January 2013 – Pack 106 in Grafton, Mass

Pinewood Derby 2013!

Posted on January 29, 2013 by admin Posted in Gallery, Pack News

Racers start your engines! As always, the Pack 106 Pinewood Derby was a blast! 145 people attended the races to help cheer on everyone towards the finish line. Everything went off with out a hitch and there were a lot of close races, the occasional do-over and one oopsie! (We should probably add a pillow at the end of the track.)

At the end of the races, the top ten boys: Stephen B., Jaden N., Hunter W., Luke W., Cole A., Scott P., Alexander H., Cal M., Nicholas S., and Brady K., were all invited to race the Girl Scouts on Sunday after their Powder Puff Derby. So how did that go you ask?

By the skin of her teeth, Amanda P. squeaked by to take the trophy with Stephen B. as the close runner up! WOW! The girls won this year, but next year, it’s anyone’s game!

We would like to send a big “Thank You” to Christopher C. and David B. for their assistance for the event as well as our own car handlers Bill Keeler, Lewis Alderton and Jim Reinhardt.

And do not forget to watch a cool video of all the cars from this year’s derby!

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Rockets!!

Posted on January 27, 2013 by admin Posted in Gallery, Pack News

Man, STEM is fun! Today, the boys all went out in the bitter cold to launch their hand-made rockets at Tuft’s Field. As you can see in the photos, it was a blast (pun wholly intended) for everyone! The wind cooperated nicely, and we had some terrific fun with the launches. There were a couple of malfunctions (i.e. destroyed rockets), but it was all in the name of science! We had a total of 3 launching pads setup, so we were able to get through the initial launches pretty quickly.

For what it’s worth, we were “officially” learning about Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states, basically, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. One of the ignition systems was hobbled together with some basic electric parts, too – so we got a chance to talk about electrical circuits in the midst of all the “controlled explosions!”

One of the highlights of the day was Wesley’s rocket, which went straight up, and incredibly, straight down! Its chute didn’t deploy properly, so it fell quickly, and embedded itself in the ground about 4 feet from its launch point. Talk about accuracy!

After everyone had a chance to fire-off their rockets, we ended up sending some of them back up with some very overpowered engines. Those launches were, quite literally, out-of-sight! We ended up staying well past the official 3:30pm ending, but I’m sure the boys will have some great memories of today!

By the way, there’s a picture of a really neat field trip the boys took, to Metso Automation in Shrewsbury. Mr. Bayreuther gave the boys a terrific tour of the facilities, and demonstrated some very cool machinery. They got to see, close-up, the effects that liquid nitrogen has on some objects like rubber balls and balloons.

Here are a few of the photos:

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Pack 106 is a trend-setter!

Posted on January 15, 2013 by admin Posted in Pack News

I have to post this… congratulations to all the STEM boys (and their parents!) on this incredible accomplishment! You’ll be seeing some news articles about this in the local papers.

Grafton Pack 106 earns first STEM awards in Massachusetts

14 Webelos Scouts to be recognized Feb. 10 for achievement

GRAFTON – Cub Scout Pack 106 in Grafton will see 14 Webelos recognized for a very special achievement at its annual Blue and Gold banquet to be held Feb.10. Pack 106 is part of the Hassanamisco District of Mohegan council, and is led by Cubmaster Chris Paquin and Assistant Cubmaster Lewis Alderton.

The eight Webelos Scouts and six Arrow of Light Scouts will be recognized for earning Supernova awards, an award that is part of the new STEM program in Cub and Boy Scouting. STEM focuses on exposing boys to science, technology, engineering and mathematics and offers four different Nova awards for Cubs, Webelos, Boy Scouts and Venturers. The requirements vary by rank, and to be eligible to earn a Supernova award, it is highly recommended that the boy first complete the requirements for at least two of the Nova awards.

The Webelos from Pack 106 will be the first Supernova Awards to be awarded in Massachusetts since the debut of the STEM program for Boy Scouts.

The Dr. Charles H. Townes Supernova Award, the Supernova award at the Webelos level, provides a challenging set of activities. Scouts who are in the STEM program have to be an active member of their Den, so these requirements are on top of the work they are already doing to move through the ranks. The Supernova requirements are completed by earning the Scholar, Scientist and Engineer Webelos activity badges, earning three activity badges of Craftsman, Forester, Geologist, Naturalist, Outdoorsman or Readyman, a discussion with their mentor on Dr. Charles H. Townes and his achievements, research on five other famous scientist, technology innovators, engineers or mathematicians, and discussing with their teacher or Cub Scout Leader the importance of math and science in education.

Additionally, they must visit or learn about a STEM-related career, do an experiment under the direction of their mentor that shows how the scientific method is used, and participate in a Nova or STEM-related activity with a Boy Scout or Venturer who is working towards their own Supernova award, or within their Pack of Den. Once these requirements are met, they can then apply for the Webelos Scout Supernova Award for approval.

Paquin and Alderton developed a customized curriculum for the boys from their Pack who were interested in participating in the new program. “After hearing about the STEM program, I was inspired to try the program out in my own unit,” said Paquin. The two leaders had 14 boys interested in the program, that required an additional commitment over their normal Den meetings; 8 Webelos Scouts (4th year Cub Scouts) and 6 Arrow of Light Scouts (5th year Cub Scouts) joined up, which Paquin felt was the perfect number.

The group has met weekly, covering a variety of STEM-focused topics such as the Scientific Method, Bernoulli’s Principle, Pascal’s Law, Newton’s first law of motion and more. “The boys had a great time making crystals, discussing some cool optical illusions, and learning all about astronomy, too,” said Paquin. During December, the Pack visited the Boston Museum of Science, and the STEM group was accommodated with a special set of activities to help them complete their requirements. Later on this month, they will be launching rockets that they are currently building themselves. “We will also be doing some cool stuff with electricity and having them make some mini-catapults with some parts found around the house,” explained Paquin.

Paquin and Alderton are no strangers to the fields of technology, working as a Technology Architect and a Software Engineer respectively. For them, the idea of developing a STEM program seemed like a natural fit. Although the Nova awards are open to Wolf and Bear Scouts as well, Paquin and Alderton opted to limit the program to Webelos for this first year, and both act as STEM counselors. “If there is enough interest, and enough people willing to act as counselors, it can be opened up to more Scouts in the Wolf or Bear years,” stated Paquin.

The annual Blue and Gold banquet is a time to recognize the hard work of all Cub Scouts, and is when boys often move up in rank after successfully completing the requirements for their current rank. For Arrow of Light Scouts, this is the time when they earn their AOL, Cub Scouting’s highest achievement, and bridge up to Boy Scouting. “The Arrow of Light boys will have a lot to celebrate,” said Paquin, “but their Supernova awards are sure to be a big highlight!”