Scouts get kudos from MythBusters | Community Spirit

Cub Scout Pack 207 in Cedar Mill got an unexpected letter in the mail from the executive producer of Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, praising the group on its production called MythTesters. 

Parent Jamie Dull spearheaded the project and sent a DVD of the boys’ work to the MythBusters cast.

“I am a big fan of the Mythbusters show,” says Dull.   “I thought it would teach the scouts some science and expose them to the process of telling a story with video.   But mostly, it sounded like a heck of a lot of fun!”

With help from Dull, the scouts, ages 6 to 11, spent several months producing their own version of the program that uses science and old-fashioned ingenuity to test the validity of myths.

Because of the overwhelming amount of fan mail received by the show, MythBusters’ executive producer, Dan Tapster, says he has a policy of not responding to viewers.  But after receiving the pack’s DVD of its MythTesters episode, he couldn’t resist.

“I was tremendously impressed with everything your team did with the MythTesters DVD,” wrote Tapster.  “My personal highlight of being in charge of MythBusters is seeing (how the show) inspires science in the next generation.”

As an added bonus, Tapster sent the scouts show t-shirts, caps and autographed photos of hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage.  He also promised to give them a call the next time the cast was looking for kid volunteers.

The cub scouts’ production was broken into four parts, plus an introduction, credits and bloopers reel.

The youngest scouts tested three different techniques thought to make Pinewood Derby cars race faster.  The Pinewood Derby is a yearly race run in nearly every Cub Scout pack in the U.S., in which scouts design their own cars from an identical block of balsa wood.

See the results:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbaG8GUHw4

Assisted by firefighters from the Tualatin Valley Fire District, the second grade scouts tested whether metal really can burn.  The scouts also tried to burn potatoes, potato chips and Snickers bars.

See the results:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ox5NdVaZM

Third grade scouts used a Mercedes-Benz Unimog to determine how much force was needed to pull apart various household items, including a vacuum cleaner, toaster and cook top.

“I liked destroying stuff, says scout Ethan Dull.  “I learned that it takes over 5000 pounds of force to tear apart a cook top.”

See the results:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeP5L6r0ITE

The oldest scouts used a homemade potato cannon to launch – what else – potatoes!  The goal was to see if the spuds would fly more than 100 yards.

See the results:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6m8tVlYTPs

The scouts’ MythTesters program was narrated by KATU News Anchor Steve Dunn.