Basic Meeting Plans are designed to have minimal supplies and still hit the GSUSA Requirements. Most meetings can be done in a 90 minute time frame.
Items needed:
- Pen/Pencil for each scout
- Paper for each scout
- Print out a dozen Meme examples. (If you use Cookie Memes, you can reuse these examples as part of the MEdia journey advertising activity.)
- Troop coloring supplies (markers, crayons, or colored pencils)
Functions and Arguments in Algorithms
Info Needed: Algorithms were the step by step instructions. When you write them, each step has an action, called a Function. You need to name each function for what it is doing. Each function has different parameters, or arguments. These arguments give details on what the function is doing.
Example: You are going to cook dinner. Your Function would be named cook. The algorithm is for Dinner. If you used the programming language JavaScript, the code line could be: cookDinner()
What will you cook? Pasta. Your function would now be: cookDinner(“pasta”)
What kind of pasta? Spaghetti. Your function would now be: cookDinner(“pasta”, “spaghetti”)
Dinner is the algorithm, cook is the function and pasta and spaghetti are arguments.
Action Needed: As a group, pick another daily life task and make a new code line with a function and an argument. One scout or leader can write down the group’s new code.
(Requirement 1 Earned)
Note to Leaders – You can learn more about functions and parameters with a short video
What makes a Meme?
Info Needed: All memes have two main factors: the picture and the words. Sometimes the words are broken up into a section above or below the picture.
Action Needed: Pick 5 memes as a group and break them down into how you would describe the photo, and what wording is used with it. One scout or leader can write down the group’s breakdown of each meme.
(Requirement 2 Earned)
“Program” a Meme
Info Needed: When programmers are just beginning to work on a new program, they use human language instead of computer language. This is called pseudocode.
Action Needed: Using pseudocode, each scout writes down their own meme idea.
Example: Get a “Picture of Thin Mint Cookies”. Write words above: “Psst. You’re wife called.” Write words below: “She wants Thin Mint Cookies!”
(Requirement 3 Earned)
“Program” a Meme
Info Needed: Pseudocode is great for planning, but it needs to be a real programing language, called shareable code, to work and for other programmers to read it.
Action Needed: Scouts need to change the pseudocode into something more like JavaScript code.
Example: getImage(“thin mint cookies”)
getMarker(black)
writeText(“Psst. You’re wife called”, top image)
writeText(“She wants Thin Mint Cookies!”, under image)
(Requirement 4 Earned)
Draw a Meme
Action Needed: Scouts need to draw their own meme (can be what they programmed or a different one). Pictures do not need to be perfect, just drawn to give the impression of the photo they would want to use. Writing needs to be clear to anyone who tries to read their meme.
When all memes are done, share them with each other. Get feedback on their meme on if the message they wanted was conveyed or not.
(Requirement 5 Earned)
Meeting End
Scouts can keep making additional memes and trying them out on each other until it’s time to go home. See if they can write the instructions clear enough to get the results they want.
General Notes
Note to Leaders – No Basic Plan compiled by The Badge Archive will earn multiple badges in one level. Part of being budget friendly is not costing more than the price of one official GSUSA badge per meeting.
Some badges will take two meeting to finish. This helps scouts enjoy activities and keeps the troop budget in mind by only needing one GSUSA badge for every two meetings. Troops may choose to get a fun patch for one of the meetings if scouts want a badge/patch for every meeting. Scouts can earn the fun patch if they only attend one meeting and get a fun patch and the official badge if they go to both.
The Badge Archive 