Wolf Electives

The Wolf Electives

AFTER a Wolf Cub Scout earns his Wolf Badge they may begin earning the Electives section of his book.

There are 14 Elective Adventures in the Wolf program:

  1. Adventures in Coins

  2. Air of the Wolf

  3. Code of the Wolf

  4. Collections and Hobbies

  5. Cubs Who Care

  6. Digging in the Past

  7. Finding Your Way

  8. Germs Alive!

  9. Grow Something

  10. Hometown Heroes

  11. Motor Away

  12. Paws of Skill

  13. Spirit of the Water

Wolf Elective Adventure: Adventures in Coins

    1. Identify different parts of a coin.

    2. Find the mint mark on a coin; identify what mint facility it was made in, and what year it was made.

    3. Play a coin game.

    4. Choose a coin that interests you, and make a coin rubbing. List information next to the coin detailing the pictures on it, the year it was made, and the mint where it was made.

    5. Play a game or create a game board with your den or family where you can practice adding and subtracting coins.

    6. Create a balance scale.

    7. Do a coin-weight experiment.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Air of the Wolf

    1. Do the following investigations:

        1. Conduct an investigation about the weight of air.

        2. Conduct an investigation about air temperature.

        3. Conduct at least one of the following investigations to see how air affects different objects:

            1. Make a paper airplane and fly it five times. Make a change to its shape to help it fly farther. Try it at least five times.

            2. Make a balloon-powered sled or a balloon-powered boat. Test your sled or boat with larger and smaller balloons.

            3. Bounce a basketball that doesn't have enough air in it. Then bounce it when it has the right amount of air in it. Do each one 10 times. Describe how the balls bounce differently when the amount of air changes.

            4. Roll a tire or ball that doesn't have enough air in it, and then roll it again with the right amount of air. Describe differences in how they move.

    2. Do the following:

        1. With other members of your den, go outside and record the sounds you hear. Identify which of these sounds is the result of moving air.

        2. Create a musical wind instrument, and play it as part of a den band.

        3. With an adult, conduct an investigation on how speed can affect sound.

    1. Do the following:

        1. Explain the rules for safely flying kites.

        2. Make a kite using household materials.

    1. If your den or your pack has a kite derby, space derby or rain-gutter regatta, participate in the fun. Or build a kite or rain-gutter regatta boat with your family. Explain how air helps the vehicle move.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Code of the Wolf

    1. Do two of the following:

        1. With the members of your den or family, make a game with simple materials that requires math to keep score.

        2. Play a game of “Go Fish for 10s.”

        3. Do five activities at home, at school, or in your den that use mathematics, and then explain to your den how you used everyday math.

        4. Make a rekenrek with two rows, and show Akela how you would represent the numbers 4, 6, 9, and 14.

        5. Make a rain gauge or some other measuring device, and use it.

    2. Do one of the following:

        1. With other members of your den or family, identify three different types of shapes that you see in nature.

        2. With other members of your den or family, identify two shapes you can see in the construction of bridges.

        3. Select a single shape or figure. Observe the world around you for at least a week, and write down where you see this shape or figure and how it is used.

    1. Do one of the following:

        1. With your den, find something that comes with many small, colored items in one package. Count the number of items of each color in your package. Keep track of each color. Then:

            1. Draw a graph showing the number of items of each color.

            2. Determine what the most common color is.

            3. Compare your results to the other boys'.

            4. Predict how many items of each color you will find in one more package.

            5. Decide if your prediction was close.

        2. With your den or family, measure the height of everyone in the group and see who takes more steps to walk 100 feet.

        3. Have each member in your den shoot a basketball. Count the number of shots it takes to make five baskets. Graph the number of shots it takes for each boy using 5, 6–10, 11–15, 16–20, or more than 20.

    1. Do one of the following:

        1. Use a secret code using numbers to send a message to one of your den members or your den leader. Have that person send a message back to you. Be sure you both use the same code numbers.

        2. Send a message to another member of your den or your den leader using the pig pen code or another code that changes letters into special shapes.

        3. Practice using a block cipher to decode a message.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Collections and Hobbies

    1. Begin a collection of at least 10 items that all have something in common. Label the items and title your collection.

    2. Share your collection at a den meeting.

    3. Visit a show or museum that displays different collections or models.

    4. Create an autograph book and get at least 10 autographs. Start with members of your den.

    5. Pick a famous living person, and write him or her a letter. In your letter, ask the person to send you an autographed photo.

    6. Play a game with your den that involves collecting.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Cubs Who Care

    1. With the members of your den, visit with a person who has a physical disability.

    2. Do four of the following, a through h:

        1. With other members of your den, try using a wheelchair or crutches, and reflect on the process.

        2. Learn about a sport that has been adapted so that people in wheelchairs or with some other physical disability can play, and tell your den about it.

        3. Learn about “invisible” disabilities. Take part in an activity that helps develop an understanding of invisible disabilities.

        4. With your den, try doing three of the following things while wearing gloves or mittens:

            1. Tying your shoes.

            2. Using a fork to pick up food.

            3. Playing a card game.

            4. Playing a video game.

            5. Playing checkers or another board game.

            6. Blowing bubbles.

        5. Paint a picture two different ways: Paint it once the way you usually would paint it and then again by using a blindfold. Discuss with your den the ways the process was different.

