NATURALIST

Do These

1. With your parent, guardian, or Webelos den leader, complete the Respect Character Connection.

a. Know: Tell what interested you most when completing the requirements for this activity badge. Tell what you learned about how you can show appreciation and respect for wildlife.

b. Commit: Tell things that some people have done that show a lack of respect for wildlife. Name ways that you will show respect for and protect wildlife.

c. Practice: Explain how completing the requirements for this activity badge gives you the opportunity to show respect.

And Do Five of These

2. Keep an insect zoo that you have collected. You might have crickets, ants, or grasshoppers. Study them for a while then release them. Share your experience with your Webelos den.

3. Set up an aquarium or terrarium. Keep it for at least a month. Share your experience with your Webelos den by showing them photos or drawings of your project, or having them visit to see your project.

4. Visit a museum of natural history, nature center, or zoo with your family, Webelos den, or pack. Tell what you saw.

5. Watch for birds in your yard, neighborhood, or town for one week. Identify the birds you see and write down where and when you saw them.

6. Learn about the bird flyways closest to your home. Find out which birds use these flyways.

7. Learn to identify poisonous plants and venomous reptiles found in your area.

8. Watch six wild animals (snakes, turtles, fish, birds, or mammals) in the wild. Describe the kind of place (forest, field, marsh, yard, or park) where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.

9. Give examples of: o A producer, a consumer, and a decomposer in the food chain of an

ecosystem o One way humans have changed the balance of nature o How you can help protect the balance of nature

10. Identify a plant, bird, or wild animal that is found only in your area of the country. Tell why it survives only in your area.

11. Learn about aquatic ecosystems and wetlands in your area. Discuss with your Webelos den leader or activity badge counselor the important role aquatic ecosystems and wetlands play in supporting lifecycles of wildlife and humans.

12. Look around your neighborhood and identify how litter might be dangerous to the birds and other animals. Clean up the litter. Identify what else you might do to make your neighborhood safer for animals.

13. While you are a Webelos Scout, earn the Cub Scout Academics belt loop for Wildlife Conservation.

Requirements for the Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop

1. Explain what natural resources are and why it's important to protect and conserve them.

2. Make a poster that shows and explains the food chain. Describe to your den what happens if the food chain becomes broken or damaged.

3. Learn about an endangered species. Make a report to your den that includes a picture, how the species came to be endangered, and what is being done to save it.

SOUNDS AND COLORS In a forest, meadow, marsh, or park, have the boys lie down on their backs with both fists held up in the air. Every time someone hears a new bird song, he lifts one finger. Who has the best hearing? This is a wonderful way to make boys aware of the sounds and the stillness of nature. For fun, see if you can count to ten without hearing a bird song. Vary the game by listening for general animal sounds or sounds like wind in the grass, falling leaves, or rushing water. To get boys to concentrate more deeply in any natural setting, ask them how many different colors and shades of colors they can see in front of them without moving from where they are standing or sitting. CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES Look for cocoons attached to stems and leaves of grasses. Look for caterpillars inching along stems. They often do great damage to plants. Look for partly eaten leaves and flowers, which are clues to caterpillars. This picture shows the life cycle of a butterfly.

BASIC FOOD CHAIN OR ECOSYSTEM Animals and plants live together in communities called ecosystems. All the living things in an ecosystem are linked together in food chains. Here’s an example of a food chain. Can you draw another example of a food chain? INSECT GLIDERS Materials needed: foam trays from meat markers paper clips straight pins glue These are made from plastic foam trays. Enlarge the patterns to desired size and make paper patterns of the pieces you need. Dotted lines are place on folds in the paper. Trace (unfolded) onto foam trays. Cut out foam pieces and make slits where indicated in the body pieces. The stabilizers are inserted through the butterfly (see small inset picture) and the wings are glued and pinned on top of bodies. Paint insects with permanent felt markers. Add a metal hair pin or paper clip to the front for weight. Adjust the clip if necessary.

Webelos Naturalist Discussion

1. While hiking, keep an eye out for different animals - mammal, reptile, bird, fish - and let everyone know when you see one. If it is one you want to observe, fill out the observation card for it. Do 6 animals.

2. What are some examples of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a food chain? A producer is anything that produces its own food, such as plants and plant parts. A consumer is a living thing that relies on other living things to survive. Primary consumers eat plants - mice, rabbits, ... Secondary consumers eat animals - snakes, birds, frogs, ... A decomposer is a living thing that breaks down other living and non- living things into nutrients and energy so they can be reused again by producers.- worms, insects, fungi

3. What is the "balance of nature"? producing, consuming, decomposing - over and over and over

4. How have humans changed the balance of nature? Humans are responsible for grand-scale redistribution of chemicals on Earth. Fires and other forms of combustion result in a breakdown of both living and non-living things. Living plants are generally able to recycle the compounds produced from their metabolic activities. This ensures a cycling of chemicals that living matter is made of. But factories and cars and other man-made things have little or no built-in mechanisms for recycling. So, humans have to rely on manual recycling as a means of reducing the non-natural byproducts we make. But not all man-made things are recyclable! The atmosphere and the hydrosphere now contain much of the non-reduced compounds. This has resulted in much environmental damage in the air we breathe and the protection we should receive from sunlight.

