Bear Elective adventure 3rd grade

A Bear Goes Fishing requirements (Bear)

A Bear Goes Fishing is a Bear elective adventure with 6 requirements. Below is what each one asks in plain language, and a sixty minute den meeting plan that works through them: a gathering activity, the opening, the activity blocks, and what to say in the closing.

Plan this meeting in DenBuddy Jump to the plan

Free for one den. DenBuddy reads your den from Scoutbook Plus, and writes back only when you press Send.

A Bear Goes Fishing requirements

Paraphrased for planning. Read the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Handbook requirement 1

Learn about three types of fish in your area.
Handbook requirement 2

Learn about your local fishing regulations with your den leader or another adult.
Handbook requirement 3

List three of the regulations you learned about, and one reason each regulation exists.
Handbook requirement 4

Become familiar with the safe use of the fishing equipment you will be using on your outing.
Handbook requirement 5

Learn the proper way to attach the hook, lure, or fly to the line.
Handbook requirement 6

Go on a fishing adventure, and for 30 minutes or more, put into practice the things you learned about fish and fishing equipment.

Check out this resource page to get the most out of this adventure!

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for A Bear Goes Fishing

Five kinds of block in the order that works: something to do on arrival, the opening, den business, the adventure work split into chunks a Cub Scout can hold attention through, and a closing that names what got finished.

0:00 · 10 min

Gathering: pack the bag

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

Spread the Cub Scout Six Essentials and four things that do not belong on a table by the door.
The card on the table says: pick the six you would carry, and be ready to say why.
As Scouts arrive they join in, so the ones who came early are never left sitting.

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, A Bear Goes Fishing, 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 A Bear Goes Fishing 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: Learn about three types of fish

Close requirements 1 and 2 of A Bear Goes Fishing.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Learn about three types of fish in your area".
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: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Learn about your local fishing regulations with your den leader or another adult", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:32 · 12 min

Activity 2: List three of the regulations you learned

Close requirements 3 and 4 of A Bear Goes Fishing.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "List three of the regulations you learned about, and one reason each regulation exists".
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 4: cover "Become familiar with the safe use of the fishing equipment you will be using on your outing" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:44 · 11 min

Activity 3: Learn the proper way to attach the hook

Close requirements 5 and 6 of A Bear Goes Fishing.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Learn the proper way to attach the hook, lure, or fly to the line".
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: put the den in pairs and have every Scout show you "Go on a fishing adventure, and for 30 minutes or more, put into practice the things you learned about fish and fishing equipment" once, in their own way.

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.

What to bring

Tonight's requirement list, printed, with a box to tick per Scout
A clipboard and pen for sign-offs as they happen
Paper, markers and a few pencils
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
Towels, drinking water and a change of clothes

Worked out from the requirement text. Swap anything you already have in the den box.

Plan this meeting for your own den

This plan does not know your Scouts. DenBuddy does: import your den from Scoutbook Plus and the planner starts from the requirements each Scout is actually missing, keeps the block times, and turns the agenda into the record sheet afterwards.

Plan A Bear Goes Fishing Create a free den

How the planner works

Youth protection is built in: Scouts have no accounts, check-in is done by a parent from a public link, and nothing DenBuddy does writes back to Scoutbook.

How youth data is handled

Questions about A Bear Goes Fishing

How many requirements does A Bear Goes Fishing have?

6. Each one is a single thing the Scout does. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is A Bear Goes Fishing required for Bear?

No. A Bear Goes Fishing is a Bear elective. A Scout needs the six required Bear adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does A Bear Goes Fishing take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 6 of the 6 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of A Bear Goes Fishing at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in A Bear Goes Fishing is marked as family-only work, so a Scout who misses the meeting can finish with a parent and you record it when the family tells you.