Wolf Elective adventure 2nd grade

Digging in the Past requirements (Wolf)

Digging in the Past is a Wolf 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.

Digging in the Past requirements

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

Handbook requirement 1

Play a game that demonstrates your knowledge of dinosaurs, such as a dinosaur match game.
Handbook requirement 2

Create an imaginary dinosaur. Share with your den its name, what it eats, and where it lives.
Handbook requirement 3

Complete one of the following:
- 3a Make a fossil cast.
- 3b Make a dinosaur dig. Be a paleontologist, and dig through a dinosaur dig made by another member of your den. Show and explain the ways a paleontologist works carefully during a dig.
Handbook requirement 4

Make edible fossil layers. Explain how this snack is a good model for the formation of fossils.

Ready to run

A 60 minute den meeting for Digging in the Past

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: tallest tower

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

Put scrap cardboard, painter's tape and two pairs of safety scissors on the gathering table.
The task on the card: build the tallest thing that stands on its own before the opening.
Scouts join whichever table has room, so nobody waits alone for the meeting to start.

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, Digging in the Past, 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 Digging in the Past 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: Play a game that demonstrates your knowledge

Close requirements 1 and 2 of Digging in the Past.

Mark the play area and walk the rules through once, slowly, before anyone runs.
Play one practice round and one for real so "Play a game that demonstrates your knowledge of dinosaurs, such as a dinosaur match game" gets a fair try.
Rotate teams between rounds so the same Scout is not last twice.
Close with the sportsmanship question: what did somebody else do well tonight?
Then requirement 2: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "Create an imaginary dinosaur" while you move between the two.

Requirement 1 Requirement 2

0:38 · 17 min

Activity 2: Complete one of the following

Close requirements 3 and 4 of Digging in the Past.

Read the requirement to the den in plain words: "Complete one of the following:".
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: set the materials out on a second table and let them build "Make edible fossil layers" while you move between the two.

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
Cardboard, painter's tape and safety scissors
A fire ring or camp stove, long matches and a bucket of water
Snack ingredients, napkins and hand sanitizer
A ball, four cones and a whistle

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 Digging in the Past 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 Digging in the Past

How many requirements does Digging in the Past have?

4. Some of them have lettered options underneath, where the Scout picks one. Check the current wording in the handbook or Scoutbook Plus before you sign anything off.

Is Digging in the Past required for Wolf?

No. Digging in the Past is a Wolf elective. A Scout needs the six required Wolf adventures plus at least two electives, and this one can be part of those two.

How long does Digging in the Past 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 Digging in the Past at home?

Any of it can be. Nothing in Digging in the Past 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.