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 Code of the Wolf > 
Code Stick
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Wolf – 2nd Grade
Code of the Wolf
Elective
Requirement 1

Code Stick

Wolf – 2nd Grade
Code of the Wolf
Elective
Requirement 1

Code Stick

Snapshot of Activity

Create and decipher a code stick coded message.

Indoor
2
2
2
If you want to know more about The Adventure Activity Key click here.
  • Paper strips cut into ¼” to ½” wide by 11” long for each Cub Scout
  • Pencils, 2 per Cub Scout
  • Tape, one dispenser for every group of 4 Cub Scouts

Before the meeting:

  1. Cut the paper into long thin strips of about ¼ to ½ inch wide.
  2. Make a sample code stick.
  3. Set up meeting space so there is room for Cub Scouts to make decoder sticks.

During the meeting:

  1. Gather the Cub Scouts and ask them if they have ever sent or received an email. Explain to them:
    • To protect the information in the email a computer may scramble the message so if someone who wasn’t supposed to receive the email gets it, they can’t read it. This is called encryption.
    • Encrypting messages has been going on way before computers. When all messages were written the message would use a code and to understand the code you needed a key.
    • Today we will create a secret code using a method that was used before computers.
  2. Give each Cub Scout a strip of paper and 2 pencils.
  3. Tape the piece of paper to the top of the pencil. Wrap it tightly around the length of the pencil so the edges of the strip are exactly side by side.
  4. Tape the paper strip to the other end of the pencil so the paper strip stays in place when you write on it.
  5. Ask Cub Scouts to write a secret message down one side of the pencil. Remind them to add a few extra letters on the other sides.
  6. Unwrap the strip of paper from the pencil. The letters will be mixed up and seem random.
  7. Ask Cub Scouts to pass their secret code with another Cub Scout.
  8. Each Cub Scout wraps the paper strip around a pencil to decode it. The letters will now form the secret message.

Other Activities Options

You can choose other activities of your choice.

Wolf – 2nd Grade

Decoder Wheel

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Send a secret message using a decoder wheel.

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Wolf – 2nd Grade

Pigpen Code

Indoor
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2

Send and decode a message using Pigpen Code.

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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.