ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
This Merit Badge
is Required to earn the Eagle Scout Rank
These were the REQUIREMENTS
before the REVISIONS made on January 1, 2006
To see the current requirements
Click Here
REQUIREMENTS were REVISED as of 04/01/99.
To see the changes which were made in 1999,
Click here.
- Make a timeline of the history of environmental science
in America. Identify the contribution made by the Boy Scouts
of America to environmental science. Include dates, names of
people or organizations, and important events.
- Define the following terms and describe the relationships
among them: population, community, ecosystem, biosphere, symbiosis,
niche, habitat, conservation, threatened species, endangered
species, extinction.
- Do ONE activity in EACH of the following categories (using
the activities in this {the merit badge} pamphlet as
the basis for planning and carrying out your projects):
- Ecology
- Conduct an experiment to find out how living things
respond to changes in their environments. Discuss your
observations with your counselor.
- Conduct an experiment illustrating the greenhouse
effect. Keep a journal of your data and observations.
Discuss your conclusions with your counselor.
- Air Pollution
- Perform an experiment to test for particulates that
contribute to air pollution. Discuss your findings with
your counselor.
- Conduct a study to test the effects of acid rain
on plants. Discuss your findings with your counselor.
- Water Pollution
- Conduct an experiment to show how living things
react to thermal pollution. Discuss your observations
with your counselor.
- Conduct an experiment to identify the methods that
could be used to mediate (reduce) the effects of an
oil spill on waterfowl. Discuss your results with your
counselor.
- Land Pollution
- Conduct an experiment to illustrate soil erosion
by water. Take photographs or make a drawing of the
soil before and after your experiment, and make a poster
showing your results. Present your poster to your patrol
or troop.
- Perform an experiment to determine the effect of
an oil spill on land. Share your journal and discuss
your conclusions with your counselor.
- Endangered Species
- Do research on one endangered species found in your
state. Find out what its natural habitat is, why it
is endangered, what is being done to preserve it, and
how many individual organisms are left in the wild.
Prepare a 100-word report about the organism, including
a drawing. Present your report to your patrol or troop.
- Do research on one species that was endangered or
threatened but which has now recovered. Find out how
the organism recovered, and what its new status is.
Write a 100-word report on the species and discuss it
with your counselor.
- Resource Recovery
- Perform an experiment on packaging materials to
find out which ones are biodegradable. Discuss your
conclusions with your counselor.
- Find out if your local community has a recycling
program in effect. If it does, find out what items are
recycled, and who pays for recycling. If your community
does not have a recycling program, write questions for
and conduct a survey on recycling. Include questions
about attitudes toward recycling, what should be recycled,
and your community's willingness to support a recycling
program. Discuss your findings with your counselor.
- Build an ecosystem in a bottle. Include soil, plants, fungi,
and small animals found in your local environment. Maintain
the ecosystem for at least seven days after completing construction
of the ecosystem. Observe it daily, and keep a record of your
observations. Discuss your observations with your counselor.
- Choose an outdoor area to study. In your study area, do
ONE of the following:
- Mark off three study plots of four square yards each,
and count the number of species found there. Then estimate
how much space is occupied by each species found in the
plots. Make a chart, graph, or table to compare the plots.
Write a report that adequately discusses the biodiversity
and population density of your study area. Discuss your
report with your counselor.
- Make four visits to the study area, staying for at least
30 minutes each time, to observe the living and nonliving
parts of the ecosystem. Keep a journal of your observations,
including a discussion of differences noted during the four
visits. Write a report on your observations and discuss
it with your counselor.
- Propose a hypothetical construction project in your community
and prepare a limited environmental impact statement for the
project. Study the area to see what the impact of the project
might be upon the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem.
- Develop a project that would help solve an environmental
problem, reduce an environmental impact, or affect environmental
awareness in your community. Include plans for a specific project
that could be done by your patrol or troop.
- Discuss three possible careers in the field of environmental
science. Identify the education that you would need to pursue
ONE of these careers.
BSA Advancement ID#: 7
Pamphlet Revision Date: 1998
Requirements last revised in 1999
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