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All scouts are required to have their cyberchip before they can watch videos online. If you haven't earned your cyberchip yet, click the link below to find out how you can earn it!

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Today's youth are spending more time than ever using digital media for education, research, socializing, and fun. To help families and volunteers keep youth safe while online, the Boy Scouts of America introduces the Cyber Chip. In developing this exciting new tool, the BSA teamed up with content expert NetSmartz®, part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children® and training expert for many law enforcement agencies.

Netsmartz® has Cyber Chip resources, including grade-specific videos, for each level. Check it out here.

Topics include cyberbullying, cell phone use, texting, blogging, gaming, and identity theft.

Note: For Cub Scout ranks; Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Arrow of Light the Cyber Chip requirement may be replace with earning the Protect Yourself Rules Adventure. Lions do not have a Cyber Chip requirement for rank. Protect Yourself Rules Adventure. If Cub Scouts use the Protect Yourself Rules Adventure in place of the Cyber Chip requirement, the adventure can not be used as an elective for rank.

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Today's youth are spending more time than ever using digital media for education, research, socializing, and fun. To help families and volunteers keep youth safe while online, the Boy Scouts of America introduces the Cyber Chip.

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All videos posted on this page have been viewed by adult leaders. However, parents are expected to stay with their scout during any and all online activities to help keep them safe.

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Backpacking & Hiking, Camping, Ground Rules, Magazine, Outdoors, Videos

KNOT-TYING HAS LONG BEEN a part of the Scouting program - for good reasons. It promotes discipline and focus, and it teaches useful skills that can be used immediately. Most people can tie just one knot (the "overhand"); many Scouts know more than a dozen.

Here's how to teach these knots to your Scouts or Venturers.

When tying the knot, be sure that the working ends are on the same side; otherwise, the knot might be unreliable. If you tie a thick and thin rope together, use the thick rope to form the "stationary loop" and the thin rope as the "working line."

For greater security, especially with plastic rope, use the "double sheet bend" by taking an extra coil around the standing loop. The double sheet bend can be used when you've tied two ropes together and the knot absolutely must not fail.

Begin by forming a loop or "rabbit hole." The "rabbit" (working end) of the rope goes up through the hole, around the tree, then back down the hole. The knot will slip as it tightens, so allow a long working end.

Form the overhand loop. Then pull the loop through. Make the loop exactly as shown; it won't work if you do it backward. Run the working end of the rope through the loop and then pull hard to form the pulley.

Secure the pulley to a stationary object (like a pole or branch) with a quick-release half-hitch or, for extra security, two or more standard half-hitches.

TWO HALF-HITCHES
Use two half hitches to tie a rope to a tree, ring or dock.

If you need more security, take a second turn around the tree, or just add more half-hitches.

First, use a sheet bend or double fisherman's knot (instructions below) to make a loop from a length of parachute cord or rope.

Then, wrap the loop around the main line three times. The prusik hitch will slide easily along the rope, but it will jam when a load (horizontal or vertical) is applied.

DOUBLE FISHERMAN'S KNOT
Use this knot to tie together the ends of one rope, forming a loop. The loop of rope can be used for many purposes, including the prusik hitch, shown above.

Related Articles

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Backpacking & Hiking, Camping, Ground Rules, Magazine, Outdoors, Videos KNOT-TYING HAS LONG BEEN a part of the Scouting program - for good reasons. It promotes discipline and focus, and it teaches useful skills that can be used immediately. Most people can tie just one knot (the "overhand"); many Scouts know more than a dozen.

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Basics of Birding - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]

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12 Birds to recognize that you may not know

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12 Birds to recognize that you may not know

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﻿12 Birds Every Texan Should Know

﻿A short starter list for those who long to put a name with a beak.

﻿﻿By ﻿Cliff Shackelford

﻿﻿﻿Every Texan is familiar with icons like the Alamo and the state Capitol, but how many of our feathered friends can you identify? Northern cardinal, blue jay, grackle ... Those are pretty easy, but there are so many more!

Birding is one of the fastest-growing outdoor activities in the U.S. With 639 species of birds documented in Texas, things really are bigger and better here in the Lone Star State. Birding in Texas is year-round, thanks to our location and diverse eco-regions, and can be rewarding in every corner of the state. TPWD's wildlife trails make it easier than ever to find the best birding hot spots.

Learning to identify all our state's birds can be a daunting task, so here's a list that's been trimmed down to some of the more ubiquitous and easily seen species.

