Pack Resource Sheet for April

Core Value: Faith

To have faith means possessing inner strength and confidence based on our trust in God.

Supplemental Theme: Soaring the Skies

When you try something new, innovative, or dangerous, it takes faith to make the attempt- faith that a higher power will guide you and keep you safe. It takes faith when we want to fly into the soaring skies. We need faith in the pilots, the co-pilots, the engine and electrical system, the compass, and all the airplane's instruments. More importantly, it is faith that gives you the courage to board the plane, knowing that a higher power will make sure you take off, fly to your destination, and land safely. This month's theme reminds us that faith helps us reach for the sky with our goals, and that we should keep faith in all aspects of our lives.

Scout Law: Reverent

A Scout is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties. He respects the beliefs of others.

Preopening Activity: Paper Airplanes

Provide paper for each participant to fold into a paper airplane. These will be used later in the Airport Game.

Preopening Activity: What Am I?

Prepare slips of paper, write the name of an object that flies for each boy. As they arrive, pin a word on the back of their shirt. The object of the game is to guess the word on your back.

Example: balloon, helicopter, biplane, space shuttle, etc.

Opening Ceremony: Soaring to New Heights

Materials: Have large pieces of construction paper with a picture representing each of the eight statements, and the lines on the back.

#1: Leonardo da Vinci had a vision of man in the sky.

#2: Orville and Wilbur Wright built a plane, the first one to fly.

#3: The sound barrier was broken by Chuck Yeager, they say.

#4: John F. Kennedy said we'd put a man on the moon one day.

#5: The International Space Station is the base out in space.

#6: Where countries work together, instead of competing in a race.

#7: What will be next? Travel at the speed of light?

#8: Watch us fly high, we're Cub Scouts- soaring to new heights!

Song: The Noble Captain Kirk

Tune: The Grand Old Duke of York

The noble Captain Kirk,

He had four hundred men.

He beamed them up to the Enterprise,

And beamed them down again.

And when they're up, they're up (stand up)

And when they're down, they're down (sit down)

And when they're only halfway up

Their atoms roll around. (wave and flap arms)

Advancement Ceremony: Let's Go Fly a Kite

Materials: kites representing each badge of rank, with the awards attached to them.

CM: Kites have a long and varied history. They were invented in China and were made of silk and bamboo. I'll bet you didn't know that kites were once used by the military for aerial photography and to deliver messages. The Wright brothers used large kites to test their ideas about flight before building their airplane. And we have all heard of Benjamin Franklin's famous experiment with a kite, a key, and a lightning bolt. Our Cub Scouts have been working hard this month and are flying high. Let us recognize them for their achievements.

(As each rank is presented, the CM takes down the corresponding kite, calls up the boys and their parents, removes the badges, and presents them. Then he presents the kite to the den leader.)

CM: To all of the boys who have soared this month, we congratulate you with a cheer!

Cheers:

Blast-off Cheer: Everyone squats down in front of their chairs and counts down. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Blast off!” At blast-off, everyone jumps up as high as they can, roaring like a missile.

Satellite Applause: Move right hand in circle overhead, opening and closing the fist, while saying “Gleep-gleep-gleep.”

Supersonic Cheer: We all know light travels faster than sound; in this case we see the cheer before we hear it. Wave arms and pretend to cheer (no noise). Then sit down, wait a moment, and- at the leader's signal- make sounds.

Astronaut Cheer: Pretend to be on the moon, placing the American flag. Then say, “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind!”

Jet Plane: Hold palm of right hand straight and move in a sweeping motion from right to left, back to right, then to left. Give a loud, “Zoom!” with each motion. Break the sound barrier by clapping as loud as possible and yelling, “Boom!”

Skit:

#1 (pointing up): Look! Is that a bird?

#2: I think it's a plane!

#3: No way, it's Superman!

#1 (wiping his face): I was right, it's a bird.