5. How can we help protect the balance of nature? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

6. What are the main Bird Flyways in North America? Pacific, Central, Mississippi, Atlantic

7. What is the Florida state bird? Mockingbird 8. What poisonous plants are there in Florida?

poison ivy - Erect shrub, or most often climbing or trailing; leaves alternate, with 3 leaflets, each smooth margined or shallowly lobed; flowers small in axillary clusters; fruit a smooth, yellow drupe.

poison oak - Erect shrub, not climbing; leaves alternate, with 3 leaflets, each shallowly lobed; flowers small in axillary clusters; fruit a hairy, yellow drupe. poison sumac - Shrub; leaves alternate, pinnately divided with 7-13 leaflets, the leaf stalk reddish; flowers small in axillary clusters; fruit a smooth, yellow drupe.

9. How can a dog run through poison ivy and not get irritated? Should you pet your dog after it ran through poison ivy? a dog's coat keeps the poison from reaching its skin, but the poison is still there and will get on your hand if you touch it.

10. Are snake poisonous or venomous? What is the difference? venom is injected. poison is absorbed or ingested.

11. Snakes are scarey. It would be much better if there were no snakes at all. Do you agree with that? Snakes eat mice and other rodents.

12. Do you know what a 'dry bite' is? being bitten but having no venom injected

13. What venomous reptiles are there in Flordia? Southern Copperhead,Cottonmouth,Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Pygmy Rattlesnake, Timber Rattlesnake,and Eastern Coral Snake

Cottonmouth

Southern Copperhead

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Eastern Coral Snake

Timber Rattlesnake

Rattlesnake Pygmy Rattlesnake ( Guide to venomous snakes in Florida - http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/fl-guide/venomsnk.htm#TOP)

poison ivy poison sumac

poison oak

Rare Bird Facts

1. What is the fastest flying bird? _____________________________________

2. How high can birds fly? __________________________________________

3. What is the Nebraska State Bird? __________________________________

4. What bird has become extinct in the last 75 years? ______________________

5. Why do all birds build nests? ______________________________________

6. Name two "major league" birds. ____________________________________

7. Which birds can fly backwards? ____________________________________

8. What bird is known for its famous deliveries? __________________________

9. What is the largest bird in North America? ____________________________

10. What is the smallest bird in the world?_______________________________

11. List three birds that cannot fly. ____________________________________

12. What color is a bluebird? _________________________________________

Bird Word Scramble

Unscramble the letters to spell names of birds. B O I R N ________________________ N E W R ________________________ K E D I A C E H C ________________________ C U D K ________________________ N A I L C R A D ________________________ A W N S ________________________ R O T K S ________________________ E Y R U T K ________________________ R O O L I E ________________________ A R K E P A T E ________________________ Y A L E J U B ________________________ L A G E E ________________________ H E N C C I K ________________________ S O G E O ________________________ Y A N C R A ________________________ I L O M F N A G ________________________ S I B I ________________________ N U T C A O ________________________ G N P N E I U ________________________ A C C E K O P ________________________ D H G N O F I C L ________________________

Nature Quiz

1. All birds have: a. feathers b. two legs c. teeth 4. In a hive, the worker bees are called: a. drones b. workers c. queen bees

2. An annual flower blooms: a. every year b. twice a year c. only once 5. A starfish has: a. five or more arms b. three arms c. four arms

3. A monsoon is a: a. flower b. animal c. wind 6. A salamander is: a. a shrub b. an amphibian c. a fish 9. Rats belong to the

7. A snake's shedding of it's skin is called: a. pelting b. molting c. sloughing 10. Watering soil to help make it fertile is called: a. rotation b. selection c. irrigation

8. A geyser is a volcano of boiling: a. water b. oil c. lava 11. A fungus is: a. a tropical tree b. plant growth c. a wild animal

family of: a. felines b. rodents c. reptiles 12. A whale is a: a. mammal b. fish c. amphibian

Food Web

Draw a line from each animal to the thing it would eat. Decide if each animal is a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore.

Answers to above activities http://www.boyscouttrail.com/external_frame.asp?goto=/webelos/w2/naturalist_worksheets.htm

Sponge Garden

A sponge is an ideal surface on which to grow seeds due to its ability to hold water in its many small cavities. Soak the sponge and place it in a shallow dish of water. Sprinkle seeds over the top surface of the sponge. Try the seeds of grasses, sweet alyssum, coleus, and any other small seeds left over from planting a flower garden. The shoots of almost any plants will be an attractive display. Remember to keep water in the dish so that the sponge doesn't dry out. Also once the seeds begin to sprout, all the food in the seeds will be gone and you will need to add some liquid plant food to the water.