So, armed with this starter list and a helpful birding guidebook and a pair of binoculars, head out to your yard and see how many you can spot and identify. Once you've conquered your own little patch of green, try it at a state park. Bring family and friends and turn it into a contest. You'll find being bird-brained is fun for everyone.

Northern Mockingbird

Such a list, of course, has to begin with the state bird of Texas. This gray and white bird makes up for its drab appearance with a voice that could compete in any singing competition. The Latin name (Mimus polyglottos), which translates loosely to "the many-tongued mimic," really sums up this songster. Instead of singing its own song, this bird performs like a tribute band playing an original band's song note for note. A seasoned male mockingbird can sing the songs of dozens of other species found nearby and make a variety of other vocalizations, from frog sounds to car alarms.

﻿Red-Tailed Hawk

﻿Known colloquially as the "chicken hawk," this large raptor can be seen in just about any open habitat, with numbers reaching their peak in Texas during the cold winter months. Often seen sitting on a commanding perch along our highways, the hawks look as if they're watching traffic pass by when, in fact, the grassy medians support lots of tasty rodents. This fondness for rodents makes them good neighbors for us. Instead of red, look on the top of the tail for more of a terracotta-orange color. While it's perched, two of its best features are often visible on many but not all individuals: a dark belly-band across its white underparts and the messy white blotches on an otherwise chocolate-colored back.

﻿Great Blue Heron

More old-timers refer to this species as a "blue crane," but this heron is not related to cranes. This tall wetland inhabitant will hunt for fish, frogs, crayfish and the like in just about any creek, pond, lake or roadside ditch. With an overall grayish color, this bird does have hints of blue-gray here and there. In flight, the great blue heron might conjure up beliefs that pterodactyls still fly our friendly skies. When waters freeze in winter, don't expect these birds to chip away at the ice. Instead, watch them switch to dry upland settings in search of rodents. Who knows, maybe a switch from slimy fish to furry rats every now and then breaks the monotony!

﻿Barn Swallow

Some call it the "mud swallow" because it builds open, cup-shaped nests from mud on bridges, culverts, porches and patios. If a nest shows up on your front porch, you might have to deal with occasional dive-bombs from a protective parent and a small pile of poop you'll have to wash off. These aerial insectivores are good neighbors, though, since they eat a lot of our yard's pesky insects; in some cultures, it's a sign of good luck if the nesting birds select your home. Watch for their deeply forked tail and, when the sunlight hits them just right, a beautiful iridescence of dark blue-purple on the head, back and tail. There are two other mud-nesting swallows in Texas, the cliff and cave swallows, but neither has a forked tail. Also, the cliff swallow sets itself apart in terms of architectural design with a gourd-shaped mud nest.

Turkey Vulture

Early American settlers from Europe confused this carrion eater with the "buzzard" back home, but the two aren't alike. Though the name "buzzard" is used in other parts of the world for hawks, it refuses to be erased from our vocabulary for vultures. When soaring, this vulture has a silvery tinge to the trailing edge of the entire wing. When they're feasting on roadkill, notice their milk chocolate coloration and, in adults, a red featherless head. Only a mother could love a face like that. There is another species of vulture in Texas: the black vulture. The black vulture sports a gray featherless head and is dark black. During flight, black vultures also have the silvery tinge to their wings but only on the outer tips. If we didn't have vultures, our roadways would soon be overrun with smelly, unsightly roadkill.

Killdeer

How great would it be if every bird were named for its vocalization, like this one? A resounding "kill-dee, kill-dee, kill-dee" can be heard not only in natural settings, but also in ball fields and parking lots. In flight, watch for the fiery orange rump and pointy wings and, when perched, watch for two distinctive black bands across the breast resembling wide necklaces. If you approach one and find it limping away with a drooped wing and loud cries, know that you're being duped. This action - called feigning - is designed to lure you away from a nearby ground nest or nestlings, so tread lightly.

House Sparrow

This species is not native to the Western Hemisphere. Introduced more than a century ago, it has spread from Alaska to Argentina and all points in between, including Texas. Our state's first sighting was in Galveston in 1867. If there are a few houses or grain silos around, there will be house sparrows. They're actually weaver finches; folks who have found their bulky nests constructed of wispy grasses can attest to this. Purple martin landlords who aren't monitoring their nest boxes can get overrun with these pesky sparrows. The male has a black goatee; the female is very dull and plain, but her pale eyebrow is readily seen. In urban settings, this is the expected sparrow in parking lots, often gathering into huge, noisy roosts each evening.

