Camping is among the merit badge options.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) offers a program of achievement and advancement to young boys involved in their troops. The aim of the program is to assist Boy Scouts in achieving the rank of Eagle Scout.
In order to do this, a Scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges, 12 of which are required, with the remaining selected from the elective merit badges.
Required Merit Badges
The required merit badges for earning the rank of Eagle Scout can be broken down into three categories. First are the citizenship merit badges, which include Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation and Citizenship in the World. Also included in that group is the Environmental Science merit badge. Second, there is a group of merit badges focused on life skills, which includes First Aid, Communications, Family Life, Personal Management and Emergency Preparedness or Life Saving. Last, there is a group of merit badges focused on physical recreation: Personal Fitness, Camping and Hiking or Cycling or Swimming.
Requirements
Each merit badge has a lengthy list of requirements. The best online resource for those requirements is the BSA website and the meritbadge.org website, both linked in Resources. Meritbadge.org provides free worksheets to help guide a Scout through the process of earning the badge, and the BSA site provides a detailed list of the requirements.
Citizenship Series of Merit Badges
The requirements of the Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation and Citizenship in the World merit badges are designed to instill within each Scout a desire to be an active part of the political process within his community, nation and the world. By completing these merit badges, boys will learn a number of skills, but, most importantly, they will learn keep up on current events by following the news, participate in their local and national political process and be a contributing member of society.
The Environmental Science merit badge is designed to help the Scout understand the impact he is having on the environment in which he lives. He will learn about ecosystems and pollution. Through this merit badge, the Scout will learn to be a responsible user of the environment.
Life Skills Merit Badges
The First Aid merit badge is designed to provide the Scout with basic first aid skills. Communications teaches Scouts be effective communicators. Family Life seeks to instruct the Scout on be a responsible member of his family. It discusses the roles of family members and includes a requirement to track the Scout's progress over 90 days on his household/family responsibilities. Similarly, Personal Management also includes a requirement to track income and expenses over 90 days, but it also teaches sound financial management skills aimed at benefiting the Scout throughout his lifetime. Emergency Preparedness and Life Saving are provided as an option the Scout must choose between. If he earns both, then one will count toward his elective merit badges. Emergency Preparedness is about making sure the Scout knows manage a crisis. Life Saving teaches essential Scout skills for assisting those who are at risk during water-based activities.
Physical Recreation Merit Badges
Personal Fitness is designed to encourage the Scout to engage in a lifetime of living physically fit. There are fitness tests that must be taken at the outset, then recorded and retaken periodically while earning the merit badge to track improvement. This badge requires a 90-day fitness plan to guide physical development. Camping is an essential Scout skill, and earning this badge requires the ability to put up a tent, cook and camp out. A minimum of 20 nights of camping with a troop is required. Scouts can choose among Hiking, Cycling or Swimming (earning one of the three fulfills the requirement for Eagle; earning all three equates to one required merit badge and two electives). Hiking requires participating in several hikes of varying distances and demonstrating the Scout knows prepare. Cycling requires participating in and completing numerous bike trips varying in length from 10 to 50 miles. Also required is a knowledge of basic bicycle repair and maintenance. Swimming requires that a Scout demonstrate the ability to swim the basic strokes and over a large distance without stopping for support on the side or bottom of the pool.
Tags: merit badge, will learn, Emergency Preparedness, Life Saving, merit badge