Jar Seed Germinator

Obtain a wide mouthed jar such as a mayonnaise, peanut butter, or wide mouthed canning jar. Soak some seeds in some water overnight, these seeds can be edible seeds like beans, lentils, peas etc. or those packaged for growing in a vegetable or plant garden, get some paper toweling or blotting paper and fit snugly around the inside of the jar. Stuff the middle of the jar with paper towels to help hold the paper toweling in place. Also saturate the paper toweling with water until no more can be held. Remove most of the excess water. Place the seeds between the paper towel and the glass about an inch or so down from the top of the toweling. Place them in different positions evenly spacing the seeds. During the next few days , the seeds will absorb the moisture from the toweling (Don't let the toweling dry completely it needs to stay damp) and the seeds will sprout, the roots will always try to grow down and the stems and the leaves upward, regardless of the position of the seed. This is called geotropism and shows that plants respond to the earth's pull of gravity. As a reminder, don't place the jar in direct sunlight.

Worm Condo

Materials: Plastic container, Screen or piece of stocking, Rubber band, Dirt, Worms

Collect wiggly specimens in the yard or garden and observe them for a few days in a luxury "worm condominium"--even the most squeamish scout will feel safely separated from the condo's inhabitants. First you'll need a clear plastic container. Place another container, an inch or so in diameter, inside the larger container; the idea is to create a narrow enough space between the two containers that you'll be able to see the worms tunnel.

Put a piece of screen or stocking on top so you have good air flow (use a rubber band to secure it). Place fresh soil in the condo so your guests will have a supply of food (don't use potting soil--it's been zapped). Make sure that the soil is moist but not drenched--the worms will appreciate it. Watch how the worms move and tunnel, and explain how they aerate the dirt in your garden and lawn, enabling plant roots to grow.

Once your scouts has observed the worms for a few days, return them to their native habitat, where they can do our gardens a good turn.

Make Your Own Ant Farm

Take a large peanut butter jar (empty and cleaned) and place a baby food jar upside down inside it. Fill the peanut butter jar with sand. Make some holes in the top of the jar with a nail or screw. Add a little honey or jelly every few days, along with a little water. Now gather up some ants from outdoors. After you've closed the lid, be sure to stop up the holes with cotton so the ants don't get out. Now, remember to keep a cloth over the jar whenever you're not observing it. This way the ants will make really cool tunnels right near the sides, instead of hidden deep to avoid the light.

Rare Bird Facts

1. What is the fastest flying bird? 2. How high can birds fly? 3. What is the Nebraska State Bird? 4. What bird has become extinct in the last 75 years? 5. Why do all bird build nests? 6. Name two "major league" birds. 7. Which birds can fly backwards? 8. What bird is known for its famous deliveries? 9. What is the largest bird in North America? 10. What is the smallest bird in the world? 11. List three birds that cannot fly? 12. What color is a bluebird?

ANSWERS:

1. Swifts have been timed at 200MPH. 2. A vulture has been seen flying at 25,000 feet. 3. Western Meadowlark 4. Passenger Pigeon 5. Birds build nests to "house" their eggs while they incubate. 6. Cardinal and Oriole 7. Hummingbirds or any bird using fluttering flight. 8. Stork 9. Trumpet Swan 10. Bee Hummingbird of Cuba - 2.25" long 11. Kiwi, Penguin, Ostrich 12. It appears blue because of reflection and diffraction of light due to the

structure of feathers.

Animal Footprint Casts

Animal footprint Small shovel Cardboard or plastic containers Plaster Piece of Cardboard, wood, or trowel Paint

The boys would probably enjoy having a permanent record of critters in the area. This activity shows you how to do just that.

First, find footprints. Check your garden or flowerbeds. A walk through the park or woods will undoubtedly yield some interesting signs of life. Dig up the prints with a small shovel, maintaining enough dirt on all sides to keep it from falling apart.

Carefully place the footprint in a cardboard box or plastic container.

When you return home, mix up a batch of plaster (buy it at the hardware store and follow the directions). Pour the plaster into the footprint and let it harden. (If the soil containing the print is dry, moisten it with a spray bottle first so you'll have a smooth cast.) Even the top of the plaster with a piece of cardboard, wood, or trowel.

Once the plaster has dried, after fifteen minutes or so, brush off the dirt, turn over the cast, and you should have an excellent replica of the bottom of the animal's foot. Allow the cast to dry completely overnight and then paint it, if you like. Let your child's friends and relatives guess its origins.

Now, just what is that creature that's been prowling around the backyard?

Terrarium

Materials: 1 gallon glass jar, gravel, marbles, aquarium gravel, etc., purchased potting soil, 3 small bedding plants, option: small glass/china/resin figure of your choice

Place a 1/2" layer of gravel in the bottom of your jar. Add a thick layer (approx. 5") of potting soil. Remove the plants from plastic container. If in a "peat" container plant the whole thing. Place your plants into the potting soil at the same depth they were growing in the container. Gently pat the soil so there is good contact. Very gently add water to your soil so the soil is just damp. Place it in a window that gets the morning sun and watch the plants grow.