The Badge Archive

Two 90 minute meetings!

Meeting 1 Outline

Do your normal troop opening.

• If you need a gathering activity, have them try the Symmetry Fall worksheet

Note – make sure you know what a Fractal is and what the Fibonacci sequence is before the meeting. You can also print out examples of Natural Fibonacci spirals.

Learn the Fibonacci sequence (J Requirement 5)

• Make sure they understand it makes a spiral.
• Have scouts think of what spirals in nature and have them all sketch their idea. Compare the drawings and see how many different spirals they thought of.

Make a Spooky Tree (J Requirement 3)

• Explain what fractals are and how tree branches are fractals. Then make a spooky tree.
• Pick the craft that fits your troop:
  • Construction Paper Spooky Tree
  • Fractal Leaf Art
  • Pipe Cleaner Tree
  • 3D Paper Spooky Trees (You can cut out your own and do not need a paper cutting machine, but follow the same guidelines to cut the tree trunk so the pieces fit together and make a 3D free standing art)

Draw tessellations (J Requirement 1, D/J Requirement 2 & B Requirement 4)

• Use Fall Leaves to inspire a tessellation drawing session!
• Make sure to mention how leaves have natural symmetry, and what symmetry means to hit the Junior Requirements needed.
• Note: Make sure they put their names on the back of the drawings. They can finish them up at the end of the next meeting.

Meeting 2 Outline

Do your normal troop opening.

• If you need a gathering activity, print out Halloween coloring pages

Count it Up (D/B Requirement 1 & D Requirement 3)

• Make a foldable with 4 categories (like fall leaf, pumpkin, leafless tree, and spiderwebs) to tally the things you see.
• Note: If you can’t walk around the neighborhood, make little drawings to post around the meeting area they can do a scavenger hunt for and tally them up.

Make a Graph (B Requirement 2)

• Use the data from the 4 categories to make a graph (bar graph, pie chart, or word cloud).

Make a Spiderweb (B/J Requirement 3)

• Pick the craft that fits your troop – but make sure they are doing a radial pattern when making their spiderweb.
  • Sticks and Yarn (Version 1 or Version 2)
  • Glue and Glitter (or paper bits or sand or sprinkles or forget the topping and just use glue for a textured spiderweb!)
  • Paper Spiderweb (similar to cutting out snowflakes)

Get Batty (B Requirement 5, replacing bats with birds)

• Show scouts how many bats can come out of a cave or places like the bridge in Austin, TX.
• Take a screenshot before the meeting to have printed out for the scouts to try and count how many bats they see in just a single image. (They can count in small groups or individually)
• Make a chart to show how many bats each group/individual counted from the same image. Were the numbers we all reached the same or different?
• Scientists have to try and count and track how many bats emerge while they are swarming – how much harder would that be to count when they are moving like in the videos?

Draw tessellations (J Requirement 1, D/J Requirement 2 & B Requirement 4)

• Pull out the tessellations they started in the first meeting so they can finish them up.
• Note: They may need to finish them at home, depending on the time available.