Bears
Third graders work toward the Bear rank. The Bear rank is earned by completing seven adventures as described below.
1. Complete each of the six required adventures:
2. In addition to the six required adventures, complete at least one elective adventure of your den’s or family’s choosing.
3. With your parent, guardian, or other caring adult, complete the exercises in the pamphlet entitled How to Protect Your Children From Child Abuse: A Parent’s Guide.
4. Earn the Cyber Chip award for your age. (The Cyber Chip portion of this requirement may be waived by your parent or guardian if you do not have access to the internet.) OR Earn the Protect Yourself Rules Preview Adventure for Bear.
Akela is the name given to the Cub Scout's parent or guardian, the caring adult guiding the youth along the Cub Scouting trail. Akela is responsible for acknowledging completion of each adventure requirement by signing and dating the appropriate spot in the Bear's handbook. There is also a spot for the Bear Den Leader to sign for each requirement. The Adventure Tracking pages in the back of the Bear handbook can be used by the Bear to track progress all in one spot, and some dens use advancement charts or den doodles to publicly display advancement.
After completing rank requirements, a Bear can stay active throughout the program year by completing elective adventures with the youth's Akela or den, or at district and council hosted events. The scout may try to earn all adventure belt loops before moving on to a Webelos den.