Tonight Troop 60 Scouts gave presentations about the importance of and details about various types of Oceanography or about careers in the field.

Gabe also gave a presentation–he was brave enough to go first!–but he dabbed so there is no photo.

Stephen then gave a speech about John Sibley to complete his Citizenship in the Community merit badge.

After the prepared speeches were given, Scouts broke into patrols to work on making the trebuchet pockets so they can test launch soon, while Trey completed his Scoutmaster Conference for Eagle Scout rank. Yay!

Congrats to all!

Reminders for those Scouts attending the Southern Stone Climbing Gym Friday: we are departing from the FUMC parking lot promptly at 5:30, so please arrive early enough to check in and store your gear. Wear comfortable athletic clothes and shoes appropriate for climbing, and bring water, a sleeping bag, pillow, change of clothes, and toothbrush etc. There are no showering facilities. We will return to FUMC at around 10:30-11:00 Saturday morning. Dinner and breakfast expenses are covered by the Troop.

Last night began with members of Troop 60 giving their Oceanography presentations to complete requirement 8.

They then broke into groups to work on requirements they may have missed because of the scheduling conflict with NCHS Orchestra’s concert last week.

Meanwhile, Troop 60’s newest Scout and Arrow of Light recipient, Grace, completed more than half of the requirements for Scout rank advancement with the Scoutmaster, and talked about the differences between Dens and Troops, advancement, patrols and leadership, and what Scoutmaster Conferences and Boards of Review are.

Finally, Grace reminded the Troop about the 4th step to advancement–Recognition–and the Scoutmaster presented cloth badges to those youth present who recently had completed merit badges and rank advancements. Special congratulations to Koda for earning his First Class rank!

On Monday, Scouts from Troop 60 participated in the crossover ceremony for Pack 20 Arrow of Light Scouts in an inspiring ceremony (with a real bridge!) in Provencal. Congratulations to all advancing Pack 20 Cubs and to Grace and Jocelyn, who have moved from Cub Scouting to Scouts BSA as Arrow of Light earners!

Please join us in congratulating Stephen Wheat for his great leadership today during the installation of his Eagle Project, Mary’s Garden, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Natchitoches! Stephen took to heart the BSA motto, “Be Prepared,” and volunteers were quickly to work this beautiful Saturday morning.

The final result is a lovely garden area in front of the church!

Congratulations, Stephen, for completing this important step on the trail to Eagle Scout!

Attending Scouts completed more Oceanography merit badge requirements, which will continue next week in groups to help those who missed last night to participate in the NCHS Orchestra performance.

Please note that Stephen is ready to install his Eagle Project and he needs help from Scouts! The information is below. Please plan to help Saturday starting at 8.

Tonight Troop 60 Scouts started work on the Oceanography merit badge and completed experiments! 97% of the water on earth is in the oceans, and there are many reasons why it’s important that we know about and understand the vital role oceans play on our habitable planet.

Scouts started by playing with double-stuffed oreos as models of tectonic plates, trying to shift their cookie to create oceanic ridges, seamounts, guyots, canyons, volcanoes, and other aspects of underwater topography as shown on their handouts. (And of course they got to eat the results!)

Scouts were then challenged to discover the relationship between salinity, temperature, and density by floating a hard-boiled egg. Each pair created a hypothesis (cold water; hot water; cold water plus salt; hot water plus salt) and then tested their hypotheses:

Scouts adjusted their testing until they could float their eggs. We talked about how circulation and currents affect water temperature, density, and salinity as well as weather and climate.

Finally, the Troop made a wave generator and, after discussing the various types of ocean movement and waves, experimented with different methods of creating beaches with the “sea floor” sand while emulating ocean movement (no cheating!). Once they created consistent tidal waves and a smooth slope “beach,” they explored what happens to waves and underwater topography when jetties and breakwaters are introduced to the system.

We closed the meeting by talking about the four branches of oceanography and the unique situation on the Louisiana coast, where wetland loss greatly affects the coastline and saltwater intrusion into freshwater coastal areas further decreases the wetland environment that helps protect the southern coast from hurricanes, storm surges, and other ocean-related weather intensity.