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

Decoder Wheel

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

Decoder Wheel

Snapshot of Activity

Send a secret message using a decoder wheel.

Indoor
2
2
2
If you want to know more about The Adventure Activity Key click here.
  • Decoder Wheel worksheet found in Additional Resources
  • Printer
  • 1 pair of scissors for each Cub Scout
  • Round brads, one for each Cub Scout
  • Paper, one for each Cub Scout
  • Pencil, one for each Cub Scout

Before the meeting:

  1. Print a copy of the Decoder Wheel, one for each Cub Scout.
  2. Make a sample decoder wheel. Become familiar with how the decoder wheel works. The decoder wheel can be used only if you have the key. The key is the position at which the decoder wheel starts.
  3. Set up meeting space so there is room for Cub Scouts to make decoder wheels.

 

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 decoder wheel sheet, a pair of scissors, and a round brad.
  3. Ask Cub Scouts to cut out the three circles and stack in order from number one wheel on the bottom, then number two and finally wheel three on the top.
  4. Have Cub Scouts attach the three circles by carefully poking the brad through the middle of the three wheels.
  5. Select a letter on the outer wheel and a number in the inner circle – this will be the key (ex. T10). Turn the inner wheel so that the number (10 in the example) lines up with the outer wheel letter (T in example). On the wheel 10 also corresponds with G in the shaded section. Don’t move the wheels now, keep them in place.
  6. Each Cub Scout writes a secret message as letters on their paper (no numbers and no punctuation).
  7. For each letter of the message, Cub Scouts find that character on the outer wheel, and then write down the letter that is exactly beneath it on the inner wheel until the message is complete.
  8. Give the secret message to a buddy to decode.
  9. To read the encrypted message, Cub Scouts will use the key from the message sender and align the wheel. For each letter of the message, find that character on the inner wheel, and write down the letter that is exactly above it on the outer wheel.

Additional Resources

Decoder Wheel worksheet

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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.