2014....ALREADY?!?!

Get ready for 2014!  We are already recruiting staff and prepping for not just one...not two...but THREE separate day camps in Trailblazer District!

Your herald, buckler and quest await!

Pictures and Awards update

Where Can I See the Professional Photographer Photos?

Pictures were taken on Friday morning of all of the packs.  These can  be viewed at www.getkaradaway.zenfolio.com.  Go to "clients" and find Cub Scout Camp.  The password is "galactic"  .  You can also get information on how to order pictures if you haven't yet.

What Awards Did Our Scouts Finish?

We had lots of changes this week, due to weather.  So let's cover what the scouts actually accomplished this week:

Art Belt Loop---COMPLETE
Astronomy Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Astronomy Pin--COMPLETE
Bear Elective--Space--COMPLETE
Communicating Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Communicating Pin--COMPLETE
Communicator Activity Pin--4, 7, 9, 15, 16 COMPLETE
Forester Activity Pin--COMPLETE
Geology Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Geology Pin--COMPLETE
Hiking Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Hiking Pin--COMPLETE
Map and Compass Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Music Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Science Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Scientist Activity Pin--1, 4, 9, 10, 13, 14 COMPLETE
Weather Belt Loop--COMPLETE
Weather Pin--COMPLETE
Wolf Elective--Outdoor Adventure b, c, e, g--COMPLETE
Wolf Elective--Grow Something--COMPLETE
Wolf Elective--Be An Artist c--COMPLETE

Now, for the Nova and Supernova Awards

First, a word about these.  In order for Supernovas to be presented, they have to be signed by a Supernova mentor.  Laura Cruse, Jason Cruse and Sarah Arnold are registered as counselors.  You should also register members of your pack as counselors.  Information on registering as a mentor can be found here.  Tigers cannot earn Nova or Supernova.  Wolves and Bears use the forms found on this page.  Webelos earn the same Nova awards as the Cub Scouts, but have different Supernova requirements.  Those forms can be found here.

During this week, Wolves, Bears and Webelos who finished their mission logs completed:

Science Everywhere
Tech Talk
1-2-3 Go!--1, 3, 5

For the Supernova awards:

It is recommended that Cub Scouts and Webelos earn 2 Nova Awards before earning the Supernova.

Alvarez Supernova (Cubs Scouts):  Need to complete Mathematics and show proof in the mission log of requirements 3 and 4 (about Dr. Alvarez and 3 other scientists).

Townes Supernova (Webelos):  Need to complete requirements 1 and 2 and show proof in mission log of requirements 3 and 4 (about Dr. Townes and 5 other scientists).

Friday!

Camp is at the park at the beginning of the Wabash Trace on Harry Langdon Blvd.  Follow Harry Langdon east past Lewis Central HS and MS.  The park is on the right at the bottom of Titan Hill, just across from Tastee Treat. (You might have been there before for baseball games.)

We have a professional photographer in camp today to take individual and pack photos.  If you did not order photos before, we will have a link up by the end of the day for orders.

Science Day!

All Science!  All Day!  It's Thursday!

Thank you Iowa Western for letting be here!

Well, rain came again on Thursday--another day spent mostly inside.  But what a day!  Robot wars, space helmets, a little planning for the camp show and our IWCC Finale, the Science Fair!

Martha Blue led a fantastic 12 station event, culminating in...well...you'll see!

Thursday morning update!

Good morning everyone!

Due to the coming rain, we are moving check-in to inside Stuart Hall for Thursday morning (like we did on Tuesday).  Morning events and activities will be inside Stuart Hall until the weather clears.

See you at camp!

If your son came home and talked about what we're doing at Day Camp, you might check out the following with him: 

A NOVA program on PBS about exactly what we have been learning about during camp:  "Earth From Space."  This program talks about observations coming from the International Space Station (Astronomy belt loop and pin connection) and what they are telling us about Earth's geography (Map and Compass belt loop and pin connection) and Weather on Earth (Weather belt loop and pin connection). Find this program online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/earth-from-space.html

Also, John Johnson of the Omaha Astronomical Society told us that there will be a very exciting comet in the night sky this fall, sometime in November.  The Astronomical Society will have special events to check it out.  You can find out about these special events and all the other public programs the Society holds at:    http://www.omahaastro.com/.  

John also mentioned that in the fall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln has an open house a few times at their big observatory telescope.  The Strategic Air and Space Museum also has programs about the night sky. 

Wednesday:  Blue Skies, Smiling at Me. . . Nothin' but Blue Skies, Do I See!

Our camp photographer could not come to camp today, and I don't have pictures of activities.  If anyone can email me photos, I will upload them for all to enjoy.  Send pictures to lcruse@cox.net, please.

Robotics, again?

We started our day with some of the Wolves and Bears working on Map and Compass belt loop and pin, Webelos finishing a service project of spreading mulch on a garden, and the rest of the Wolves and Bears playing "Capture the Flag."   Afterward, it was back to Robotics.

I asked several groups of boys, "Are you bored with robots yet?"  The resounding answer was, "No!  It's just getting good, because we are having battles now and our helpers showed us how to win!" The Wolves and Bears have been paying attention to the robot wars going on in the Webelos Vex Robotics classroom, and today the younger Scouts went rogue.  They turned their Snap Circuit robots into battle bots! 

(I think we should contact a company that does product testing and invite them to come to next year's Day Camp.  Our boys could find the full extent of the durability of anything the company brought.)

Today was our big shooting sports day:  Launching dog food from slingshots!  The College has a policy of no weapons on campus, so we got to toss dog food around for the deer to eat.

Boys also made terrariums in Mason canning jars.   The Webelos learned how precious life is in the universe; they already knew that Earth is the only planet we know of that has life in existence.  They talked about the essentials for something to be able to live, and they also talked about the process of conducting an experiment to study life.

Every day right after lunch we have been watching different episodes of "Bill Nye, the Science Guy."  Today we watched "Gravity." (It's available on YouTube, Mom and Dad, if you want to watch it, too.)  Ask your Cub what Bill Nye threw off the building to test gravity!

This afternoon we had a visitor, John Johnson, from the Omaha Astronomy Club.  He covered the points in the Astronomy Belt Loops and pin. . . AND he brought a telescope that allowed the boys to look at the sun!  The boys saw an orange ring around the sun, and they saw a black spot that was a solar storm.  As they say in Bill Nye, "Whoa!"

We wrapped up the day with a bounce house and a giant sponge bomb war.  It got intense, but it didn't turn into "Lord of the Flies." 

Is your son getting tired yet?  Remind him to bring his water bottle; we are encouraging the boys to drink often, but it was warm outside today and they are doing a lot of walking.

Reminder:  Camp will be at Iowa Western on Thursday.  The last day of camp--Friday--will be at the park at the base of the Wabash Trace on Harry Langdon Blvd, at the bottom of Titan Hill Intermediate school.  We will walk to the swimming pool at Iowa School of the Deaf, so boys should bring swimming trunks and a towel.  We will have an all-camp cookout on Friday: hot dogs, buns, chips, watermelon, and ice cream or popsicles.