• September2006RoundtableHandout.doc

9/7/06 Pathfinder District Boy Scout Roundtable
Pathfinder District Website http://bsrt.otcbsa.net
Send questions or comments to 78gator@mchsi.com
Agenda
Opening – The Outdoor Code
Announcements and Upcoming Events:
Training dates (http://78gator.home.mchsi.com/Training2.html):
University of Scouting –10/28/06 (not 11/4/06); still at MSU.
Wah-Sha-She Fall Encampment – September 15-17, FCSR, Diamond, MO
Future roundtables:
10/5/06 – Business, Unit Money Earning policies, fund-raising, and popcorn
selling tips
11/2/06 – First Aid, Accidents in the Back Country, and When to Evacuate
12/7/06 – Winter Camping, Enlisting Parents and Youth, and Program Planning
for our 2007 roundtables
1/4/07 – Citizenship, Using the Order of the Arrow and Lone Bear to improve
your program
Monthly program theme – Nature
Game – Nature Art Gallery
Scoutmaster/Committee training topic – Trek Safely
Scouter’s Minute –
Updated rank and merit badge requirements as of 1/1/06
http://usscouts.org/usscouts/advance/boyscout/advchanges06.html
OUTDOOR CODE
As an American, I will do my best to -
Be clean in my outdoor manners.
I will treat the outdoors as a heritage.
I will take care of it for myself and others
I will keep my trash and garbage out of lakes, streams, fields, woods, and roadways.
Be careful with fire.
I will prevent wildfire.
I will build my fires only where they are appropriate.
When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out.
I will leave a clean fire ring, or remove all evidence of my fire.
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Be considerate in the outdoors.
I will treat public and private property with respect.
I will use low-impact methods of hiking and camping.
And be conservation minded.
I will learn how to practice good conservation of soil, waters, forests, minerals,
grasslands, wildlife, and energy.
I will urge others to do the same.
Advancement Opportunities
Natural Sciences Merit Badge Group
Archaeology Insect Study Reptile and Amphibian
Astronomy Mammal Study Study
Bird Study Nature Weather
Geology Oceanography
Tenderfoot
11. Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them.
Second Class
5. Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of wild animals (birds, mammals,
reptiles, fish, mollusks) found in your community.
First Class
6. Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your
community.
Local Nature Resources:
• Conservationist Magazine – http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/
• Springfield Nature Conservation Center
• National Audubon Society, Springfield Chapter -
(http://www.greaterozarksaudubon.org/)
Online Newsletter (http://www.greaterozarksaudubon.org/newsletter.html)
Field trips (http://www.greaterozarksaudubon.org/fieldtrips.html)
• Wonders of Wildlife (American National Fish and Wildlife Museum)
(http://www.wondersofwildlife.org/)
• Dickerson Park Zoo (http://www.dickersonparkzoo.org/)
• Ozarks Regional Herbarium (http://biology.missouristate.edu/Herbarium/),
Department of Biology at MSU – Services provided by the faculty of the Herbarium
are varied and are especially suited for public service groups. Some of the subjects that
are available are:
 Wildflowers of the Ozarks History of the Ozark's Vegetation
Poisonous Plants Guided Wildflower Walks
Vegetation of the Ozarks
Calendar of Events (you can find the current month’s schedule of events at
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/areas/swest/)
Woodcarving Saturday, September 9 2006 Springfield Conservation
Demonstration Nature Center
The Art Of Woodcarving Saturday, September 9 2006 Springfield Conservation
Nature Center
Monarchs Rule! Saturday, September 9 2006 Springfield Conservation
Nature Center
For Adults Only: Tumbling Sunday, September 10 2006 Springfield Conservation
Creek Cave Nature Center
Summer Hummers Sunday, September 10 2006 Springfield Conservation
Nature Center
Nature And The Arts: Friday, September 15 2006 Springfield Conservation
Creative Insect And Natural Nature Center
History Photography
WOMEN IN THE Saturday, September 16 August A. Busch Memorial
OUTDOORS - ALL DAY 2006 Conservation Area Shooting
EVENT Range and Outdoor
Education Center, St.
