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Boy Scout Merit Badge Requirements

 

Hiking

  1. Show that you know first aid for injuries or illnesses that could occur while hiking, including hypothermia, heatstroke, heat exhaustion, frostbite, dehydration, sunburn, sprained ankle, insect stings, tick bites, snakebite, blisters, hyperventilation, and altitude sickness.
  2. Explain and, where possible, show the points of good hiking practices including the principles of Leave No Trace, hiking safety in the daytime and at night, courtesy to others, choice of footwear, and proper care of feet and footwear.
  3. Explain how hiking is an aerobic activity. Develop a plan for conditioning yourself for 10-mile hikes, and describe how you will increase your fitness for longer hikes.
  4. Make a written plan for a 10-mile hike. Including map routes, a clothing and equipment list, and a list of things for a trail lunch.
  5. Take five hikes, each on a different day, and each of 10 continuous miles. Prepare a hike plan for each hike.*
  6. Take a hike of 20 continuous miles in one day following a hike plan you have prepared.*
  7. After each of the hikes (or during each hike if on one continuous "trek") in requirements 5 and 6, write a short report of your experience. Give dates and descriptions of routes covered, the weather, and any interesting things you saw. Share this report with your merit badge counselor.

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*The hikes in requirements 5 and 6 can be used in fulfilling Second Class (2a) and First Class (3) rank requirements, but only if Hiking merit badge requirements 1, 2, 3, and 4 have been completed to the satisfaction of your counselor. The hikes of requirements 5 and 6 cannot be used to fulfill requirements of other merit badges.

BIRD STUDY

  1. Explain the need for bird study and why birds are useful indicators of the quality of the environment.
  2. Show that you are familiar with the terms used to describe birds by sketching or tracing a perched bird and then labeling 15 different parts of the bird. Sketch or trace an extended wing and label six types of wing feathers.
  3. Demonstrate that you know how to properly use and care for binoculars.
    1. Explain what the specification numbers on the binoculars mean.
    2. Show how to adjust the eyepiece and how to focus for proper viewing.
    3. Show how to properly care for and clean the lenses.
  4. Demonstrate that you know how to use a bird field guide. Show your counselor that you are able to understand a range map by locating in the book and pointing out the wintering range, the breeding range, and/or the year-round range of one species of each of the following types of birds:
    1. Seabird
    2. Plover
    3. Falcon
    4. Warbler or vireo
    5. Heron or egret
    6. Sparrow
    7. Nonnative bird (introduced to North America from a foreign country since 1800)
  5. Observe and be able to identify at least 20 species of wild birds. Prepare a field notebook, making a separate entry for each species, and record the following information from your field observations and other references.
    1. Note the date and time.
    2. Note the location and habitat.
    3. Describe the bird's main feeding habitat and list two types of food that the bird is likely to eat.
    4. Note whether the bird is a migrant or a summer, winter, or year-round resident of your area.
  6. Be able to identify five of the 20 species in your field notebook by song or call alone. For each of these five species enter a description of the song or call, and note the behavior of the bird making the sound. Note why you think the bird was making the call or song that you heard.
  7. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Go on a field trip with a local club or with others who are knowledgeable about birds in your area.
      1. Keep a list or fill out a checklist of all the birds your group observed during the field trip.
      2. Tell your counselor which birds your group saw and why some species were common and some were present in small numbers.
      3. Tell your counselor what makes the area you visited good for finding birds.
    2. By using a public library or contacting the National Audubon Society, find the name and location of the Christmas Bird Count nearest your home and obtain the results of a recent count.
      1. Explain what kinds of information are collected during the annual event.
      2. Tell your counselor which species are most common, and explain why these birds are abundant.
      3. Tell your counselor which species are uncommon, and explain why these were present in small numbers. If the number of birds of these species is decreasing, explain why, and what, if anything, could be done to reverse their decline.
  8. Do ONE of the following. For the option you choose, describe what birds you hope to attract, and why.
    1. Build a bird feeder and put it in an appropriate place in your yard or another location.
    2. Build a birdbath and put it in an appropriate place.
    3. Build a backyard sanctuary for birds by planting trees and shrubs for food and cover.

BSA Advancement ID#: 29
Pamphlet Revision Date: 1999
Source: Boy Scout Requirements Y2K, #33215D, revised 2001

FORESTRY

  1. Prepare a field notebook, make a collection, and identify 15 species of trees or wild shrubs in a local forested area. Include a written description of:
    1. Identifying characteristics of leaf, twig, and fruit samples
    2. The habitat in which these trees or shrubs are found
    3. Chief ways each tree or shrub is used by human or wildlife
    4. The forest's successional stage, what its history has been, and what its future is
  2. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Collect and identify wood samples of 10 species of trees. List several ways each species of wood can be used.
    2. Find and examine several stumps or logs that show variations in growth rate in their ring patterns. Prepare a field notebook describing their location and discuss possible reasons for the variations.
  3. Be able to do the following:
    1. Describe contributions forests make to
      • Our economy in the form of products
      • Our social well-being
      • Soil protection and increased fertility
      • Clean water
      • Clean air
      • Wildlife
      • Recreation
    2. Tell which watershed or other source your community relies on for its water supply.
  4. Be able to describe what forest management means, including:
    1. Multiple-use management
    2. Even-aged and uneven-aged management and silvicultural systems associated with each type
    3. Intermediate cuttings
    4. How prescribed burning and related forest management practices are used
  5. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Visit a managed public or private forest area with its manager or someone familiar with it. Write a brief report describing:
      • The type of forest
      • The management objectives
      • The forestry techniques used to achieve the objectives
    2. Take a trip to a logging operation or wood-using industrial plant and write a brief report describing:
      • The species and size of trees being harvested or used
      • Where the trees are going to or coming from
      • What products are made from the trees or at the plant
      • How the products are made
      • How the products are used
      • How waste materials from the logging operation or plant are disposed of or utilized
  6. Be able to do the following:
    1. Describe the damages to forests that result from:
      • Wildfire
      • Insects
      • Tree disease
      • Overgrazing
      • Improper harvest
    2. Tell what can be done to reduce these damages.
    3. Tell what you should do if you discover a forest fire and how to control it.
  7. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Assist in carrying out a project that meets one or more of these objectives: timber stand improvement, watershed improvement, wildlife habitat improvement, recreation area improvement, or range improvement.
    2. Take part in a forest fire prevention campaign in cooperation with your local fire warden, forester, or counselor.
    3. Visit with one of more local foresters and write a brief report including education, qualifications, career opportunities, and objectives relating to forestry.

