Notes for presenting astronomy at Cub Scout meeting

A Cub Scout group may ask us to present astronomy at a Pack meeting. The presentation is likely to be a featured activity during a longer monthly meeting. This page offers an outline to cover the astronomy topics addressed in the Cub Scout awards. If possible, I prefer to cover these topics during an outdoor observing session rather than as a talk in a meeting.

Scouts will typically ask us to speak for a half hour. There is much more to cover than you can fit into a half hour. You will not be able to give the boys all the information they need to complete any of their awards in a half hour. But you can give an overview and show your own excitement about astronomy. You can customize this outline to talk about topics you are most passionate about, and cut off the rest when time is up. The Cub Scout group will have to take the starting point you provide and follow up in Den meetings in order to complete all the requirements of the badges.

Show and tell is great. I would love to set up a projector to show great images at a Scout meeting, but have never talked in a location that had the equipment. I certainly don't own it myself. I usually bring a couple of books and a pair of binoculars to show. You probably don't want to set up a telescope unless you have time to show the boys how to use it. You also want at least one experienced adult to chaperone each telescope.

• Why astronomy?
  • I usually tell about discovering the night sky when I was a Cub Scout.
  • My own main motivation is the awe and fun of observing.
  • Astronomy is an ancient and beautiful science.
    • Finding out about the objects in the cosmos is fun. There is also awe and joy in recognizing how old, how distant, and how big objects are.
    • There is lots we don't know yet. This science is exciting every day.
    • There is room for amateurs to contribute new knowledge and make real discoveries.
  • Astronomy can become a lifelong hobby.
    • Astronomy rewards, even with no equipment.
    • You never run out of things you haven't seen yet.
    • Many amateurs enjoy specialties, for example
      • Astrophotography
      • The Moon
      • Deep sky objects
      • Variable stars
  • Astronomy can become a career. One requirement concerns jobs in astronomy and education for them.
• Observing
  • Scouting is an outdoor program - astronomy fits well.
  • Start with or without equipment.
  • Learn one constellation at a time.
  • Step outside regularly, even if only for a minute.
  • Planning what you can see. The sky changes through the year. The moon changes through the month. Moonlight interferes with observing faint objects.
  • In winter, be careful to dress warmly. Observing does not generate heat, and the sun is not warming you. Subtract 20 degrees from the actual temperature: at 40° start dressing in layers.
  • Dark skies, light pollution, moonlight, and finding a dark site.
• Types of objects in the sky
  • There are different types of things, at different size scales. I talk about the fun of finding everything from red dwarfs to blue giants in the sky.
  • The book Nightwatch has a sequence of drawings of our part of the universe at increasingly larger scales.
  • See the list of terms Cubs are required to know for the Astronomy belt loop.
  • Explain how the objects connect to each other - nebulas give birth to stars, planets grow where a star is forming.
  • I often tell short stories about major constellations. I hope to later provide links to on line text for these examples:
    • Iroquois story of How Black God Made the Stars
    • Greek and Sioux stories of the origin of the Pleiades
    • Greek myth of Andromeda, with 7 of its characters visible in the sky in the fall
    • Cherokee story of the origin of the Milky Way
• Equipment
  • Choosing telescope vs. binoculars.
  • Cubs are required to show how to set up and focus a telescope or binoculars for the Astronomy belt loop. Letting each boy have a turn demonstrating what he has learned takes a lot of time.
  • Finding good equipment. Stick with the Big Three manufacturers of reliable beginning gear.
• Where to find more
  • Recommend books and Web sites
  • Where to find an observatory and planetarium
  • Advantages of an astronomy club
    • Family membership
    • Library includes equipment for members to borrow
    • Leave contact information with the group
• History
  • Astronomy is closely connected to the space program.
  • Famous astronomers of history - Gallileo through Carl Sagen.
• Completing the requirements for Cub Scout awards
  • Several requirement involve making posters (solar system, telescope, star life cycle).
  • Suggest doing these as projects in weekly den meetings.
• Questions and answers
  One requirement is to interview an astronomer. Leave time for a question period.