Charles
Explore Fort Crowder Saturday, September 16 Fort Crowder Conservation
Conservation Area 2006 Area, Neosho
Conservation TEEN Club: Sunday, September 17 2006 Springfield Conservation
Archery For Beginners Nature Center
Primitive Skills Series: Thursday, September 21 Springfield Conservation
Backpacking For Beginners 2006 Nature Center
Great Outdoors Day Annual Saturday, September 23 Andy Dalton Shooting
Event 2006 Range & Outdoor
Education Center at Bois D'
Arc Conservation Area
NRA Range Safety Officer Sunday, September 24 2006 August A. Busch Memorial
(RSO) Course Conservation Area Shooting
Range and Outdoor
Education Center, St.
Charles
Hiking Club Sunday, September 24 2006 Springfield Conservation
Nature Center
Intermediate Photography Sunday, September 24 2006 Springfield Conservation
Nature Center
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Introduction To Trap & Friday, September 29 - Andy Dalton Shooting
Skeet Shooting Clinic Saturday, September 30 Range and Outdoor
2006 Education Center
NRA Basic Shotgun Saturday, September 30 - August A. Busch Memorial
Instructor Certification Sunday, October 1 2006 Conservation Area Shooting
Course Range and Outdoor
Education Center, St.
Charles
Fall Tree Ecology Hike Friday, October 6 2006 Wildcat Park, Joplin
Autumn Adventures Friday, October 13 2006 Joplin Missouri Department
of Conservation Office, 705
S. Illinois, Joplin
Hunter Education Friday, October 13 - Springfield Conservation
Saturday, October 14 2006 Nature Center
Nature Notes – Hundreds of 90-second mp3 files on nature topics –
http://www.mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/nature_notes/index.cgi
The Next Generation of Conservation - http://www.mdc.mo.gov/about/strategic/
A blending of results of surveys of Missouri citizens’ opinions and the activities of the
Department of Conservation
Online Nature Resources:
Forestry – http://idisk.mac.com/stevenzeiler/Public/forestry.html
Astronomy – http://idisk.mac.com/stevenzeiler/Public/astronomy.html
Missouri Department of Conservation – http://www.mdc.mo.gov/
Missouri Department of Natural Resources – http://www.dnr.mo.gov/
The Nature Conservancy – http://www.nature.org/
US Department of the Interior - http://www.doi.gov/ – includes the Fish & Wildlife
Service (http://www.fws.gov/), the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/), and
the US Geologic Survey (http://www.usgs.gov/)
Online Field Guides:
eNature.com (http://enature.com/fieldguides/) - search or browse over 5,500 plants
and animals
North Woods Field Guides – An Education in Nature
http://www.northwoodsguides.com/Default.htm
Animal Track Guide
Animal Scat Guide
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Tree Guide
Wildflower Guide
Garden Insects
Flyfishing / Insect Guide
Fish Guide
Constellation Guide
They also have online quizzes:
Track Quiz
Tree Quiz
Wildflower Quiz
Aquatic Insect Quiz
Animal Scat Quiz
Constellation Quiz
Garden insect Quiz
… and Field Notes on “Animals” and “Trees”
Edible plants (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/plants-1.php)
Remember the following when collecting wild plants for food:
• Plants growing near homes and occupied buildings or along roadsides may have been
sprayed with pesticides. Wash them thoroughly. In more highly developed countries
with many automobiles, avoid roadside plants, if possible, due to contamination from
exhaust emissions.
• Plants growing in contaminated water or in water containing Giardia lamblia and
other parasites are contaminated themselves. Boil or disinfect them.
• Some plants develop extremely dangerous fungal toxins. To lessen the chance of
accidental poisoning, do not eat any fruit that is starting to spoil or showing signs of
mildew or fungus.
• Plants of the same species may differ in their toxic or subtoxic compounds content
because of genetic or environmental factors. One example of this is the foliage of the
common chokecherry. Some chokecherry plants have high concentrations of deadly
cyanide compounds while others have low concentrations or none. Horses have died
from eating wilted wild cherry leaves. Avoid any weed, leaves, or seeds with an
almondlike scent, a characteristic of the cyanide compounds.
• Some people are more susceptible to gastric distress (from plants) than others. If you
are sensitive in this way, avoid unknown wild plants. If you are extremely sensitive to
poison ivy, avoid products from this family, including any parts from sumacs,
mangoes, and cashews.
