1- When we talked about disasters, I showed that your Scout Skills are extremely valuable in an emergency or in a disaster. How does a stranger know that you are a Scout? Your uniform. Your uniform speaks a million words for everyone to see. It speaks the Scout Law, Motto, & Slogan. All three at the same time. You also speak for every other Scout; past, present, & future. The uniform also states that you are trained and have skills.
2- What disaster-related symbols do you know? The Red Cross comes to my mind. Check out the Red Crescent. Most Muslim countries and organizations use the Red Crescent. A third symbol called Red Crystal (previously called the Red Lozenge or Red Diamond) was adopted by the Geneva Conventions in 2005. This symbol is a red square with a white center. It is displayed on point. (the points of the square are at 12, 3, 6, & 9 o’clock positions).
The motto of all of these organizations is Per Humanitatem ad Pacem or “With humanity, towards peace.”
E- What do you call it when a cat drinks lemon juice?
F- A sour puss.
3- Emergency Management’s purpose is to protect communities by coordinating and integrating all activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters. (Thanks FEMA)
G- Did you see the new teacher? She is cross-eyed.
H- You mean that she can’t control her pupils.
5- Try to find the North Star, Polaris, every night that you are out. From North, you can find the rest of the ordinal directions East, South, & West. And from there, using an analog watch, you can go navigate to any point on the compass.
6- After you find the Big Dipper, try and find Cassiopeia. She is opposite the Big Dipper with Polaris in the middle. In the Northern Hemisphere, one or both of these constellations are up and able to be seen. If you get further north (like Canada / Northern Tier – hint, hint); You can see both of them. Keep studying these and learn to find North even when you can’t see all the stars of the constellation.
Notice how the stars rotate around Polaris at different times of the night. And at different times of the year.
6B- Cassiopeia is named after the vain queen Cassiopeia in Greek mythology. She boasted about her own unrivaled beauty. Her husband and king is Cepheus. His constellation precedes her around Polaris. He is a bit harder to find and recognize. If you do find him; look for the asterism called The Kids.
No! I am not kidding. Keep looking up,
Gaither
Dare to Soar: by Thomas Mercaldo
PS: Ref: Sit. Rep. # 71 The bottom right corner of the Emergency Preparedness Merit Badge are symbols of Lightening, Wind or Storm, and Morse Code for H E L P.