Bear Required adventure 3rd grade

Bear Habitat requirements (Bear)

Bear Habitat is a Bear required adventure with 9 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.

Bear Habitat requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

Prepare for a one-mile walk by gathering the Cub Scout Six Essentials and weather appropriate clothing and shoes.
Handbook requirement 2

"Know Before You Go" Identify the location of your walk on a map and confirm your one-mile route.
Handbook requirement 3

"Choose the Right Path" Learn about the path and surrounding area you will be walking on.
Handbook requirement 4

"Trash your Trash" Make a plan for what you will do with your personal trash or trash you find along the trail.
Handbook requirement 5

"Leave What You Find" Take pictures along your walk or bring a sketch book to draw five things that you want to remember on your walk.
Handbook requirement 6

"Be Careful with Fire" Determine the fire danger rating along your path.
Handbook requirement 7

"Respect Wildlife" From a safe distance, identify as you look up, down, and around you, six signs of any mammals, birds, insects, reptiles.
Handbook requirement 8

"Be Kind to Other Visitors" Identify what you need to do as a den to be kind to others on the path.
Handbook requirement 9

With your den, pack, or family, go on your one-mile walk while practicing your Leave No Trace Principles for Kids.

One meeting does not close all of these. The plan below takes the first ones and leaves requirement 9 for the next one.

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

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Bear Habitat

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, Bear Habitat, 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 Bear Habitat 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 · 9 min

Activity 1: Prepare for a one-mile walk by gathering

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Bear Habitat.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Prepare for a one-mile walk by gathering the Cub Scout Six Essentials and weather appropriate clothing and shoes".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 2: cover ""Know Before You Go" Identify the location of your walk on a map and confirm your one-mile route" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: "Choose the Right Path"

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Bear Habitat.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover ""Choose the Right Path" Learn about the path and surrounding area you will be walking on".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 4: cover ""Trash your Trash" Make a plan for what you will do with your personal trash or trash you find along the trail" outside while you are already walking, rather than sitting the den back down.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: "Leave What You Find" Take pictures along

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Bear Habitat.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover ""Leave What You Find" Take pictures along your walk".
Line the den up in pairs, check that every Scout has the Six Essentials, and set the turnaround time.
Stop at both spots so every Scout gets a turn, not just the three who are always in front.
Back at the door, ask each Scout for one thing they noticed, then mark the requirement off.
Then requirement 6: read ""Be Careful with Fire" Determine the fire danger rating along your path" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: "Respect Wildlife" From a safe distance

Close requirements 7 and 8 of Bear Habitat.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for ""Respect Wildlife" From a safe distance, identify as you look up, down".
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 8: hand it to your guest, who gets fifteen minutes and one ask: ""Be Kind to Other Visitors" Identify what you need to do as a den to be kind to others on the path".

Requirement 7 Requirement 8

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
Cardboard, painter's tape and safety scissors
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
A fire ring or camp stove, long matches and a bucket of water
A field guide or printed identification cards, and two magnifying glasses

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 Bear Habitat 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 Bear Habitat

How many requirements does Bear Habitat have?

9. 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 Bear Habitat required for Bear?

Yes. Bear Habitat is one of the six required Bear adventures, so the Bear badge cannot be awarded until it is complete.

How long does Bear Habitat take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 8 of the 9 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Bear Habitat at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Bear Habitat 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.