BSA Advancement ID#: 54
Pamphlet Revision Date: 1984
Source: Boy Scout Requirements Y2K, #33215D, revised 2001

NATURE

  1. Name three ways in which plants are important to animals.
  2. Name three ways in which animals are important to plants.
  3. Explain the term "food chain." Give an example of a four-step land food chain and a four-step water food chain.

  4. Do all the requirements in FIVE of the following fields:

    Birds

    1. In the field, identify eight species of birds.
    2. Make and set out a birdhouse; OR a feeding station; OR a birdbath. List what birds used it during one month.

    Mammals

    1. In the field, identify three species of wild mammals.
    2. Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild mammal.

    Reptiles or Amphibians

    1. Show that you can recognize the poisonous snakes in your area. Identify in the field three species of reptiles or amphibians.
    2. Recognize one species of toad or frog by voice; OR identify one reptile or amphibian by eggs, den, burrow or other signs.

    Insects or Spiders

    1. Collect, mount, and label 10 species of insects or spiders.
    2. Hatch an insect from the pupa or cocoon; OR hatch adults from nymphs; OR keep larvae until they form pupae or cocoons; OR keep a colony of ants or bees through one season.

    Fish

    1. Catch and identify two species of fish.
    2. Collect four kinds of animal food eaten by fish in the wild.

    Mollusks and Crustaceans

    1. Identify five species of mollusks and crustaceans.
    2. Collect, mount, and label six shells.

    Plants

    1. In the field, identify 15 species of wild plants.
    2. Collect and label seeds of six plants; OR the leaves of 12 plants.

    Soils and Rocks

    1. Collect and identify soils found in different layers of a soil profile.
    2. Collect and identify five different types of rocks from your area.
  5. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Raise tadpoles from eggs; OR raise adults from tadpoles; OR keep an adult reptile or amphibian so it stays healthy for one month.
    2. Develop a simple aquarium with fish and plant life. Keep it so they stay healthy for one month.
    3. Develop an aquarium. Keep in it two species of mollusks or crustaceans so they stay healthy for one month.
    4. Build a terrarium with three species of plants. Keep it so the plants stay healthy for one month.
    5. Grow seeds for one month in two kinds of soil. Describe difference in rate of growth.

________
NOTE: Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, some plants and animals are or may be protected by federal law. The same ones or others may be protected by state law. Be sure that you do not collect protected species.

Your state may require that you purchase and carry a license to collect certain species. Check with the wildlife and fish and game officials in your state regarding species regulations before you begin to collect.

BSA Advancement ID#: 78
Pamphlet Revision Date: 1991
Source: Boy Scout Requirements Y2K, #33215D, revised 2001

ORIENTEERING

  1. Explain what orienteering is.
  2.  
    1. Point out and name five major terrain features on a map and in the field.
    2. Point out and name 10 symbols often found on a topographic map.
  3.  
    1. Explain how a compass works. Describe the features of an orienteering compass and their uses.
    2. In the field, show how to take a compass bearing and how to follow one.
  4.  
    1. Explain the meaning of declination. Tell why declination must be taken into consideration when using map and compass together.
    2. Provide a topographic map of your area with magnetic north-south lines.
    3. Show how to transfer a direction on a map to your compass.
  5.  
    1. Show how to measure distances, using a scale on an orienteering compass.
    2. Set up a 300m pace course. Figure out your running pace for 100 meters.
  6.  
    1. Explain a descriptive clue. Tell how it is used in orienteering.
    2. Explain how to use an attack point. Describe the offset technique. Tell what is meant by collecting features.
  7. Do the following:
    1. Take part in three orienteering events. One of these must be a cross-country course.
    2. After each course, write a report with
      1. a copy of the master map and descriptive clues,
      2. a copy of the route you took on the course,
      3. a discussion of how you could improve your time between points, and
      4. list of your major weaknesses on this course.

      Describe what you could do to improve.

  8. Do ONE of the following:
    1. Set up a cross-country course of at least 2,000 meters long with five control markers. Prepare the master map. Mark the descriptive clues.
    2. Set up a score-orienteering course with 12 points and a time limit of 60 minutes. Prepare the master map. Set the descriptive clues and point value for each control on this course.
  9. Act as an official during an orienteering event. (This may be during the running of the course you set up for requirement 8.)
  10. Teach orienteering techniques to your patrol, troop or post.

BSA Advancement ID#: 80
Pamphlet Revision Date: 1992
Source: Boy Scout Requirements Y2K, #33215C, revised 2000

 

 

 

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Last modified: April 09, 2001