HIKING WE WILL GO FULFILLS ADVANCEMENT REQUIREMENTS Tigers in The Wild 1 Name/collect 6 hiking essentials; tell what do if it rains Tigers in the Wild 2 Go for short hike; show your know how to be ready for hike. Tigers Backyard Jungle 1 Take a 1 ft. hike Tigers Backyard Jungle 5 Pick out 2 sounds you hear on your hike. Wolf: Paws on the Path 1 Put together 6 hiking essentials Wolf: Paws on the Path -- 2 Explain buddy system & why we use it Wolf: Paws on the Path 3 Describe what you should do if you are separated from your group while hiking Wolf: Paws on the Path 6 Go on a 1 mile hike* Webelos Walkabout 1 Create a hike plan. Webelos Walkabout 6 Hike 6 miles* MATERIALS REQUIRED Printed materials included Crayons/markers/pens LEADER NOTES MOST of the above requirements were designed to be accomplished OUTDOORS, ideally on a hike. However, that may be impractical for many of our groups. IF YOU CAN GO OUTSIDE, do so. If you are stuck in a classroom, then use the materials here as best you can to bring this subject to life. * -- The actual hike well, if your Scouts attend CTX or GOLD RUSH or FISH and FUN Day, they will be HIKING! 1
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GATHERING (5 minutes) HIKING WE WILL GO Meeting Plan As Scouts enter, give them the 1 FOOT HIKE HIDDEN OBJECT worksheet. Ask them to circle all the hidden objects they can find. HINT: There are 14 different things hidden. All, except one, you might find looking carefully through a 1 square foot section of grass! Which is the one you WOULD NOT FIND on a ONE FOOT HIKE? OPENING (4 minutes): Flag Ceremony/Pledge of Allegiance/Scout Oath and Law (consider dispensing with a formal flag ceremony and simply to the Pledge/Oath/Law standing in place to save time) Scout Law POINT OF THE WEEK: OBEDIENT. A Scout follows the rules of his family, school, and troop. He obeys the laws of his community and country. If he thinks these rules and laws are unfair, he tries to have them changed in an orderly manner rather than disobeying them. INTRODUCTION 5 minutes Today we are going to talk about HIKING how to be prepared, what to do when you like, what to look for and what you might see. Even if we can t go on an actual hike TODAY, you will have an opportunity to hike if you attend the CTX event or if you go to FISH AND FUN Day in the spring. Stand up if you found 5 hidden objects how about 7? If you didn t find 7, sit down. (go on until you have the kids who found the MOST as the only ones standing up). Ask those Scouts to tell the things they found and to point out where they found them (if someone asks where was that. What s the one thing you wouldn t find on a 1 foot hike? THE TIGER OF COURSE!!!!! Leader notes: ant, fly, spider, spider web, snail, butterfly, leaf, flower, branch, ladybug, caterpillar, acorn, feather, tiger. Lastly, ask them to think of sounds they might hear on a hike (1 foot or longer!): birds, bees buzzing, squirrels chattering, water running, etc. 3
LEADER NOTES Again, if there is any grassy area nearby or a park, maybe you can go outside and take a hike stopping here and there to notice things or to sit a moment and discuss one of the topics below. But if you can t, work with these games/ideas to teach the material and have some fun as best you can. To the extent any of your Scout attend Chill-o-ree or Fish-n-Fun day, we hope to have a hike scheduled where they can put these principles to good use. Also, to the extent you have other resources (library books, plastic models, stamps with tracks, etc.), you can use those to enhance the learning. THE BUDDY SYSTEM (10 min.) Scouts What does the word buddy mean? Anyone? Pick a Scout from the group, and ask him to come up to the front and act out what you narrate: The Scout is walking along in the woods, when he trips over a log and falls downs! Oh goodness, his leg is broken. As your actor is laying on the floor holding his pretend broken leg, ask him what will he do? Night is fast approaching, he s all alone and can t walk????? Not good. Now have another Scout come up to the front. The scene they need to act is now: Scout A falls down, over log, breaks leg. Scout B has to respond (ask him what he would do) render first aid, and then go for help. But there s one little problem two is better than one, but that still leaves Billy Scout alone in the woods with a broken leg while Sammy Scout goes for help Do you think 3 or 4 people in your hiking group would be better? WHY? Explain the CUB SCOUT BUDDY SYSTEM rules (and it goes for EVERYTHING even a trip to the bathroom). TAKE A BUDDY! 4