        6. Demonstrate a simple sentence or at least four points of the Scout Law using American Sign Language.

        7. Learn about someone famous who has or had a disability, and share that person's story with your den.

        8. Attend an event where people with disabilities are participants or where accommodations for people with disabilities are made a part of the event.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Digging in the Past

    1. Play a game that demonstrates your knowledge of dinosaurs, such as a dinosaur match game.

    2. Create an imaginary dinosaur. Share with your den its name, what it eats, and where it lives.

    3. Make a fossil cast.

    4. Make a dinosaur dig.

    5. Make edible fossil layers. Explain how this snack is a good model for the formation of fossils.

    6. Be a paleontologist, and dig through the dinosaur digs made by your den. Show and explain the ways a paleontologist works carefully during a dig.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Finding Your Way

    1. Do the following:

        1. Using a map of your city or town, locate where you live.

        2. Draw a map for a friend so he or she can locate your home, a park, a school, or other locations in your neighborhood. Use symbols to show parks, buildings, trees, and water. You can invent your own symbols. Be sure to include a key so your symbols can be identified.

    2. Pick a nutritious snack, and find where it came from. Locate that area on a map.

    3. Do the following:

        1. Identify what a compass rose is and where it is on the map.

        2. Use a compass to identify which direction is north. Show how to determine which way is south, east, and west.

    1. Go on a scavenger hunt using a compass, and locate an object with a compass.

    2. Using a map and compass, go on a hike with your den or family.

Wolf Elective Adventures: Germs Alive!

    1. Wash your hands while singing the “germ song.”

    2. Play Germ Magnet with your den. Wash your hands again afterward.

    3. Conduct the sneeze demonstration.

    4. Conduct the mucus demonstration with your den.

    5. Grow a mold culture. Show what formed at a den or pack meeting.

    6. Make a clean room chart.

Wolf Elective Adventure: Grow Something

    1. Select a seed, and plant it in a small container. Care for it for 30 days. Take a picture or make a drawing of your plant once each week to share with your den.

    2. Find out the growing zone for your area, and share the types of plants that will grow best in your zone.

    3. Visit or research a botanical or community garden in your area, and learn about two of the plants that grow there. Share what you have learned with your den.

    4. Make a terrarium.

    5. Do one of the following:

        1. Using a seed tray, grow a garden inside your home. Keep a journal of its progress for 30 days. Share the results with your den.

        2. Grow a sweet potato plant in water. Keep a journal of its growth for two weeks. Share it with your den.

Wolf Elective Adventures: Hometown Heroes

    1. Talk with your family and den about what it means to you to be a hero. Share the name of someone you believe is a hero. Explain what it is that makes that person a hero.

    2. Visit a community agency where you will find many heroes. While there, find out what they do. Share what you learned with your den.

    3. With the help of a family member, interview one of your heroes, and share what you learn with your den. Tell why you think this person is a hero.

    4. As a den or family, adopt a hometown serviceman or –woman, and send a care package along with a note thanking them for their service.

    5. With your family or den, find out about animals that are trained to help others in your community.

    6. Participate in or create an event that celebrates your hometown hero(es).

Wolf Elective Adventures: Motor Away

    1. Do the following:

        1. Create and fly three different types of paper airplanes. Before launching them, record which one you believe will travel the farthest and what property of the plane leads you to make that prediction.

        2. Make a paper airplane catapult. Before launching it, record how far you believe it will travel and explain what information you used to make this prediction. After you make your prediction, launch the plane and measure how far it flies.

    2. Make two different boats and sail them. Choose different shapes for your boats. Sail your boats in the water by blowing air on the sail. While sailing your boats, notice how they are similar and how they are different. Discuss your findings with your den, and decide if you think the differences will affect the way they propel through the water.

    3. Create a car that moves under its own power.

Wolf Elective Adventures: Paws of Skill

    1. Talk with your family and den about what it means to be physically fit. Share ideas of what you can do to stay in shape.

    2. With your den, talk about why it is important to stretch before and after exercising. Demonstrate proper warm-up movements and stretches before and after each activity you do that involves action.

    3. Select two physical fitness skills and practice them daily. See if you can improve over a two-week period.

    4. With your family or your den, talk about what it means to be a member of a team. Working together, make a list of team sports, and talk about how the team works together to be successful. Choose one and play for 30 minutes.

    5. With your den, talk about sportsmanship and what it means to be a good sport while playing a game or a sport. Share with your den how you were a good sport or demonstrated good sportsmanship in requirement 4.

    6. Visit a sporting event with your family or your den. Look for ways the team works together. Share your visit with your den.

    7. With your den, develop an obstacle course that involves five different movements. Run the course two times and see if your time improves.

Wolf Elective Adventures: Spirit of the Water

    1. Demonstrate how the water in your community can become polluted.

    2. Explain one way that you can help conserve water in your home.

    3. Explain to your den leader why swimming is good exercise.

    4. Explain the safety rules that you need to follow before participating in swimming or boating.

    5. Show how to do a reaching rescue.

    6. Visit a local pool or public swimming area with your family or Wolf den. With qualified supervision, jump into water that is at least chest-high, and swim 25 feet or more.