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How Big Is…?

Plants and animals come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are very large, and some are very small. Turn your next hike into a photo scavenger hunt. In your team, take photos to match the items on your list. Try to find a plant that is smaller than your fingernail, as tall as your knee or over your head! What other scavenger hunt items can you come up with?

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Plan

  • Where are you going to go on your hike? When will you go on your hike?
  • What weather do you expect? How will you dress?
  • What should you pack?
  • How will you make sure that you Leave No Trace?
  • What are some of the biggest animals you know? What are some of the smallest animals you know?
  • How can you measure how big something is? How will you measure it if it is moving or not close to you?
  • How can you compare your size with the size of different plants? Different animals?
  • What will you put on the list for your scavenger hunt? You might want to take a picture of an animal with eight legs, a tree that is taller than you, the most colorful animal you can find and so on. What other ideas do you have?
  • How will you record the names of the different plants and animals that you see?
  • How will you share your pictures with the other members of your Section?

Do

  • In your team or as a Section, create a list of items for your scavenger hunt.
  • Go for a hike. In your team, take photos and write down the different items you come across.
  • At the following meeting, share the photos that your team took with the rest of your Section!

Review

  • What do you know now that you did not know before?
  • How did you measure the sizes of different plants and animals?
  • How did you work together to explore the size of different plants and animals?
  • How hard was it to take a photo of everything on your scavenger hunt list?
  • What elements of STEM were in this adventure? Science? Technology? Engineering? Mathematics?
  • What did you like about this adventure? What did you not like? How would you do this adventure differently?
  • Remember to submit your activities on our Scouts for Sustainability Take Action Map

Keep it Simple

  • Go on a scavenger hunt for different things in the forest! Work with your Scouters to create a list of different things to find and see which team can find the most items!

Take it Further

  • How big is a tree? Learn about how big trees can get and how tall they can be! Find the tallest tree you can and the tree with the thickest trunk! Which one do you think is older?