Nature Night

Scouts are all about nature. Every rank in Cub Scouting has at least one Adventure that deals with nature, most have a few.  Why not hold a Nature themed Pack meeting? The Cubs can learn and earn at the same time, or you can do things that deviate from the Adventures and just have a great time!

Cheers:

Themed cheers add a lot of spunk and energy to the meeting’s program. You can use them to raise the excitement in the room, or bring it to a quick quiet if you need to get the room’s attention. Here is an example of a fun cheer for a Nature themed Pack Meeting:

Cubmaster: I see owls

Scouts: Who, Who, Who?

Possible Activities:

Bring in animals from a zoo or petshop if possible (talk to your chartering representatives first to be sure that the critters are allowed in the space).

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Dissecting owl pellets can be a lot of fun. The Cubs will find feathers, tufts of fur, and small bones. If you want you can even leave out some glue and construction paper and your Scouts can glue on their finds. Have them try rebuilding the skeleton of their lasr dinner.

Your Department of Natural Resources may have free owl Pellets that they can bring with them. If you are not inviting them there are plenty of online retailers that you can buy them from.
We refer to it as "dissecting" owl pellets, but really you are gently pulling them apart. You will want to have a lot of tweezers for the activity but you won't need anything sharp, so all the Cubs can do this independently.

Look at recent weather patterns and predict what might come next and why.

Invite your local Department of Natural Resources to the meeting, they frequently have bones and fur that the Cubs can touch, they may have a variety of things they can bring that your scouts will love.

The Department of Natural Resources in your state may of themed boxes that can be checked out for meetings. The was a Birds of Prey box. There were wings of several species, a sample of beaks, and a variety of Talons. These were all collected from animals that dies of natural causes of hit by vehicles. All the items in the box were able to be touched and passed around.
In additon to themed boxes your local Department of Natural Resources also likely has a variety of feathers, bones and pelts that the Cubs can explore.

How are rocks made?

Igneous rocks come from magma that cools when it interacts with air of water. This can be demonstrated with something as simple as a glue gun. The hot glue flows out like lava, and also lava, once the glue is away from the heat source it will cool and become solid.

Metamorphic rock is made of other types of rock that go through heat and pressure. This can be demonstrated by cooking something on a small camp stove. Imagine a great burger with meat, salt pepper,  and cheese all mixed together, then cooked. At the end you may not be able to separate out things because they have formed a new substance, and hamburger, which required heat.

Sedimentary rocks are made from tremendous amounts of pressure. A great way to show this is by taking Playdough and having it broken into small pieces. Let them play with the tiny bits for a while, and describe how they feel. This is what sediment is like. Then have them use all their muscles to squish the pieces back into one giant ball or mass. Ask them what is different about it. Have the Scouts break it back into “sediment” for the next group.

A Rock Station is a great idea, try having rock collections and have someone knowledgeable talk to the kids about them.

If you can get a hold of a local geologist they are great at having lots of hands on activities for Scouts. Here was an example of a geologist talking to Scouts about the properties of various rocks and minerals. The decorations on the faces of these Scouts are from seeing how soft minerals can be used as skin decorations in many cultures.
These Scouts are identifying fossils found in a variety of sedimentary rocks.
Local collectors, high school science departments, or colleges would likely be willing to come and bring some amazing collections to show your Cubs.

Plant a container garden. Have each Scout bring a 2 liter bottle, milk jug, Cool Whip tub, or something similar (have a few extra for anyone that forgets). Let them add some potting soil and a few seeds.

A milk jug can work perfectly for a planter.
Make a Solo cup herb garden.
Chinese take out box planter.
2 liter bottle terrarium.
Directions on a 2 liter bottle terrarium.

Food Web game: This game is best played with about 15-20 people. Food Webs are like Food Chains. A Food Web is actually composed of a variety of Food Chains. Food Chains how one line of animals consumes or is consumed by each other. A Food Web will show that there are multiple ways that consumption happens. For instance a mouse doesn’t just eat grass, it can eat grass, seeds, berries, flowers, etc. Also a mouse isn’t just eaten by snakes, they may also be eaten by owls, hawks, bobcats, etc. To play this game, have the Scouts stand in a circle close together. Next criss cross a rope back and forth so that each Scout in the circle is holding it. Next, have them all pick a plant or animal. Make sure you have small and large animals and several plants. Pick one mid level animal and have that Scout drop the rope. Have the remaining Scouts take up the slack by spreading out. Then have any larger predator that would have eaten that animal to also die off and drop the rope due to a lack of food sources. Again have Scouts take up the slack by spreading out. Ask the Scouts what is happening to their circle.they will soon see it is getting too spread out and too few options which is having a negative impact on the environment.

Food Chains show who animals get food by eating prey.
You can see the Food Webs are much more complex than Food Chains.

A plant station can be a great place to show the Scouts wood cuts and teach them how to count the rings of the tree. Examples of bark can show the Scouts how varied they can be in color and texture and they can be useful in plant identification. Leaves are one of the best ways to identify various plants. Having a variety of leaves can show Scouts things to look for when trying to identify such as; shape of the leaf, smooth or jagged edges, texture, and the appearance of lobes and how many lobes.

Scouts love a snack and here is one that fits right in with any geology stations that you might have at your Nature themed meeting. This will show the Scouts how sedimentary rocks form from layers. You can even have them toss in an animal cracker or two between a few layers to see why they are found in sedimentary rocks. They can “excavate” their fossil for a great dessert!

Hiding a "fossil" in between a few layers.
Here are alternating layers of chocolate pudding, crushed graham cracker, and whipped cream.
The excavation is in full swing!

A fun craft always brings a Pack meeting together. There are a lot of great crafts that can fit a nature theme. Here are a few examples below. Also you can check the Craft section in the sites Treasure Chest for more ideas that can be great!

Craft foam and a clothes pin are a great base for this dragonfly craft. Add some colors with markers or paint and two tiny googly eyes to finish it off.
There are many examples of paper plate critters in our Treasure Chest's craft section, but this simple snake is a favorite.
The base of this adorable owl is just a cross cut of wood. Then with a marker, some construction paper, a few buttons and some pipe cleaners your owl is complete. Drilling a hole through it and adding a string will turning into a great Christmas ornament.