Boy Scouts of America

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Create a Sundial
Wolf – 2nd Grade
Finding Your Way
Elective
Requirement 4

Create a Sundial

Wolf – 2nd Grade
Finding Your Way
Elective
Requirement 4

Create a Sundial

Snapshot of Activity

Cub Scouts make a sundial.

Indoor
2
3
3
If you want to know more about The Adventure Activity Key click here.
  • Paper plate for each Cub Scout 
  • Bendy straw for each Cub Scout 
  • Sharpened pencil for each Cub Scout 
  • Compass, used both at the meeting and at home to finish project 
  • Tape 

Before the meeting: 

  1. Ask Cub Scouts’ parent or legal guardian to bring a compass to the meeting if they have one. 

During the meeting: 

  1. Tell Cub Scouts that they’ll be making a sundial.  
  2. Pass out supplies. 
  3. Ask Cub Scouts to carefully poke a hole through the center of the plate using the pencil. 
  4. Instruct Cub Scouts to push the straw through the hole and tape the short end underneath to hold it in place. 
  5. Explain to Cub Scouts that they’ll need to do part of this activity over a day’s time at home, but that they’ll be practicing what to do. 
  6. Tell Cub Scouts to place their sundial on the floor. Explain that when they’re home, they’ll put their sundial in a sunny area. They may need to find rocks to hold their sundial down. 
  7. Ask Cub Scouts to use their compass to find north. Next, they need to tilt the straw slightly north. Explain that when they do this at home, the tilted straw will cast a slightly longer shadow.  
  8. When Cub Scouts are at home, they will mark the shadow with the time. 
  9. Every hour, Cub Scouts will check their sundial and will mark the shadow with the time.  

Tip: This is a good activity to do during a pack campout. 

Other Activities Options

You can choose other activities of your choice.

Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.