Ten Minute Tower The Crean Award: Discovery: Terra Nova:

Patrol Activity Patrol Activity Skills Skills Endurance: Polar: Develop Teamwork Patrol Activity

Patrol Activity Skills Skills

SPICES Physical Intellectual

Adventure Skills Pioneering

The Activity: Objective: A patrol is challenged to work together to complete

a specific task in a limited amount of time, while

developing their pioneering skills.

Activity Type: Patrol Activity

Roles: Activity Leaders

Quartermasters

First Aider

Plan..."Ten Minute Tower"

Introduction It is literally possible to complete this tower in ten minutes if you have a team of people who are experienced at pioneering and have practiced. In most cases we take ‘ten minutes’ to mean a short period of time. The best way to run this is to give your patrol a set amount of time, let’s say 20-30 minutes. If the tower is being built as part of a larger structure build it the longer way and ensure it is sturdy and secure.

What you need to know Basics of Pioneering Square, tripod & diagonal lashings Safety Equipment required 8 X 3 metre spars 8 X 2.5 metre spars Planks for platform base Lashing ropes Small poles for tournique lashings Personal safety equipment and first aid kits The length of the spars doesn’t need to be exactly these long; however, the ratios are important to building the tower correctly.

Do..."Ten Minute Tower"

Step 1: Line up the pioneering poles or staves to make four tripods. Each tripod should have two longer legs (3m) and a middle shorter leg (2m). It is very important that each tripod is about the same size. Make sure the activity leader understands the importance of measure the tripods and setting them up correctly, the tower will not work otherwise! Step2: Tie the four tripods. Divide the patrol into sub-teams so you can tie several tripods at the same time.

Do..."Ten Minute Tower"

Step 3: Stand up the first tripod with the middle shorter leg standing vertically and the other two spread out at 90 degrees.

Step 4: Stand the second tripod in the same way and interlock it with the first tripod. Step 5: Repeat with the third tripod.

Do..."Ten Minute Tower"

Step 6: Add the fourth tripod, so each of them is now interlocked. The shorter middle legs are the vertical poles and the longer legs are the braces.

Step 7: Where the braces cross the vertical poles of the tripods next to them, tie them together using tournique lashings. Suggest that they practice the tourniquet lashings elsewhere first. A Tournigue lashing It is created using a closed loop of rope placed around the poles. A piece of stick is then placed through the loop and twisted until tight. The stick is then secured to one of the poles with a piece of string.

Do..."Ten Minute Tower"

Step 8: Tie diagonal lashings at the four points where the braces cross.

Step 9: Square lash on the remaining 4 poles to four vertical poles. Tie planks or several poles to form a platform. Ensure the tower is safe and secure before anyone climbs on it! Maybe suggest to the activity leader to double check everything.

Social

Relationships

Communication Skills

Other Cultures

Community Involvement

Promise & Law

Physical

Eat Well

Personal Hygiene

Balanced Lifestyle

How Body works

Physical Limitations

Health Choices

Access Help

Intellectual

Achieving Goals

New Ideas/Creativity

Learn from Decisions

Team Member

Character

Promise & Law

Friends & Friendships

Plan before do

Ensuring Fairness

Respect

Differences & Views

Following Dreams

Live the Scouting Spirit

Emotional

Aware of feelings

Asking/Giving Help

Responsibility for Emotions

Controlling Emotions

Going Further

Beliefs & Values

Developing Talents

Spiritual

Promise & Law

Impact on Environment

Reflection

Changing Beliefs

Review “SPICES”

Adventure Skills

How did you progress in your Adventure Skills ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Patrol Review

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What can we do next?

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Review

Scouter Notes John Thurman in his book Pioneering Principles (1962

London) described the Ten Minute Tower as “one of the best exercises in the practical working of the Patrol System that I think has yet been devised” (p.21). In reviewing the activity, you should try to get to the Scouts to think about it as a team challenge. They may naturally want to consider their progress in pioneering, judging the exercise in terms of lashings and the sturdiness of the tower. But you can try to direct any discussions towards how the patrol worked together or didn’t. If possible, get the patrol to build the tower several times, maybe over a few weeks or activities. If done correctly, it will be interesting and challenging, with the Scouts trying to beat their own time. Elements of the Intellectual Learning Objectives are central to this project. It tests the ability of the individuals and team to work on a common goal, to learn from past experiences and to function as a coherent and effective patrol.

If the activity is run several times, it will provide plenty to think about in terms of progress. The goal should obviously be more easily understood on the second try, how did this affect the way they worked together? Broaden discussions to consider how important it is for all of the patrol to fully understand what they are doing. Does the PL just tell the patrol what to do and only he/she knows the whole plan? Again, both individuals and the group can learn from their decisions. It is crucial that everyone understands that when you repeat the exercise you learn from the first time and consider different and better ways of working. Did certain parts not work well? How can we improve those? Finally, both the activity leader and participants need to think about their role in the team. What was their function? Did they do it well? How can they make improvements? Be careful, however, that patrols do not critique each other, as that can become negative. Most important to the review process, is that the patrol can understand how they improved at this activity, but also how these lessons are relevant to how the patrol works in general.