Brown-headed Cowbird

This bird evolved with the ever-moving herds of bison, and the constant moving never allowed it to settle down and raise a family. So it developed a habit of dumping its eggs into the nests of unsuspecting foster parents. Now they follow livestock, bringing them closer to a wider array of foster parents. This creates conservation concerns for other bird species. The cowbird's name makes sense once you've spotted a male with a shiny-black body and flat-brown head. The female, however, doesn't have the same paint job. She has no streaks, no spots, no speckles, no bling - just one shade of earth-tone, grayish-brown. Watch for them to attack your seed feeder or cruise through a mowed lawn.

Red-winged Blackbird

In springtime, no other bird is more noticeable or recognizable than the male red-winged blackbird. He sports striking epaulets of crimson red against a glossy black body. The female, though, has a completely different appearance. Heavily streaked and looking like a jumbo-sized sparrow (which is the section of the bird book where many new birders look to identify her), she is likely the most misidentified bird in our state. Look for her noticeable pale eyebrow and that blackbird-like bill. She's often in flocks with other females of her kind, and, in the breeding season, she becomes one of her mate's many girlfriends; he maintains a harem, which he fiercely guards and protects.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

This non-native dove first arrived in Texas via Texarkana in 1995 and quickly spread throughout the state. In urban settings, watch for a large pale dove with a black ring around the collar. More importantly, open your ears to the incessant cooing sounds of these doves, as they are prolific singers. A unique vocalization they make as they're taking flight or about to land is reminiscent of a loud kitty's meow. If you spot them at the seed feeder, you'll see that these doves are larger than their native cousins, the white-winged and mourning doves. The collared dove has taken the place of the paler, ringed turtle-dove, another non-native dove, and appears to be calling Texas home for a long time to come.

American Coot

I don't think it's a compliment to be called an "old coot," but it's OK to spot some on a nearby lake or reservoir. Since this bird needs a running start in order to take off from the water, it doesn't hang out in small bodies of water. If you find one there, it's usually an indication that inclement weather grounded the bird and the runway is too short for it to take off again. Commonly occurring in rafts, or large floating flocks of birds, this all-dark bird has a pale white bill and feeds on aquatic organisms and vegetation. This species, no relation to ducks, pours into Texas during fall to spend the winter months where water doesn't freeze, but watch for most to head north in spring. Some stick around throughout the year and raise a family. The young look similar in shape but have a whitish head that distinguishes them from mom and dad.

Cattle Egret

Sometimes referred to as "cow birds" for their fondness of following cattle, these birds are fairly new to Texas, making their debut here in 1955 on Mustang Island. They follow cattle because, while walking or grazing, big bovines flush insects hiding in the grass. Those insects are precisely what the egret desires. The egret is not plucking ticks off the hides of livestock, a common misbelief. During the breeding season, watch for straw-colored patches of feathers on the head, breast and back of these otherwise white birds. These birds seek refuge in numbers. Their communal nesting colonies, called rookeries (or, more correctly, heronries), can be very large, with nests numbering in the thousands and often mixed with other species of egrets, herons, ibises, cormorants and more. There's great safety in numbers - humans live in similar settings we just call neighborhoods.

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Birding's Hidden Treasures Unexpected Guests

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Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, the Outdoor Magazine of Texas: A short starter list for those who long to put a name with a beak.

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Survival Skills: Identify These 5 Poisonous Plants

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A guide to Poison Ivy, Sumac and Hemlock (all dangerous plants) 

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A guide to Poison Ivy, Sumac and Hemlock (all dangerous plants) 

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Poison Ivy
Toxicodendron radicans
Poison Ivy can be a climbing or trailing vine, a shrub or even a small tree. The leaf edges can be smooth, toothed or deeply notched. New leaves are red in spring and dying leaves are yellow. Fall leaves are yellow, orange and red. The plant produces small, greenish-white clusters of flowers in spring and white, waxy, berry-like fruits in fall. It grows almost everywhere in Texas except for the western Panhandle and in almost any type of environment. Several variations of the old adage 'Leaves of three, beware of thee' proclaim the warning- typical 3-leaf (occasionally 5-leaf) clusters on a single stem identify it. The symptoms of Poison Ivy contact begin to appear between 12 and 36 hours after exposure. They include itchy, burning rash followed by small blisters and in severe cases, large blisters and swelling. All parts of the plant are toxic in all seasons. Burning leaves of Poison Ivy are particularly dangerous because the toxin is carried in the smoke and can cause serious respiratory damage if inhaled.

