Buffalo Grove Cub Scouts receive STEM Award

Four Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 140 received the Dr. Luis W. Alvarez Supernova Award on Thursday, Nov. 20. The Supernova Award recognizes superior achievement by a Cub Scout in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Nicholas Carlino, Brennan Flanagan, Edward Steward and Ian Steward, are the first scouts in the Northwoods District of the Northwest Suburban Council to receive this award. The award recipients are third-year Cub Scouts in Pack 140's Bear Den, which is part of the NWSC.

The award was presented by Lisa Earley, NWSC STEM Program specialist.

"The Nova and Supernova Awards program were introduced in July, 2012, at which time they were available to boys all over the country," said Earley. "However, NWSC really put an emphasis on STEM in January 2013, when they created the STEM Specialist position."

The award is open to any Wolf or Bear Cub. The award is named after an American experimental physicist, inventor and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968. Alvarez developed the theory that dinosaur extinction was caused by an asteroid hitting the earth.

The boys were required to do many hours of research and experiments in STEM. Some of the requirements to receive this award included earning the science and mathematics pin, learning about a career that depends on science, technology, engineering or mathematics knowledge and finding out interesting facts about Dr. Luis W. Alvarez using resources in a school or local library or on the Internet. All experiments and projects were conducted using the highest level of safety protocol and under the supervision of a qualified, responsible adult.

"The boys worked hard for months and they had a blast" said Colleen Steward, pack STEM mentor. "They were inspired by researching famous STEM contributors of their choosing from Galileo to Steve Jobs. Their faces lit up when they made an electromagnetic motor, wired a quiz board, or used the scientific method to carry out experiments they designed themselves. The Supernova award has encouraged them to continue learning about STEM and use it to understand the world around them."

Cub Scout Pack 140 is chartered out of Saint Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove and is part of the Northwoods District in the Northwest Suburban Council.

For information, contact publicrelations@stmarybg.org.

For membership information, www.stmarybg.org/organizations/scouts/Cub-Scouts.

• Submit 'Your News' at dailyherald.com/share.