Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light) requirements (Arrow of Light)

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: what lives here

Give the Scouts who arrive first something to do, so the meeting starts the moment they walk in.

• Tape six pictures of local animals or plants around the room, numbered one to six.
• Each Scout gets a scrap of paper and writes down the two they have actually seen near home.
• Collect the slips as the opening starts and read three of them out during talk time.

0:10 · 5 min

Opening

Flag ceremony, Scout Oath and Scout Law. The same five minutes every week, run by the Scouts.

• The denner calls the den to order and leads the flag ceremony.
• Say the Scout Oath and the Scout Law together. New Scouts read from a card and nobody makes anything of it.
• One sentence on tonight's adventure, Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light), and the one thing everybody will get done.

0:15 · 5 min

Talk time

Den business while everyone is still sitting down, and a look at what is coming.

• The two dates parents need: the next den meeting and the next pack event.
• Ask who already did part of Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light) at home, and write the names down so it gets recorded.
• Take one question from the den. Answer it or say when you will.

0:20 · 12 min

Activity 1: Identify foods grown or processed in your state

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light).

• Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Identify foods grown or processed in your state".
• Give the den five minutes in pairs to work it out, then bring the answers together on one sheet.
• Go round the circle so every Scout says one answer out loud in their own words.
• Then requirement 2: read "Determine the benefits of purchasing food that is locally grown or processed" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: Explore the concept of a food desert

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light).

• Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Explore the concept of a food desert".
• Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
• Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
• Mark requirement 3 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
• Then requirement 4: read "Explore the concept of a food oasis" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Learn how individuals can reduce food waste

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Champions for Nature (Arrow of Light).

• Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Learn how individuals can reduce food waste".
• Work it in pairs or small groups for most of the block while you move between them.
• Bring the den back together and have each Scout tell you what they did.
• Mark requirement 5 off as each Scout finishes rather than trying to remember afterwards.
• Then requirement 6: give every Scout a job inside the work so "Participate in a conservation service project" is something they did rather than watched.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:55 · 5 min

Closing

End on time, and make sure every Scout leaves knowing what they finished.

• Cubmaster's minute: one short thought tied to what the den just did. Sixty seconds, no lecture.
• Read back what got finished tonight, requirement by requirement, so the Scouts hear their own progress.
• Send the den off with the den yell, and catch the parents who need to hear something at pickup.