STEM Nova Award, BSA

08/20/2026

Wild Wednesday - August 19 - Crabs are Cool

On a visit to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware, we found three kinds of crabs on the beach. The blue crab was feisty; I shouldn't have picked it up. The fiddler crab was itty-bitty. One of the scouts did carefully pick it up; it's sitting on her fingers. The ghost crab was hanging out grooming itself waiting for a wave to take it back into the ocean.

We encouraged the scouts to notice how the beach environment differed from our normal woods and farmland.

Some of the trees and plants were the same, but many were different.

We saw many gulls of different species. We also saw pelicans.

We saw dolphins leaping in the ocean.

We saw a black rat snake on the dunes. We have those at home.

At night, we saw the crescent Moon and Venus as well as both dippers.

While they were sitting around the campfire, they saw the rocket stage separation of the Falcon rocket launched from Florida; I caught just a glimpse of it. But the Scouts were looking in the right direction and noticing.

Encourage your Scouts to notice the wild world around them.

08/13/2026

Wild Wednesday - August 12 - “Wort” in its Name

Many common names for plants contain “wort”. But that doesn’t mean they are related. “Wort” is derived from “wyrt” which means plant or herb. It’s a general term like “weed”.

But it sometimes suggests that it is a beneficial plant or a remedy. We know more about standard remedies now and don’t usually use natural wild ones. Many herbal remedies can be toxic.

Is “toothwort” helpful for easing tooth pain? (It’s the white flower pictured.) It was sometimes used for headaches.

What is “ragwort” helping? (It’s the left yellow flower.) It was once used for a variety of pains, but we now know that it is poisonous if consumed. DO NOT EAT OR APPLY TO BROKEN SKIN.

Spiderwort (the purple flower) was used for bug bites.

St. John’s Wort (the right yellow flower) blooms near St. John’s Day near the summer solstice. It’s been used for depression.

Finally, the bottom image is Snakeskin Liverwort (Conocephalum salebrosum). Its flat leaves look somewhat like snakeskin. Liverwort supposedly is shaped like a liver. Before people knew better, they used it for liver problems.

There are many other plants with “wort” in their names. Do you have any near you?

08/06/2026

Wild Wednesday - August 5 - Yellow

There are so many yellow things in the wild these days. Butterflies, caterpillars, flowers, slime mold, fungi, birds, ...

Take your scouts on a color hike looking for specific colors.

What can you find that is yellow? Notice that there are many shades of yellow.

07/29/2026

Wild Wednesday - July 29 - Searching for Rainbows

We are at the National Scout Jamboree, and today is the official announcement of the new Wildland Fire Management merit badge. The sun is out. This firefighter was washing his truck so that it is bright and shiny for pictures.

Bright sunshine plus small water droplets often bring rainbows. You can see a bit of one just below where the stream of water hits the truck.

To find rainbows, be looking toward raindrops or water spray with the sun behind you. Find the shadow of your head. Extend your arm and make a fist. The bow will be about 4 fistwidths out from your head.

07/23/2026

Wild Wednesday - July 22 - Critters of the Summit

Scouts arrived today at the Summit. Staff has been here for a bit. The critters are adjusting to the influx of visitors. They don’t know that this huge group will be gone in two weeks.

There’s a lot of wild to notice. Bird Study had a pair of osprey fly by. Scouts caught fish on the flies they learned in Fly Fishing. There have been bear sightings.

Photos are Polyphemus Moth, turkeys, Rat Snake, and Five-lined Skink.

07/23/2026

Check out the STEM activities at 2026 National Scout Jamboree. You can earn a Nova award doing STEM activities all over the Summit. In Summit Central sort of across from the Trading Post.

07/16/2026

Wild Wednesday - July 15 - Different Plants in Different Places

As we head out on vacations or Scouting trips to different locations, realize that you may encounter different plants. I found this Orange-Fringed Orchid at The Summit in July 2023. I think I also saw some there in July 2017.

You can use an identification app (Seek by iNaturalist or Google Lens) to identify plants and animals you don’t know. In 2023, we had many cool moths.

However, the black bear we saw from the Consol Energy Bridge at The Summit wasn’t close enough to identify by phone app.

Safe travels to those headed to the Jamboree.

07/15/2026

As many of us head to The Summit and National Scout Jamboree as national legislators debate going on daylight savings time permanently, this post from August 2022 seems relevant.

Wild Wednesday - August 24 - Daylight length

Daylight is getting shorter. People are noting that we won't see such late sunsets until next April. Let's consider Glen Jean, West Virginia which is The Summit Bechtel Reserve. The 2023 National Jamboree will be there next July.

Sunrise this morning was at 6:47am. Sunset is at 8:05pm. That means 13:20 hours of daylight.

By September 24, it will be down to 12:04 hours of daylight. By December 24, it will be down to 9:32 hours of daylight. By April 24, it will be back up to 13:31 hours. And during National Jamboree on July 24, there will be 14:19 hours of daylight.

The Summit is roughly at 38 degrees north. The three other BSA High Adventure Bases are Northern Tier (about 48), Philmont (about 36.5), and Florida Sea Base (about 25). The table shows daylight length today, near the winter solstice, and next July. Note how Northern Tier has long daylight in summer and short daylight in winter. But Florida Sea Base does not have as much change in daylight length.

There are many aspects of daylight length to investigate. None of the dates mentioned here are the longest or shortest. You might discuss equinox and solstice. You might demonstrate with a globe. Finding the information and creating a spreadsheet is using technology. Investigating one question might lead to more questions. That is good.

Why does this matter to Scouts? If you live further north, you have more time to be active outdoors in daylight during the summer. There is substantially less daylight in winter. But you can see observe the stars for longer in winter than summer. Further south, there is less variation. At Florida Sea Base, there is about 3 hours of daylight length different between the solstices. However, at Northern Tier, daylight at the summer solstice is over 7.5 hours longer than at the winter solstice.

How do these daylight lengths compare with your local daylight length?

Stay curious.

07/09/2026

Wild Wednesday - July 8 - Natural Suds

The sudsy bubbles shown here are created when decomposing plants and animals create natural surfactants in the water. Surfactants reduce the water's surface tension and allow bubbles to form more easily. The moving water adds the air. This impressive pile of suds accumulated after a couple of big rainstorms. Two days later, the bubbles were mostly gone.

Bubbles happen naturally. We featured Tree Foam in January 2022. We considered Watery Windrows in January 2024. They can also result from pollution.

Have you and your Scouts seen natural suds in streams?

07/02/2026

Fireworks science. Safety first.

An easy-to-understand introduction to the science of fireworks: how do they get into the sky and where do all the different colors come from?