Audience Participation: Rockets, Planes & Eagles

Rocket: jump up and yell BLASTOFF

Plane: out-stretched arms swaying, yell BOOM

Eagle: flapping arms, yell SCREECH

Not too many years ago, there was a great big ROCKET. This ROCKET loved to travel to the moon. At the same time, there was a large, glorious PLANE. This PLANE thought he was great until he heard about the ROCKET. Then the PLANE became depressed because he couldn't leave the earth's atmosphere like the ROCKET.

One day an EAGLE was flying by and heard the PLANE crying. The EAGLE asked the PLANE what the matter was. The PLANE sobbed, “I can't go where the ROCKET goes. I want to go to the moon.” The EAGLE just didn't know what to do. He thought and thought. Just then, the ROCKET went soaring by and the EAGLE got a brilliant idea. The EAGLE said, “Did you just see that ROCKET soaring by?” “Yes,” said the sullen PLANE. “Well, did you see the ROCKET only had 9 passengers?” the EAGLE said. “Think how many passengers you make happy every day, taking them to places they want to go.” This made the PLANE happy. And the EAGLE continued being happy about being the symbol of this great country, the ROCKET was happy traveling to outer space, and the PLANE was happy because he was making other people happy.

Cubmaster's Minute: Tracks on the Moon

Over 45 years ago, ,an first set foot on the moon. That first footprint of Neil Armstrong is still there on the moon, preserved in the lunar dust where no wind will blow it away. Other footprints are there, too: Gene Cernan, Alan Bean, Buzz Aldrin, Edgar Mitchell, Alan Shepard, and others who explored the lunar surface. Here on earth we can't literally see our footprints forever, but wherever our feet carry us, WHAT WE DO is preserved. Every kind deed is remembered and has a lasting effect on those around us. Every hurtful word has a lasting effect as well. Let's decide to choose our words and our deeds as carefully as if they were to be recorded forever, like the footsteps on the moon.

Closing Ceremony: “The Sky is the Limit”

Den Leader: Cub Scouts, it wasn't long ago that we heard some people say, “The sky is the limit.” That meant that a man could make anything of himself that he wanted... at least, on the earth. Well, that limit is off now. There is almost no limit to what you can aspire to do, either on earth or in space. Our astronauts showed us that.

Comm. Chair: Colonel “Buzz” Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was a member of Troop 12 in Montclair, N.J. He once told a group of Scouts, “Set your goals high and settle for nothing less than accomplishment. Don't settle for mediocrity.”

CM: How well you perform will depend on how you accept this new challenge which says, “The sky is NOT the limit.” A Cub Scout who does his best in everything he undertakes now is preparing himself for that challenge. If you want to aim for the stars, you must rem,ember that you are building your launch pad right now, by your willingness and initiative in every task you tackle- at home, church, school, and Scouting.

Game: Four Forces of Flight

Boys line up facing the den leader. The den leader shouts out one of the four forces and Cub Scouts respond by running forward for thrust, backward for drag, falling to the ground for gravity, and jumping for lift.

Thrust: The engine turns the propeller, which pulls the aircraft forward.

Drag: The shape of the aircraft slows its forward movement.

Gravity: Weight holds the aircraft down.

Lift: Air flowing over the wings and the angle of the wing into the wind moves the aircraft upward.

Game: Airport

Create a “landing strip.” Boys must try to land their paper airplanes on the strip.

Project: Grocery Bag Kites

Materials: large paper grocery bag; hole punch; circular reinforcements; scissors, lightweight string; markers; stapler or glue; crepe paper streamers

Directions:

*Punch a hole in each of the 4 corners of a large paper bag at least 1 inch from the top edge of bag.

*Stick a circular reinforcement around each hole on each side of bag.

*Cut 2 3-foot lengths of string and tie each end to a hole to form 2 loops.

*Tie another 3-foot length of string through the 2 loops to create a handle.

*Decorate the bag with markers. Glue or staple crepe paper streamers to the bottom of bag.

*Hold on to the string as you run, the bag-kite will fill with air and float behind you.