How to Avoid
The best defense against Poison Ivy is learning to identify the plant and wearing protective clothing. After contact, carefully removing and washing clothing is extremely important because the resin can remain on the garments indefinitely and infect whoever handles them again.

What to Do
If bare skin has been exposed to Poison Ivy, immediately wash the affected area with soap and large amounts of water. This can reduce or eliminate the possible affects. If you were not so lucky as to realize beforehand that you were affected, treatment includes keeping the area clean and dry and the topical applications of hydrocortisone creams and lotions. Staying cool can help the itching. If you experience more than a mild outbreak, it is advised that you seek medical attention, since there are stronger products available by prescription.

Poison Sumac

Toxicodendron Vernix
Poison Sumac reacts very much like Poison Ivy, but it looks very different. It is also usually only found in very wet, wooded regions of Texas, typically in the east. It can be a tall shrub or small tree. The leaves are arranged in pairs of 3 to 6 with a single leaf at the terminal end of the stem. The fruits of the Poison Sumac are a whitish green hanging fruit. There are non-poisonous varieties of Sumac, which appear similar, yet their fruits are red and upright. The same procedures should be followed as for Poison Ivy exposure.

Poison Hemlock

( Conium maculatum) See Information about this plant in the Poison Hemlock page on the Texas Invasives Website.

William & Wilma Follette @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1992. Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. West Region, Sacramento, CA.

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Toxicodendron radicans Poison Ivy can be a climbing or trailing vine, a shrub or even a small tree. The leaf edges can be smooth, toothed or deeply notched. New leaves are red in spring and dying leaves are yellow. Fall leaves are yellow, orange and red.

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Venomous Snakes of Texas - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]

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Its always important to remember these tips. Also- leave ALL wildlife alone. Never touch a living or dead wild animal. Its dangerous to you and to the animal. If you see an injured animal, stay away and warn others away.

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Know your limits. Prepare for sun and heat. Wear sunscreen, hats, insect repellent and appropriate clothing and hiking shoes. Bring a first aid kit.

Heatstroke and hypothermia can kill. Wear layers of clothing so you can adjust to temperature changes.

Drink plenty of water. Your body loses fluid quickly when you're on the trail. Bring a quart of water per hour of activity. Eat a salty snack with each drink to maintain energy and avoid illness.

Weather changes quickly. Check forecasts and prepare for unexpected changes in the weather.

Tell others where you'll be. If possible, avoid exploring alone. Tell someone where you are going and when you plan to return.

You may not be able to connect. It's a good idea to take along a cell phone and GPS unit, but don't count on them. In this environment, both may lose reception. Both depend on limited battery power.

Check for trail closures. Certain trails may be closed during prescribed burns or for other resource management work. Check with park headquarters for current trail conditions and trail closures.

Trails can be rough. Unpaved trails may have wet sections, loose rocks, thorny plants, tree roots and/or low-hanging limbs, and can be tough going for a stroller or wheelchair. Park staff can advise about the suitability of trails for your group.

Be careful with pets. Carry water for your pets, as not all trails have water. Be aware of your pet's limitations. Not all trails are suitable for pets, and pets are not allowed on some trails.

Wear a helmet. When mountain-biking, check with park headquarters to match the trail to your skill level. Wear a helmet to protect yourself in case of a crash.

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Know your limits. Prepare for sun and heat. Wear sunscreen, hats, insect repellent and appropriate clothing and hiking shoes. Bring a first aid kit. Heatstroke and hypothermia can kill. Wear layers of clothing so you can adjust to temperature changes. Drink plenty of water. Your body loses fluid quickly when you're on the trail.

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Safety is always important. It is never ok to throw anything sharp, hot or otherwise painful anywhere near other people or animals.

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20 FUN AND EASY GAMES FOR KIDS AND ADULTS

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Cub Scouts 2 - Six Cub Scouts Essentials

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Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics

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What Does Leave No Trace Mean to Scouts?

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Dan Beard Council, BSA - Scouting At Home - Cub Scout Guided Activities - Tents

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Online Sales are open- are you registered yet?

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Online Sales are open- are you registered yet?

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BSA Scouts and the Quest to earn money for their unit and council

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Foil Packets are an easy way to cook a complete meal!

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Foil Packets are an easy way to cook a complete meal!

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HOW TO MAKE FOIL PACKETS FOR CAMPING (aka Hobo Meals): How to assemble, fold, and cook!

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Healthy Snacking: Kid-friendly Tips to Make Snacking Easy

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Healthy Eating: An introduction for children aged 5-11