Example: Webelos Outdoorsman Badge
The Wolf College would choose the following activities to help you meet badge requirements:
• With your family or Webelos den, help plan and take part in an evening outdoor activity that includes a campfire.
• Visit a nearby Boy Scout camp with your Webelos den.
• Discuss with your Webelos den leader the rules of outdoor fire safety. Using these rules, show how to build a safe fire and put it out.
• Demonstrate how to whip and fuse the ends of a rope.
• With your accompanying adult on a campout or outdoor activity, assist in preparing, cooking, and cleanup for one of your den’s meals. Tell why it is important for each den member to share in meal preparation and cleanup, and explain the importance of eating together.
• Discuss with your Webelos den leader the things that you need to take on a hike. Go on one 3-mile hike with your Webelos den or a Boy Scout troop.
• Present yourself to your Webelos den leader, properly dressed, as you would be for an overnight campout. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it. (Wolf College will provide gear so that families can later purchase the most affordable/needed materials if they choose)
Logistics that the Wolf College would need to guide you through this badge:
• Find boy scout camp in the area where we can do fire etc.; 3 hours needed on site; can do this any day before June 10th when we don’t have something else scheduled.
• Approximately $300 fee if scout troop is small, plus travel.
Example: Webelos Naturalist Badge
You’ll have to take care of requirement #1 on your own. The Wolf College can do the other 5 requirements focused on these:
• Watch for birds in your yard, neighborhood, or town for one week. Identify the birds you see and write down where and when you saw them.
• Learn about the bird flyways closest to your home. Find out which birds use these flyways.
• Watch six wild animals (snakes, turtles, fish, birds, or mammals) in the wild. Describe the kind of place (forest, field, marsh, yard, or park) where you saw them. Tell what they were doing.
• Identify a plant, bird, or wild animal that is found only in your area of the country. Tell why it survives only in your area.
• Learn about aquatic ecosystems and wetlands in your area. Discuss with your Webelos den leader or activity badge counselor the important role aquatic ecosystems and wetlands play in supporting lifecycles of wildlife and humans.
Logistics that the Wolf College would need to guide you through this badge:
• Meet at a local fish hatchery for 2 hours, then move to the indoor/covered location for 1 hour of journaling.
• Approximately $200 fee if scout troop is small, plus travel.
Example: Webelos Geologist Badge
The Wolf College would choose the following activities to help you meet badge requirements:
• Collect five geologic specimens that have important uses.
• Make a drawing that shows the cause of a volcano, a geyser, or an earthquake.
• Explain one way in which mountains are formed.
• Describe what a fossil is. How is it used to tell how old a formation is? Find two examples of fossils in your area.
• Take a field trip to a geological site, geological laboratory, or rock show. Discuss what you learned at your next Webelos den meeting.
Logistics that the Wolf College would need to guide you through this badge:
• Should do this as late in the spring as possible because some good geologic locations are hidden under snow;
• Carpooling to geologic site with live fossils within a 2 hour one-way drive time or less; know good places 2 hours away, but will research something closer; 2 hours needed on site to complete badge.
• Approximately $300 fee if scout troop is small, plus travel.
Example: Webelos Forester Badge
The Wolf College would choose the following activities to help you meet badge requirements:
• Draw a picture to show the plant and tree layers of a forest in your area. Label the different layers. (If you don’t live in an area that has forests, choose an area that does and draw a picture of that forest.)
• Identify six forest trees common to the area where you live. Tell how both wildlife and humans use them. (If you don’t live in a region that has forests, read about one type of forest and name six of its trees and their uses.)
• Identify six forest plants (other than trees) that are useful to wildlife. Tell which animals use them and for what purposes.
• Collect pieces of three kinds of wood used for building houses. Tell what kinds of wood they are and one place each of them might be used
• Plant 20 forest tree seedlings. Tell how you planted them and what you did to take care of them after planting.
Logistics that the Wolf College would need to guide you through this badge:
• Needs to be done in February for successful tree planting; dates we have available include Feb 16, 18, 23; between 3-6 hours needed depending on how many troop members and adult are there to help plant.
• The troop would need to find somewhere a) cedar trees could be planted, and b) somewhere we could harvest 3 small trees; – maybe a Boy Scout camp in the area (same as needed for the Outdoorsman badge below maybe)
• Each person would need a very good shovel.
• 10 Yards of organic sand-compost mix delivered to the Wolf Campus, normally about $300 but perhaps you can ask them to donate the material if not donate the delivery fee;
• 10 Yards of 1-2 Year Old Clean Wood Chips (not hog fuel / trash in them) delivered to the Wolf Campus, normally $100 but again, perhaps you can find someplace to donate;
The above materials would be needed to successfully plant trees; we will basically volunteer to lead this merit badge, bringing as much of the above materials as needed to plant 20 seedlings; we would use leftover materials for use during our classes in November when we will be planting trees for carbon sequestration.