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.
