Webelos Elective adventure 4th grade

Tech on the Trail requirements (Webelos)

Tech on the Trail is a Webelos elective adventure with 4 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.

Tech on the Trail requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

Discuss how technology can help keep you safe in the outdoors.
Handbook requirement 2

Explore Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and how to use them.
Handbook requirement 3

With an adult, choose an online mapping program tool and plan a 2-mile trek.
Handbook requirement 4

Take your 2-mile trek.

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

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Tech on the Trail

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, Tech on the Trail, 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 Tech on the Trail 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 · 18 min

Activity 1: Discuss how technology can help keep

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Tech on the Trail.

Walk the route before the meeting and pick the two places you will stop to cover "Discuss how technology can help keep you safe in the outdoors".
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: read "Explore Global Positioning System (GPS) devices and how to use them" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:38 · 17 min

Activity 2: With an adult, choose an online mapping

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Tech on the Trail.

Sit the den in a circle, or in small groups if you have more than eight Scouts.
Read "With an adult, choose an online mapping program tool and plan a 2-mile trek" out loud and give the den ten seconds of quiet before anyone answers.
Take one answer from every Scout. Nobody gets skipped and nobody gets rushed.
Write the den's answers on a flip chart so parents can read them at pickup.
Then requirement 4: read "Take your 2-mile trek" out loud, work it in pairs, and mark it off as each Scout finishes.

Requirement 3 Requirement 4

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
The hand tools named in the requirement, plus safety glasses
A local map and one compass per pair of Scouts
The Cub Scout Six Essentials for every Scout, and a full water bottle
One laptop or tablet, and a printed copy of the pack's device rules

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 Tech on the Trail 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 Tech on the Trail

How many requirements does Tech on the Trail have?

4. 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 Tech on the Trail required for Webelos?

No. Tech on the Trail is a Webelos elective. A Scout needs the six required Webelos adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Tech on the Trail take?

The plan on this page runs 60 minutes and covers 4 of the 4 requirements. Most dens spend two meetings on an adventure, because somebody is always absent for the first one.

Can a Scout finish part of Tech on the Trail at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Tech on the Trail 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.