• Some edible wild plants, such as acorns and water lily rhizomes, are bitter. These
bitter substances, usually tannin compounds, make them unpalatable. Boiling them in
several changes of water will usually remove these bitter properties.
• Many valuable wild plants have high concentrations of oxalate compounds, also
known as oxalic acid. Oxalates produce a sharp burning sensation in your mouth and
throat and damage the kidneys. Baking, roasting, or drying usually destroys these
oxalate crystals. The corm (bulb) of the jack-in-the-pulpit is known as the "Indian
turnip," but you can eat it only after removing these crystals by slow baking or by
drying.
The Missouri Flora Website – a catalog with color pictures and descriptions of over 1,000
flowering and non-flowering plants found in Missouri
(http://www.missouriplants.com/index.html)
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Activity Ideas
Nature Trail – use 3x5 index cards as markers for common local plants or signs of
animals and encourage use of senses of sight, touch, smell
Conservation project Good Turn
Make a troop nature museum to use at the next Court of Honor –
• Collect the 10 most common insects in your area
• Make plaster casts of four different animal tracks
• Make a rearing cage inhabited by 6 different caterpillars
• Collect10 kinds of wood and mount for display
• Collect 5 kinds of soil
• Collect and prepare six common rocks for display
• Plant six different tree seedlings in a can
Nature at Night
Sit quietly at least 10 yards from a tracking pit – shine a flashlight on the pit at intervals
of 5 minutes or so. Curiously, the light won’t bother the animals. A light snack might
help attract the animals.
Nature Contests and Games
• Bring Me • Nature Marathon
• Touch • Nature scavenger hunt
GORP nature activity ideas (http://gorp.away.com/gorp/activity/wildlife.htm) – includes
primers on tracking and viewing wildlife
Guide to Animal Tracking by Rick Curtis – Excellent overview to guide activity planning
and execution (http://www.outdoored.com/articles/Article.aspx?ArticleID=112); also
check out the Animal Tracking Flashcards
(http://www.outdoored.com/articles/Article.aspx?ArticleID=113)
Make plaster casts of animal tracks:
Preserving Wildlife Tracks (http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ561.html)
Preserving wildlife tracks can be both exciting and informative. For the field biologist
there may be an advantage in preserving for future study a clear record of wildlife tracks
in a particular area. For the sports enthusiast or backpacker, who might make a hobby of
tracking wild animals, it may be worthwhile to take home some souvenir tracks. When
preserving tracks, you will also become more familiar with the characteristics of habitats
in which animals live.
Under rare circumstances it may be possible to cut around the track with your knife
and lift it out intact. This may be possible in the mud of a dried lake bottom where
pronghorn or coyotes left footprints when the mud was just right for leaving a firm, sharp
print. However, in most cases, plaster of paris is used to make track casts for "take home"
souvenirs.
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Materials
• Strips of waxed cardboard (cut from • A mixing stick
milk carton) to make a collar 2 1/2 • A jar for storing the plaster
inches wide by 12 to 15 inches long • Two tin cans (one for water and one
• Plaster of paris purchased at for mixing)
hardware stores, drug stores, or • Water
hobby shops • Paper clips
Making Track Casts
The method for making track casts is simple. First find a suitable track. The track
should be deep enough to produce a solid cast and clear enough to reproduce. Remove all
sticks and debris around the track. Make a circle around the print with the 2 1/2
inch?wide strip of cardboard; attach the ends with paper clips. Press the cardboard about
1/2 inch into the ground. The cardboard serves as an outer mold for the plaster. Pack
some soil behind the cardboard for reinforcement.
Next, in the tin can mix the
plaster of paris with water while
stirring with a stick until the
mixture is the consistency of cream
or pancake batter. A very thick
plaster paste begins to set almost
immediately. A thinner mixture
gives you more time. If the plaster
is too thick so that it doesn't flow
readily, it may dry too quickly and
fail to reproduce some details of the
feet. If too thin or watery, it will run
all over the place, taking a long time to harden.
