Courage/Space-the New Frontier

Core Value: Courage
Theme:"Space-the New Frontier"

July Pack Meeting Plans:
“Courage” AND “Space—the New Frontier”
Pack Meeting Plans

Gathering Activity
Planet Quiz

Materials:

As families enter, have a preassigned den hand out a copy of the planet quiz to each family. Set out
pencils on tables. Explain that each family should work together to find the answers to the quiz. Work
together as a family to find the answers to the following questions.

1. I am extremely hot and very dry. I am closest to our sun.
 I am a small planet. My diameter is half of Earth’s.
 I am named after the speedy messenger of the ancient Roman gods.
 What planet am I? ____________________

2. I am the eighth planet from our sun.
 I am the fourth-largest planet in diameter.
 I was named for the ancient Roman god of the sea.
 What planet am I? __________________

3. I am the sixth planet from our sun.
 I orbit the sun in 11 of Earth’s orbits.
 I have thousands of rings made of tiny particles of floating ice circling me.
 What planet am I? _______________

4. I have been called the “evening star” or “morning star,” even though I am a planet.
 I am surrounded by thick clouds filled with droplets of sulfur.
 I am Earth’s sister planet—almost the same size as Earth and the second planet from our sun.
 What planet am I? _________________________

5. I have 50 official moons—maybe more.
 I am the fifth planet from our sun.
 I am named after the king of the ancient Roman gods.
 What planet am I? ___________________________

6. I have a tilted rotation around the sun—my north and south poles are where the equator is on Earth.
 I have 27 known moons.
 I am the seventh planet from the sun.
 What planet am I? ______________________

7. I am the biggest of all the terrestrial planets. A terrestrial planet is a dense planet found in the inner
solar system.
 About 30 percent of my surface is covered with land, while about 70 percent is covered by water.
 I am the third planet from our sun.
 What planet am I? __________________________

8. Recently, evidence of ice water was found on me.
 I used to be called the “red planet” because I appear red when viewed through a telescope.
 I am the fourth planet from the sun.
 What planet am I? _____________________

Answer key: 1) Mercury, 2) Neptune, 3) Saturn, 4) Venus, 5) Jupiter, 6) Uranus, 7) Earth, 8) Mars.

Opening Ceremony
Out in Space

Setting: Four Cub Scouts are standing on stage looking up to the sky.
Cub Scout 1: What’s out in space?
Cub Scout 2: Mostly lots and lots of space, but also billions and jillions of stars, galaxies, and solar
systems, planets and moons, blazing comets, and deadly rays.
Cub Scout 3: (Walks out dressed in a space helmet and says these famous words of Neil Armstrong): One small step for man. One giant step for mankind.
Cub Scout 4: That’s what’s out in space!
Let’s all stand and remember the American flag flying on the moon. Please join with us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Training Topic
Ideas for telling Cub Scout leaders, "Thank you!"

1. Give them a Milky Way bar and tell them they are “Out of this World.”
2. Boys make and write a thank you card for their leaders.
3. Make a video clip of the boys telling what they like and their favorite experience they had in Wolves, Bear and Webelos. Show it at a pack meeting.
4. When a new cub scout is introduced to the pack, give the mother a ribbon or ribbon necklace with to put their Mother’s Pins on.
5. Use a prescription empty container. Write Thank you being a Cub Scout Leader and Here are some
special pills to help you get through the next year. Then put skittles, or M&M’s in it. Have each color
represent a character trait you will need to get through cub scouts. Green will make you silly. Blue will help those creative ideas flow, etc.
There is any number of very nice awards that can be purchased from your local Scout shop.
Flowers and plants are always great.
Certificates can be custom-made on your own computer.
Crazy/gag awards are fun and inexpensive. For example:A wooden plaque with a mounted light bulb and sign: “Thanks for your bright idea!” Little bag of Hershey’s kisses with a tag: “We love the help you gave us!”  Bag of Reese’s Pieces with tag: “We all love you to pieces.”
Small ruler with tag: “You rule!”

Audience Participation Activity
Round the Moon

All the dens line up at the end of the room. Each Cub places his hands on the waist of the Cub in front so the dens form a “rocket.” A chair is placed at the far end of the room opposite each den; these are the moons. On “Go,” the dens run the length of the room, around their moon, and back into orbit. As they pass base, the “rockets” drop a section each time and the Cub Scouts sit down there one by one, until finally the “nose cone”—the first in line—returns home. The first team to be sitting down is the winner.

Commissioner’s Minute

The beach ball was a visual for the size of the first Soviet Union satellite that was sent into space. -
History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 inches in diameter), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.

Astronaut Eggs

Materials: Eggs; resealable bags, tape; Styrofoam sandwich box; packing materials such as cotton,
newspaper, peanuts, grass, leaves, etc.
Scientists spend a lot of time making an astronaut’s journey safe. For the preopening activity, have the Cub Scouts pack an egg so that it can survive a 10-foot drop onto a hard surface. Put the egg inside the resealable plastic bag, then pack it any way you want inside the box. Tape the box well, and write scout’s name on it. Drop the boxes from a balcony, or high place, then check to see whose egg survived.

Cheers

• Rocket (all: ZZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!)
• Wizard of Oz (Remember the lion in the Wizard of Oz? He was looking for courage. Everyone link arms and let’s all say “We’re off to see the wizard!”)

These ideas were shared at Round Table
Activities that go along with the Space Theme

1. Water rockets (Fill up 2 liter bottles with water and shoot them up in the air. Great summer activity
when it is hot outside)
2. Balloon rocket (Attached a straw to the balloon which will slide along the strung string tied between
two sturdy holdings. This was done at the Cub Scout Day Camp during spring break this year).
3. Make Regular Rocket kits and shoot them up in the air
4. Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory at the Riparian Institute. They offer private session in one-
hour time slots. A maximum of 20 people can be scheduled for any one session. Cost is $5/person. The minimum fee is $45.00. However, Organized youth groups working on astronomy awards, such as Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, or Girl Scouts, or any other formally organized and recognized youth group should contact grco@evaconline.org for specific arrangements and/or possible fee waivers. http://gilbert-news-blog.dailyprss.com/index.php/2013/06/21/the-gilbert-rotary-centennial-observatory-at-the-riparian-institute/
5. There is a solar walk at Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler. - The solar walk is a scale representation of the major objects in the solar system set up along a 2,500-foot pathway around the lake. The objects are spaced at distances relative to their scale in the solar system. Each foot represents 1.5 million miles in space. For example, the distance between the earth and the sun along the solar walk will be 62 feet, representing the actual 93 million miles. The map and more information can be found at http://chandlersolarsystemwalk.com/home.html. They also set up telescopes on the side walk from time to time. See web site for dates and times.
6. MCC Planetarium