CUB SCOUT HIKING ESSENTIALS (12 min.) Break the group up into 2 teams. Mix the ages, so each group has a mix (so as not to team the younger boys against the older boys). Give out a set of these cards to each team. Tell them they have 5 minutes to agree (however they wish to agree majority vote, unanimous consent, etc.) on SIX of the 12 items as being ESSENTIAL to take on a hike. Then have each team appoint a spokesperson to come up to the front with their six essentials and see if the two teams agree or disagree item by item. THEN, if they ve missed ANY of the SIX essentials (per the handbook: First Aid Kit, Flashlight, Whistle, Water, trail food, sunprotection), discuss. Sunprotection may the the one most unlikely to be picked, and granted, some people need it more than others. You can discuss that and say, depending on circumstances, BUG SPRAY may be even more important. ALL OF THE CARDS contain GOOD THINGS to take on a hike. So in one way, there are no wrong answers. 5
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WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET SEPARATED from your group (7 min.) Ask Scouts to raise their hands if they ve ever been out somewhere with their teacher or their family, and found themselves separated from their group? How old were there? What did that feel like? What did they do? Explain that we don t want anyone in Scouts to EVER get lost but a SCOUT is always prepared and should know what to do JUST IN CASE this happens. So, have them pretend they are out on a hike and Billy Scout wanders off. It could be a hike, or it could be that everyone is at camp, but no one can find Billy. Ask the Scouts WHY this might happen: Billy sees something interesting and stops to look while the group moves on Billy walks slower than the rest of the group and gets further and further behind until he can t see the group anymore Billy decides to take short-cut and beat the group back to camp Billy goes to hide in the woods in order to avoid doing latrine sweep duty! Ask if it is harder for two people to get lost than just one? Why? Explain this is another reason to ALWAYS HAVE A BUDDY. Now ask, what should Billy Lost Scout do? Listen to what they say, and guide discussion to the following: S T O P 1. S stands for STAY CALM and STAY WHERE YOU ARE. STOP moving. Sit down, have a drink of water. 2. T stands for THINK. Think about how you can help people find you. DON T HIDE. You are not in trouble. Your family/pack/etc. will come looking for you. HELP them find you by being visible (BUT STAY PUT it s much harder to find a moving target). 3. O stands for OBSERVE. Listen for the rest of your group or for people looking for you. Blow your whistle 3 times. Then LISTEN. 3 of any kind of noise means a signal for HELP. 4. P stands for PLAN. Plan (think) of how you will stay warm and dry until you are found. People are coming to find you, and they will. STAY PUT, STAY CALM, and if necessary think about shelter (under a tree, branches, leaves, etc.). 18
WHAT TO WEAR ON A HIKE (4 min.) While everyone is sitting and discussing the lost Scout scenario, you can continue directly into a quick chat on what to wear for the weather. Ask what they should wear for: Sunny HOT Windy Rainy Cold Be sure they think about their FEET too, and what shoes to wear if they are going to get wet, be walking on rocky or step ground, etc. Be sure they think about their FEET too, and what shoes to wear if they are going to get wet, be walking on rocky or step ground, etc. Remember gloves/mittens, hats, scarves, long underwear for really cold (not very Dallas!) weather. MAKING A HIKE PLAN (Webelos Walkabout) If possible, save this requirement just for the Webelos if you can separate them out. Give each Webelos Scout a copy of the Pedernales Falls State Park Map and Trail Guide (2 pages) along with the HIKE PLAN PAGE. Ask them to select a hike along one the trails and plan their hike. They need to consider the difficulty of the hike, the length of time they want to be hiking, the ability level of the group, whether they need to bring food and water, and the availability of restrooms. They should fill out the hike plan based on their selections and then you can briefly review them with the Scouts. IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER ADULT who can lead this group, this can be done with group discussion to select the trail, etc. You can tell the boys that most CUB SCOUT DENS, can hike 1 2 miles/hour, including stops. Older boys and adults usually can average 3 miles an hour, but they have longer legs and can take longer steps. Also, distance is more than just the measure from point A to point B. They need to take into account elevation, uphill and downhill, and any crossings of water. 19
GAME (10 min.) If you are able to separate out the Webelos to do the HIKE PLAN, you can have the other Scouts play a game. Depending on the space available to you, you could play a version of the MARCO POLO game with the words being LOST and FOUND it could be the LOST HIKER GAME. But pick a game that would be fun and just adapt it to use hiking vocabulary. 20
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HIKE PLAN DATE of Hike: WHO s HIKING: WHERE: TRAIL: Difficulty: Special considerations (elevation change, terrain, water crossings, etc.): Weather forecast: Gathering Place/Time: Hike Departure time: Estimated Hike RETURN Time: Other information: 23