Now fill the track with the plaster, covering the inside mold to a depth of 1 inch
below the top of the cardboard. When the plaster has been poured into the track, wait
patiently for 10 minutes or more to allow it to set hard. It is not wise to attempt to pick up
the cast too soon.
To pick up the cast after it is hard, cut around it with a knife, remove some dirt from
under the edges all around the cast, then lift out the piece from a point well underneath
the track. This cast is called a negative cast. Simply brush off the mud and dirt after the
cast has had a day or more to harden.
For a positive cast (which can be made at home), form a waxed cardboard mold and
fill with plaster of paris mixture to the top of the mold. Cover the negative cast with a
film of grease, vegetable shortening, or petroleum jelly. As soon as the mixture begins to
set up, take the greased negative cast and carefully make an impression on the hardening
plaster mixture. This will have to be done before the plaster mixture gets too hard, or the
plaster will crack from the pressure exerted from the negative cast. With a little practice
you can determine the necessary consistency for creating a positive cast that is a duplicate
of the original track.
Precautions
Take great care if the track is in dry, dusty ground or sand. It may not be possible to
acquire a good cast under such conditions. When attempting a cast in such a case, pour
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the solution directly into the track, but from a point as close above the track as possible. It
should not be dropped in with any force. Tracks in snow also are difficult to cast. Even a
fairly cold plaster solution tends to melt the bottom of the track and it can be frustrating
to find that the batter has poured right on through. To avoid this, make sure the mixture is
as cold as possible by stirring some snow in while mixing.
http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html#FoodChainsandWebs4
Food Chains and Food Web
A food chain is the path of food from a given final consumer back to a producer. For
instance, a typical food chain in a field ecosystem might be:
grass ---> grasshopper --> mouse ---> snake ---> hawk
The real world, of course, is more complicated than a simple food chain. While many
organisms do specialize in their diets (anteaters come to mind as a specialist), other
organisms do not. Hawks don't limit their diets to snakes, snakes eat things other than
mice, mice eat grass as well as grasshoppers, and so on. A more realistic depiction of
who eats whom is called a food web; an example is shown below:
Hognose Snake Hawk
Toad Garter Snake
Rabbit
Spider
Grasshopper Preying Mantis
Mouse Sparrow
Grass
Collecting Insect Specimens
Equipment – Killing jar, magnifying glass, opaque film canisters, camera, forceps,
straight pins, colander (to collect aquatic specimens)
(http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/ythfacts/bugfun/collecti.htm) -
Killing jars , made from peanut butter jars with nailpolish remover or alcohol on an
absorbent material such as cotton balls or newspaper. Place a crumpled piece of tissue
paper in the jar, to give insects a place to 'hide' so they don't beat themselves up trying to
escape. Write 'POISON' on the outside of the jar, so the contents are not mistaken.
 Nature-Related Games
Found in Troop Program Resources:
• Crows and Cranes, p. 36 • Nature Art Kim’s Game, p. 52
• Fishnet, p. 39 • Tree Hunt, p. 69
• Hunter, Gun, or Rabbit, p. 45 • Twig/Leaf Hunt, p. 70 (leaf hunt for
• Name that Fish, p. 51 younger and twig hunt for older
• Nature Art Gallery, p. 52 youth)
Nature Art Gallery
Equipment: Twenty pictures, each depicting a different kind of bird, tree, flower, etc.,
numbered but not identified; pencil and a sheet of paper for each player.
Procedure: Post the pictures on the walls around the room. Allow the Scouts to move
about with their pencils and paper and try to identify the subjects of the pictures. Without
consulting each other, they write down the names on their sheets. After a certain time
limit, all sheets are turned in for judging.
Scoring: Add the number of correct identifications made by each patrol and divide by the
number of patrol members to get the patrol average. The patrol with the highest average
wins.
Variation: Nature Art Kim’s Game. Spread the pictures out on the floor and cover
them with a cloth. Uncover for one minute, after which the patrols huddle and try to
make a complete list of the items. The team with the highest number of correct items
wins.
Leave No Trace – http://www.lnt.org/
Teaching Leave No Trace – http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/21-
117/index.html
Sky Tonight podcasts - http://skytonight.com/observing/podcasts
Everyone must believe in something. I believe I'll go canoeing.
- Henry David Thoreau