse, lightbulb, bow drill, nuclear reactor, sweat lodge.
2. Construct a system that makes at least two energy conversions and explain this to your counselor.
3. Show you understand energy efficiency by explaining to your counselor a common example of a situation where energy moves through a system to produce a useful result. Do the following:
1. Identify the parts of the system that are affected by the energy movement.
2. Name the system’s primary source of energy.
3. Identify the useful outcomes of the system.
4. Identify the energy losses of the system.
4. Conduct an energy audit of your home. Keep a 14-day log that records what you and your family did to reduce energy use. Include the following in your report and, after the 14-day period, discuss what you have learned with your counselor.
1. List the types of energy used in your home such as electricity, wood, oil, liquid petroleum, and natural gas, and tell how each is delivered and measured, and the current cost; OR record the transportation fuel used, miles driven, miles per gallon, and trips using your family car or another vehicle.
2. Describe ways you and your family can use energy resources more wisely. In preparing your discussion, consider the energy required for the things you do and use on a daily basis (cooking, showering, using lights, driving, watching TV, using the computer). Explain how you can change your energy use through reuse and recycling.
5. In a notebook, identify and describe five examples of energy waste in your school or community. Suggest in each case possible ways to reduce this waste. Describe the idea of trade-offs in energy use. In your response, do the following:
1. Explain how the changes you suggest would lower costs, reduce pollution, or otherwise improve your community.
2. Explain what changes to routines, habits, or convenience are necessary to reduce energy waste. Tell why people might resist the changes you suggest.
6. Prepare pie charts showing the following information, and explain to your counselor the important ideas each chart reveals. Tell where you got your information. Explain how cost affects the use of a nonrenewable energy resource and makes alternatives practical.
1. The energy resources that supply the United States with most of its energy
2. The share of energy resources used by the United States that comes from other countries
3. The proportion of energy resources used by homes, businesses, industry, and transportation
4. The fuels used to generate America’s electricity
5. The world’s known and estimated primary energy resource reserves
7. Tell what is being done to make FIVE of the following energy systems produce more usable energy. In your explanation, describe the technology, cost, environmental impacts, and safety concerns.
1. Biomass digesters or waste-to-energy plants
2. Cogeneration plants
3. Fossil fuel power plants
4. Fuel cells
5. Geothermal power plants
6. Nuclear power plants
7. Solar power systems
8. Tidal energy, wave energy, or ocean thermal energy conversion devices
9. Wind turbines
8. Find out what opportunities are available for a career in energy. Choose one position that interests you and describe the education and training required.

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Conservation and Scouting have always gone hand in hand. And our young Cub Scouts are fascinated by wildlife and are usually eager to learn how to participate in conservation projects. You can spark that interest with the Wildlife Conservation belt loop from the Cub Scout Academics and Sports Program.

Webelos who earn the Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop while a Webelos also complete requirement 13 for the Naturalist activity badge.

Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop Requirements

Complete these three requirements:

1. Explain what natural resources are and why it’s important to protect and conserve them.
2. Make a poster that shows and explains the food chain. Describe to your den what happens if the food chain becomes broken or damaged.
3. Learn about an endangered species. Make a report to your den that includes a picture, how the species came to be endangered, and what is being done to save it.

Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting

This printable environmental science vocabulary puzzle will help your students remember their environmental science terminology. Printables such as this help students study science.

This crossword puzzle features 20  words and definitions related to environmental science and conservation. A list of the words used is included in a separate document.

Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting

Boy Scouts who are interested in conservation and tree identification will enjoy earning the Forestry merit badge.

In working through the Forestry merit badge requirements, Scouts will explore the remarkable complexity of a forest and identify many species of trees and plants and the roles they play in a forest’s life cycle.They will also discover some of the resources forests provide to humans and come to understand that people have a very large part to play in sustaining the health of forests.

