1- Where do you see the forest the thickest? The edge of the forest. In the summer it is easy to see why nature works this way. There are plants with leaves from the ground all the way up to the tallest trees reaching for sunlight. Inside of the forest, the tall trees grab the majority of the sunlight and only a little bit of direct sunlight works it’s way down to the ground. Short plants inside the forest have adapted to use what sunlight they receive.
1B- How can you use this knowledge? If the forest is the thickest – that is where the animal food may also be the most available. Bird Study Merit Badge asks you to observe wild birds. Knowing where that the forest edge is the most likely place for bird food – observing then becomes easy.
2- We have called our sun Sol. I like Helios. How about Aurora, Apollonia, Apollo, Malina, Aeliana, Thea, Anatole, Baskara, Eleodoro, Freyr, Heru, Phoebus, Ra, and Sulien? These are just a few names that different cultures and languages have used. And there are many more.
2B- The word EASTER comes from the word Eostre. It means “where the sun rises” in German. Old German culture had a feast at the vernal equinox for the goddess named Eostre. The Christians borrowed the name for the celebration of the resurrection.
I- Why did the Sun go to school?
J- To get brighter.
3- Do you know how plants use sunlight? Photosynthesis is the process that plants make organic energy from sunlight. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that uses sunlight energy to create glucose from the hydrogen in water and carbon dioxide from the air. That is photosynthesis. The water and nutrients the plant uses are absorbed in the root system. The oxygen that the plants give off is the by-product of the photosynthesis process.
K- A Photon checks into a hotel and the clerk asks if he need help with his luggage.
L- The Photon replies, “No thanks. I am traveling light.”
4- Communications at VHF and UHF frequencies are generally “line-of-sight” communications. This means they normally travel in a straight line from the transmitter to the receiver. For this reason, they are normally used for local communications.
Why are direct (not via a repeater) UHF signals rarely heard from stations outside your local coverage area?
UHF signals are usually not reflected by the ionosphere
Because VHF and UHF signals are line-of-sight, at some distance, the signals will be blocked by the curvature of the earth. The maximum distance for line-of-sight communications is called the radio horizon. The radio horizon extends somewhat farther than the visual horizon.
Why do VHF and UHF radio signals usually travel somewhat farther than the visual line of sight distance
between two stations? The Earth seems less curved to radio waves than to light
5- “The right of dissent, or, if you prefer, the right to be wrong, is surely fundamental to the existence of a democratic society. That’s the right that went first in every nation that stumbled down the trail toward totalitarianism.” ― Edward R. Murrow
M- I was up all night wondering where the Sun went.
N- Then it dawned on you.
6- The Scout Law talks about Helpful. A Good Turn is being helpful without the expectation of being paid or tipped. There is a Scout, who is known only to God, who helped William D. Boyce find his way in London, England in 1909. From that interaction, Mr. Boyce brought Scouting to the US. That Scout refused a gratuity and said “No, thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I won’t take anything for helping.” One Good Turn over a century ago brought us here today.
6B- I believe that the Scout Law applies to all of us Scouts and Scouters – including me. Today I picked up litter from in front of my neighbor’s house.
I just might be wrong and right,
Gaither
Dan Romanchik KB6NU, (Ham Radio) Technician Study Guide