Bear Elective adventure 3rd grade

Fur, Feathers, and Ferns requirements (Bear)

Fur, Feathers, and Ferns is a Bear elective adventure with 7 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.

Fur, Feathers, and Ferns requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

While hiking or walking for one mile, identify six signs that any mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, or plants are living near the place where you choose to hike or walk.
Handbook requirement 2

Visit one of the following: zoo, wildlife refuge, nature center, aviary, game preserve, local conservation area, wildlife rescue group, or fish hatchery. Describe what you learned during your visit.
Handbook requirement 3

Name one animal that has become extinct in the last 100 years and one animal that is currently endangered. Explain what caused their declines.
Handbook requirement 4

Observe wildlife from a distance. Describe what you saw.
Handbook requirement 5

Use a magnifying glass to examine plants more closely. Describe what you saw through the magnifying glass that you could not see without it.
Handbook requirement 6

Learn about composting and how vegetable waste can be turned into fertilizer for plants.
Handbook requirement 7

Plant a vegetable or herb garden.

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Fur, Feathers, and Ferns

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, Fur, Feathers, and Ferns, 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 Fur, Feathers, and Ferns 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: While hiking or walking for one mile

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Fur, Feathers, and Ferns.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "While hiking or walking for one mile, identify six signs that any mammals, birds".
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: show "Visit one of the following: zoo, wildlife refuge, nature center, aviary, game preserve, local conservation area, wildlife rescue group, or fish hatchery" once at full speed and once slowly, then watch every Scout do it back to you.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:29 · 9 min

Activity 2: Name one animal that has become extinct

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Fur, Feathers, and Ferns.

Put the answers where the den can find them: three stations, a set of cards, or a chart for "Name one animal that has become extinct in the last 100 years and one animal that is currently endangered".
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: give the den five minutes in pairs on "Observe wildlife from a distance", then take one answer from every Scout.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

0:38 · 9 min

Activity 3: Use a magnifying glass to examine plants

Close requirements 5 and 6 of Fur, Feathers, and Ferns.

Show a finished example first so every Scout can picture "Use a magnifying glass to examine plants more closely" before they start.
Set materials out at two or three tables so nobody stands waiting for the scissors.
Move table to table while they work and ask each Scout to tell you what they are making and why.
Give a five minute warning, then have every Scout hold up what they made and say one thing about it.
Then requirement 6: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "Learn about composting and how vegetable waste can be turned into fertilizer for plants" while you move between the two.

Requirement 5 Requirement 6

0:47 · 8 min

Activity 4: Plant a vegetable or herb garden

Close requirement 7 of Fur, Feathers, and Ferns: Plant a vegetable or herb garden.

Show a finished example first so every Scout can picture "Plant a vegetable or herb garden" before they start.
Set materials out at two or three tables so nobody stands waiting for the scissors.
Move table to table while they work and ask each Scout to tell you what they are making and why.
Give a five minute warning, then have every Scout hold up what they made and say one thing about it.

Requirement 7

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 hand tools named in the requirement, plus safety glasses
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
A den first-aid kit and a handful of roller bandages to practice with
A ball, four cones and a whistle
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 Fur, Feathers, and Ferns 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 Fur, Feathers, and Ferns

How many requirements does Fur, Feathers, and Ferns have?

7. 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 Fur, Feathers, and Ferns required for Bear?

No. Fur, Feathers, and Ferns 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 Fur, Feathers, and Ferns take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 7 of the 7 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Fur, Feathers, and Ferns at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Fur, Feathers, and Ferns 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.