Forestry Merit Badge Requirements

1. Prepare a field notebook, make a collection, and identify 15 species of trees, wild shrubs, or vines in a local forested area. Write a description in which you identify and discuss the following:
1. The characteristics of leaf, twig, cone, or fruiting bodies
2. The habitat in which these trees, shrubs, or vines are found
3. The important ways each tree, shrub, or vine is used by humans or wildlife and whether the species is native or was introduced to the area. If it is not native, explain whether it is considered invasive or potentially invasive.
2. Do ONE of the following:
1. Collect and identify wood samples of 10 species of trees. List several ways the wood of each species can be used.
2. Find and examine three stumps, logs, or core samples that show variations in the growth rate of their ring patterns. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, describe the location or origin of each example (including elevation, aspect, slope, and the position on the slope), and discuss possible reasons for the variations in growth rate. Photograph or sketch each example.
3. Find and examine two types of animal, insect, or damage on trees. In the field notebook you prepared for requirement 1, identify the damage, explain how the damage was caused, and describe the effects of the damage on the trees. Photograph or sketch each example.
3. Do the following:
1. Describe the contributions forests make to:
1. Our economy in the form of products
2. Our social well-being, including recreation
3. Soil protection and increased fertility
4. Clean water
5. Clean air (carbon cycling, sequestration)
6. Wildlife habitat
7. Fisheries habitat
8. Threatened and endangered species of plants and animals
2. Tell which watershed or other source your community relies on for its water supply.
4. Describe what forest management means, including the following:
1. Multiple-use management
2. Sustainable forest management
3. Even-aged and uneven-aged management and the silvicultural systems associated with each
4. Intermediate cuttings
5. The role of prescribed burning and related forest-management practices
5. With your parent’s and counselor’s approval, do ONE of the following:
1. Visit a managed public or private forest area with the manager or a forester who is familiar with it. Write a brief report describing the type of forest, the management objectives, and the forestry techniques used to achieve the objectives.
2. With a knowledgeable individual, visit a logging operation or wood-using manufacturing plant. Write a brief report describing the following:
1. The species and size of trees being harvested or used and the location of the harvest area or manufacturer
2. The origin of the forest or stands of trees being utilized (e.g., planted or natural)
3. The forest’s successional stage. What is its future?
4. Where the trees are coming from (land ownership) or where they are going (type of mill or processing plant)
5. The products that are made from the trees
6. How the products are made and used
7. How waste materials from the logging operation or manufacturing plant are disposed of or utilize.
3. Take part in a forest-fire prevention campaign in cooperation with your local fire warden, state wildfire agency, forester, or counselor. Write a brief report describing the campaign, how it will help prevent wildfires, and your part in it.
6. 6. Do the following:
1. Describe the consequences to forests that result from FIVE of the following elements: wildfire, absence of fire, insects, tree diseases, air pollution, overgrazing, deer or other wildlife overpopulation, improper harvest, and urbanization.
2. Explain what can be done to reduce the consequences you discussed in 6a.
3. Describe what you should do if you discover a forest fire and how a professional firefighting crew might control it. Name your state or local wildfire control agency.
7. Visit one or more local foresters and write a brief report about the person (or persons). Or, write about a forester’s occupation including the education, qualifications, career opportunities, and duties related to forestry.

Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting

The Boy Scout Roundtable Planning Guide suggests a Wildlife Management  feature for March 2012. BSA provides the troop program feature guides as a resource for Boy Scout troops. A PLC can use these guides to plan a series of meetings and outings around a single theme. My post Troop Program Features for Meetings and Outings has  more information about these guides.

The Wildlife Management troop program feature can be found in  Volume 3 of Troop Program Features from BSA. The introduction to this program feature gives a good overview of some of the opportunities for troops using this theme:

A major concern in this country is vanishing wildlife and wildlife habitat. Some of this loss comes from a lack of knowledge about the creatures of nature.

This program feature will help Scouts in the troop to appreciate wildlife and how it lives, and to develop a sense of what Scouts can do to help protect and preserve the animals around them.

If you live in the city, this program feature will give you an opportunity to go to a rural location to observe nature, or to visit a zoo. If you live in a rural area, this feature may reactivate your awareness of wildlife around you and what you can do to protect it.

Younger Scouts can focus on some of the conservation related early rank requirements:

• Tenderfoot Requirement 11 – Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them.
• Second Class Requirement 2 – Discuss the principles of “Leave No Trace”
• Second Class Requirement 6 – Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of wild animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, mollusks) found in your community.
• First Class Requirement 6 – Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your community.
• The Outdoor Code

Some of the wildlife and conservation related merit badges can be incorporated into this theme for more experienced Scouts:

• Nature Merit Badge
• Camping Merit Badge
• Cooking Merit Badge
• Mammal Study Merit Badge
• Fish and Wildlife Management Merit Badge
• Insect Study Merit Badge
• Wilderness Survival Merit Badge

Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting

This is the eleventh in the series of Tiger Cub Scout den meeting plans provide by BSA. For the achievement related meetings, it is important to do the meeting plans in order. But starting at plan #9, the meetings are focused on doing electives. So at this point, you have a little more freedom in choosing what you would like to do.

This meeting plan covers Tiger Elective 21 – The Show Must Go On and Tiger Elective 47 – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Follow the links to find additional links for these electives.

You can download the meeting plan from the BSA website: Printable copy of BSA Tiger Den Meeting Plan 11

BSA Tiger Den Meeting 11 – The Show Must Go On and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Preparation and Before the Meeting

This is a simple meeting, so you don’t need to prepare too much beforehand. Yeah! Just follow the directions in the meeting plan.

Gathering, Opening, and Business

Leaf Print Crafts would make a nice gathering activity for this meeting. Or check out my Puzzles page for some more ideas. The Pledge of Allegiance always makes a nice opening for Tiger Cub Scouts. Keep your business items to a minimum.

Activities

First you will work on Elective 47:

Learn about what you can recycle in your community and how you can recycle at home. Learn about things that need to be recycled in special ways, such as paint and batteries.

This is mostly a discussion. I like the idea of tying it into how you can reuse ordinary items instead of throwing them away.

Next, you will work on Elective 21:

Make a puppet.

This will be a fun activity for the kids and is simple. You really can’t do anything wrong with paper bag puppets, but if you need more instructions, go to my Paper Bag Puppets post. If you have some creative ideas for paper bag puppets,  leave a comment there.

I like the idea of letting the kids put on a short puppet show and videotaping it. They will love watching themselves do this. Just keep it simple and short.

Closing

Keep the closing simple with Tigers. You can always just do something like saying the Cub Scout Motto or the Cub Scout Promise. This Native American Prayer also makes a nice closing for a conservation themed meeting.

After the Meeting

If you are having refreshments, Earth  Treats would be a fun snack. Don’t forget to insist that everyone pitch in to help clean up.

Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting