WEBELOS

CITIZEN
COMMUNITY GROUP

Longhorn Council

Belt Loop (required) – Citizenship

Scouting for Food in November or Goodwill Good Turn in February.

A good website for US History: www.ushistory.org

Earn the National Heritage patch – www.nationstrails.com

Contact your city council officials.

Baltimore Area Council

At first glance, you might assume this Activity Badge will be rather dry, but in actuality, the Citizen Activity Badge offers a myriad of opportunities for the boys to expand their relationship with their community while having a lot of fun.

Speakers

Mayor, politician, history teacher, judge, police officer.

Field Trips

- Visit a local government building (the State House, the Capitol Building , or Library of Congress.

- Attend a court hearing

- Plan a trip (Traveler) to visit your Senator or Representative in Washington, DC.

Pack Meetings

- Bring some items which show what you have studied this month: election literature, information on good citizens, chamber of commerce, or local village center.

Den Activities

Citizen Scavenger Hunt: Most government buildings have some form of tour and you might be able to combine the tour with your scavenger hunt. Divide the den into two or three teams and give the boys a reasonable time limit. Have them locate answers to questions as well as inexpensive available items. Examples for these would be:

1. What is the middle initial in the full name of our town’s mayor? What does the initial stand for?

2. Bring back a piece of stationery showing our county’s logo or crest.

3. Draw a picture of our state flag.

4. On what floor can you find _____ _____? (a symbolic statue, historical artifact, etc.)

5. Who runs the Water Works Department and what does that department do?

6. Where does the City or County Council meet?

7. What’s on the top floor of the building?

8. What is the full name of the governor of the state?

9. Get a brochure about trash pickup services.

10. Who takes care of snow removal from city or county streets and what is their budget?

These are just a few examples of the kinds of things your scavenger hunt could require. Ask someone who handles the

public relations for your local government to help you make up a list. If you don’t want to make it competitive, just have

different lists for the teams to complete and then have them report back to the group when the time’s up.

“Wanted: Good Citizen” Poster Project

Imagine the type of citizen you would want to be a part of your community. How would the person act? What would the person look like?

Design a WANTED poster of the ideal citizen. Cut and paste a picture or photo on a sheet of paper of the citizen you are wanting. It can be a picture or photo of someone you cut from a magazine or you can draw a picture of a real or pretend person. Then, describe the person physically and also describe his or her personality traits. Example: Wanted person with good humor, a concern for others, and ability to get along with others. Then, complete the following statements on your poster: This person was last seen in . He/she was , once again showing himself/herself an active and responsible citizen. If you have seen or have any information about this person, please contact . This person is an ideal citizen because.

Citizenship Baseball

Before the game begins, write 40 questions with answers on strips of paper, assign each question a “hit”. Examples:

• Who is the president of the United States? (single)

[answer: George W. Bush]

• Name two of the four levels of government in the United States. (double) [answer: federal, state, county, and local]

• When should a Cub Scout salute the United States flag? (triple) [answer: When the flag is being hoisted or lowered; the flag passes by or you pass the flag; you recite the Pledge of Allegiance]

• What is our national anthem and who wrote it? (home run)

[answer: “The Star-Spangled Banner”, Francis Scott Key]

Fold the strips of paper and place them in a bowl or hat. Set up areas as the baseball diamond. Divide Webelos into two teams - one begins in the “outfield” and the other team is “at bat”. A batter comes up, he draws a question from the hat. The leader reads the question. If the Webelos gets the correct answer, he takes his base. If he misses it, it is an out. After three outs, the teams reverse. Ask a parent in your den or pack (if you have a parent in public service) or invite a guest who is a politician, judge, police officer, fire fighter, or county administrator to come and talk about their career. How did they get interested? Where did they go to school? What kinds of courses did they take? Have they moved up through several jobs to get where they are? What is their future?

Greater St. Louis Area Council

Citizen

At first glance, you might think this achievement offers a variety of opportunities for the boys to expand their thinking about their relationship with their community while having fun. Good citizenship is emphasized throughout Scouting. The boys will learn what good citizenship is all about while doing this activity.

DenActivities

• Attend a court hearing
• Invite a local politician, police officer or judge to your den meeting
• Plan and carry out a citizenship project or litter campaign
• Discuss ways the boys can be good citizens
• Observe the voting process
• Invite a “new” citizen to talk to the boys and tell what becoming a citizen means to them

Information Every Citizen Should Know

Who succeeds the President? Everyone knows that in the case of the death of the President, the Vice-President would take over the Presidency. However, what happens if the Vice-President also dies? Congress dealt with this issue in the 1940’s and decided that the following people should take over the Presidency in the order given:

• President
• Vice-President
• Speaker of the House of Representatives
• President pro tempore of the Senate
• Secretary of State
• Secretary of the Treasury
• Secretary of Defense
• Attorney General
• Postmaster General
• Secretary of the Interior
• Secretary Agriculture
• Secretary of Labor
• This succession was established by an Act of Congress on July 18, 1947.

• Right to equal protection under the law and equal justice in the courts.
• Right to own property.
• Right to be free form arbitrary search or arrest.
• Right to free speech, press, and assembly.
• Right to equal education and economic opportunity.
• Right of religious freedom.
• Right to choose public officials in free elections.
• Right to have legal counsel of your choice and prompt trial when accused of a crime.

• Duty to obey the laws.
• Duty to respect the rights of others.
• Duty to be informed on issues of government and community welfare.
• Duty to serve on jury, if called.
• Duty to vote in elections.
• Duty to serve and defend our country.
• Duty to assist agencies of law enforcement.
• Duty to practice and teach principles of good citizenship in the home.

• The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution is the ______ ___ ________________.
• The quality of condition of being free and independent.
• The officially constituted governing body of a nation or country.
• City where the Liberty Bell is located.
• Third President of the U.S. who helped draft the Declaration of Independence.
• The father of our country.
• Freedom from oppression and tyranny.
• Rules of conduct, recognized by custom or decreed by formal enactment.
• The state or condition of being free and enjoying civil liberty
• A native or naturalized person owing allegiance to, and entitled to protection from a government.

Answers to word quiz:

1. Bill of Rights              2. Freedom

3. Government                4. Philadelphia

5. Jefferson                     6. Washington

7. Liberty                       8. Laws

9. Independence               10. Citizen

E G O V E R N M E N T P L
C O S J E F S O N I R H B
N V F U L I B E R T Y I I
E E P S Y I L L V Z D L L
D N Z T C B H J P N P A L
N F R I H G M E V R U D O
E R U C T D Y F E J W E F
P E B E U I B F R S L L R
E E I S R Z C E C A A P I
D D O C T N S R W E Z H G
N O T G N I H S A W B I H
I M L B L Y I O C L Y A T
G O V R N M E N T Z A W S

COMMUNICATOR

COMMUNITY GROUP

Baltimore Area Council

We are all communicators. What does it mean to communicate? Communication is the art of transmitting and receiving information. And how do we as human beings go about this exchange of information? We communicate with words, facial expressions and body language. As the

human race developed, so did our communicative skills. Early man drew pictures on the walls of caves. With the development of language came a better way to keep records and tell stories...writing!

With the discovery of electricity came the telegraph, telephone, radio, television, computers, micro-wave transmission, optical fibers, lasers, and on and on and on.

Who makes a good communicator? We do, of course!

With all of the modern technology at our fingertips today, it is still important for us to learn basic communication skills.

Skills that will be with us throughout our entire lives. Things, like how to talk to one another with respect, how to listen to one another. Silly things, like saying “please” and “thank you.” Things like learning good telephone manners and practicing being polite and courteous to others.

Speakers

News broadcaster, radio DJ, politician, minister

Field Trips

• - Visit library - talk to librarian, learn how books are indexed.
• - Visit radio station - see how it operates.
• - Visit television station
• - Visit police station or 911 dispatcher - learn how 911 calls are processed and prioritized.
• - Visit school for the deaf and/or blind.
• - Use a computer to talk to other people
• - Visit a newspaper office - see how a newspaper is put together. Watch the printing presses run.

Den Activities

• - At a school or church function, create and post directional signs.
• - Read to a visually impaired person.

Games

Who’s Who History of Communication: Match the following inventions to their

inventors.

Answers: 1. Bell, 2. Edison, 3. Morse, 4. Gutenberg, 5. Daguerre, 6. Progin, 7. Marconi, 8. Babbage, 9. Aiken

Play a game of Charades.

Blindness Awareness Game: How would you go about describing something to a blind person? An animal for instance, one they have never seen? Try this exercise, blindfold your den, give them each a pencil and a piece of paper, then describe to them an animal and have them draw what they think they hear. Remove the blindfolds and see if they can guess what animal they have drawn. Hint: Don’t use any key words. Example, if you are describing an elephant don’t use the word trunk for his nose.

Communication with the blind: Have your den form a large circle. In the center place an empty coffee can. Blindfold one of the boys and supply him with a broomstick. The object of the game is to have the den direct the blind Scout to the can and have him pick it up with the broomstick.

Was it easy? Does it work better with one boy giving directions of all of them?

Secret Sounds: Use prerecorded sounds or have den chief produce sounds from behind a screen or another room.

Webelos listen as each sound is produced and then write down what they think the sound is. Example: Sandpaper rubbing against something, a deck of cards being flipped into the air, a golf ball or Ping Pong ball bouncing on a bare floor; bursting of a paper bag, etc.

Great Salt Lake Council

Using the letter of the alphabet displayed, fill in the answer for each clue. The first one has been done for you.

The "Jungle Book" name of an important Cub Scout Leader is Akela.

When they are old enough, Cub Scouts can join a troop of B____ _______.

The title of the leader of the Pack is C____________.

The title of the Cub Scout who is the number one den helper is the D_______.

One Cub Scout elective activity that could include wiring a doorbell is E______________.

Every Cub Scout shows respect to this patriotic item that is used in opening ceremonies, the F_____.

The Webelos activity badge that includes the study of rocks, minerals, mountains and earthquakes is G__________.

A physical journey that Scouts big and small enjoy in the outdoors is a H_____.

This substance is found in instruments we write with: I___

Kids like to see how far or how high they can do this physical action: J_____

One way to move the ball in football or soccer is to K_____ it.

This is the noise we make when something is funny or we are happy: L_______

This is made by voices or by instruments: M_______

A familiar information source that contains many articles and is often recycled is a N_____________.

People from many nations around the world take part in the O_________ events every four years.

These play characters are fun to make and are used in some skits: P_________

The Cubmaster expects Q_______ when he gives the Cub Scout sign.

During races or relays we move our legs quickly and this is called R_________.

The act of making musical sounds with words is another word for S_________.

When the Cub Scout sign is given, we must stop T__________.

A shirt, neckerchief and slide are part of the Cub Scout U________.

During the summer, we often take time for a family V___________.

When a Cub Scout is 10 years old, and in the 4th or 5th grade, he can earn the Cub Scout rank ofW__________.

The musical instrument, a X____________ sort of resembles a piano.

Today is Y_____________ tomorrow.

A Z_____ is where lots of wild animals are kept for visitors to view.

Communicator
Longhorn Council

Belt Loops (optional) – Communicating and Computers

You can play a lot of fun games with the some of the activities listed.

Computer History Museum in Mountain View. http://www.computerhistory.org/

Intel Computer Museum www.intel.com/intel/intelis/museum

Greater St. Louis Area Council

Communicator

This being the “Information Age” the communicator badge offers a wide range of opportunities for the boys to be entertained as they learn about communication today. We are all communicators and it is up to all of us to teach each other how to express ourselves to each other through things like good telephone manners and practicing being polite and courteous to others.

Den Activities

• Take a library visit
• Visit a computer store
• Visit a school for the deaf or blind
• Instruct Scouts how to address a group
• Teach some secret codes or Morse code
• Have a radio DJ or newscaster visit your den

Crease Cipher

If they miss the crease, people will spend hours trying to crack this cipher. The message is staring them right in the face.

Where’s the punch line hiding? Look straight up and down along the two vertical creases. All the other letters are just nulls to confuse you. And the horizontal creases seem natural –as if the whole piece of paper had been folded up. To find the message, read down the letters just to the left of the first vertical crease, followed by the letters just to the left of the second vertical crease.

If you want t be even trickier, measure the middle of the paper with a ruler and mark it with a faint line. Write your message along the line, then erase the pencil marks, now fill in null letters to hide the message. The person who gets the message simply folds the paper in half and reads down along the crease.

The crease doesn’t have t go straight u and down. It can also go on a diagonal, like this.

Q: What has a head and a tail, but no arms and no legs?

A:

Crease Ciphers can also be written backwards, from the bottom row to the top. You can make the message as long as you like. For extra long messages, add more creases.

Computer Games

Computers cannot understand the same numbers and letters that we do. They must be changed into code. Most computers use the binary number code. It uses only O’s and I’s to stand for letters and numbers. Here is an example:

A=110001         N=100101

B=110010         O=100110

C=110011         P=100111

D=110100         Q=101000

E=110101          R=101001

F=110110          S=010010

G=110111         T=010011

H=111000         U=010100

I=111000           V=010101

J=100001          W=010110

K=100010         X=010111

L=100011          Y=011000

M=100100         Z=011001

Can you write your name in the binary number code? Now make up your own binary code.

The program below is complete in it self and is to be run on an Apple II series computer. Many schools use the Apple II family of computers so that is why the following program was chose. If you don’t have access to a computer through one of the families in your den or pack, perhaps you can get permission from your local school to come in and let the boys use their computers.

Tying in the Program

You must press RETURN after each program. Type RUN when you have typed it all. Check your typing carefully, if the program doesn’t work when you try to run it, then it has a BUG. A BUG is a mistake, Go back and check each line of type. Also, be sure to type all programs with the caps lock key depressed, so that everything will be in capital letters.

Letter Trap

Enter the program and then type RUN and press RETURN. Beginning with “A” the letters will start to move across the screen. Press the SPCE BAR once when you think a letter is over the trap. The computer will keep your score.

10 TEXT: HOME: L=64:S=0

20 FOR X =1 TO 39: VITAB 10: HTAB X:

PRINT”-“ NEXT

30 HTAB 19:VTAB 10:PRINT””

40 LETL =L+1: FOR X+1 TO 39

50 HTAB 19VTAB 9:PRINT CHRS (L)

60 FOR D = 1 TO 150:NEXT

70 HTAB X:VTAB 9:PRIT””

80 IF X = 19 AND PEEK (-16368),0:NEXT:GOTO40

100 LET x=39:S + 1:HTAB 15:VTAB 20

110 PRINT”SCORE =”; S:RETURN

Symbols Codes

The following code is a SYMBOL CODE. It uses symbols in the place of letters or numbers. It’s easy to make but hard to decode, unless you know the symbol for each letter. Be careful! Some of the symbols look alike, but they are not the same.

Using this symbol code, have your boys code certain messages such as:

Communicator or Scouting is fun or Arrow of Light

Perhaps the method most commonly used before the Renaissance was the improvised alphabetbelow. It was a favorite among the free masons as late as thesixteenthcentury and is probably quite as popular among school children today.

Body Language Game

To play this game, give your den members paper and pencil. Ask them to think about feelings they can show by body language only—without making a sound. Have them make a list of al least five feelings they can show.

Den members take turns showing one of their feelings. The others try to guess what the feelings are. The den leader or den chief can be referee and decide whether the body language really does show the feeing. If a den member guesses correctly, he gets one point. If nobody guesses correctly, the boy who performed the body language gets one point. The final winner is the boy with the most points.

Here are examples of feelings that can be shown by body language:

Probably you can think of other body language that shows feelings.

Codes

Many codes were devised by the early Greeks, who frequently used arithmetical figures. One of their methods of substituting mathematical figures for letters was to block the alphabet into a square, as shown below, and to number each vertical and horizontal row from one to five. Divide the square into 25 smaller squares. You can fit the 26 letters of the alphabet into the 25 squares by putting two letters in one of the squares. W and X would be good ones to put in one square.

This code uses numbers in place of letters. The code for A is 11, because A is the first (1) column and first (1) row. The doe for M would be 33, because it is in column 3 and row 3. Always use your column number first. Read across for rows, and down for columns.

The message RUN FOR HELP would look like this:

43  51  34  21  35  43  23  15  32  41