The goal of the merit badge program is to expand a scout’s areas of interest and to encourage the scout to meet and work with adults on a chosen subject. Merit badges are earned by a scout working with a registered Merit Badge Counselor (MBC).
Steps to Earning a Merit Badge:
1. Choose a merit badge of interest and discuss plans for completion with the Scoutmaster.
2. The Scoutmaster will either sign a physical merit badge card (“Blue Card”) or “sign” a digital one via Scoutbook and suggest at least one MBC for the desired merit badge.
3. Buddy up with another scout and contact the MBC to arrange for times and places to meet and discuss completing the badge requirements. This typically takes several meetings. The scouts do the contacting, not the parents.
4. The MBC will record progress towards completion of the merit badge on the physical Blue Card or digitally in Scoutbook.
5. Complete the requirements and ask the MBC to either sign the physical card or update the merit badge record in Scoutbook. If done digitally, the scout and MBC can request “leader approval” of the merit badge by contacting the Advancement Chair or the Scoutmaster.
(Physical Blue Cards – The MBC will retain the Counselor portion of the physical Blue Card and return the other two portions to the scout. The scout will keep his portion and turn in the third portion the Advancement Chair or designated parent assigned to handle merit badge completions.)
6. Merit badges earned will be presented to the scout during the troop’s next Court of Honor.
Eagle Required Merit Badges
In addition to other requirements, in order to be awarded the Eagle rank, a scout must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges. Of the 21 merit badges, 14 must must be earned from a list of specific merit badges referred to as “Eagle Required” merit badges. In the area below, clicking on the merit badge name will link to BSA’s official list of requirements for these merit badges. Clinking on the badge icon will bring you to the US Scouting Service Project worksheet website for that merit badge. See the bottom of this page for important information about using USSSP Worksheets.
Within the 14 Eagle Required merit badges, there are a few options. You will need one from each of A, B, and C below.
A. Choose one of these three: Cycling, Hiking, Swimming
B. Choose one of these two: Environmental Science or Sustainability
C. Choose one of these two: Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving
What Merit Badges Are Offered By Scouts BSA?
There are 13 broad categories that merit badges can fall into. If you don’t see a merit badge in one category, look at the other categories, many merit badge can fall into more than one category!
In addition to the 14 Eagle Required merit badges, you will need to earn at least 7 additional merit badges to earn the rank of Eagle. Check out the list below to learn what merit badges are offered and what the requirements are to earn them.
EAGLE REQUIRED MERIT BADGES
MERIT BADGES OFFERED BY SCOUTS BSA
(click the links below to read the official requirements for each merit badge)
Agribusiness
Business and Industry
Professions and Trades
- American Labor
- Animation
- Architecture
- Automotive Maintenance
- Composite Materials
- Dentistry
- Drafting
- Engineering
- Game Design
- Graphic Arts
- Health Care Professions
- Inventing
- Landscape Architecture
- Law
- Mining in Society
- Painting
- Plumbing
- Programming
- Robotics
- Surveying
- Veterinary Medicine
- Welding
- Woodwork
Communications
Transportation
Public Service
- Crime Prevention
- Emergency Preparedness
- Fingerprinting
- Fire Safety
- First Aid
- Lifesaving
- Public Health
- Safety
Arts and Crafts
Hobbies
- Backpacking
- Camping
- Chess
- Coin Collecting
- Collections
- Cooking
- Dog Care
- Gardening
- Hiking
- Home Repairs
- Indian Lore
- Model Design and Building
- Pets
- Pioneering
- Radio
- Scouting Heritage
- Stamp Collecting
Sports
- Archery
- Athletics
- Canoeing
- Climbing
- Cycling
- Fishing
- Fly Fishing
- Geocaching
- Golf
- Horsemanship
- Kayaking
- Motorboating
- Orienteering
- Rifle Shooting
- Rowing
- Scuba Diving
- Shotgun Shooting
- Skating
- Small-Boat Sailing
- Snow Sports
- Sports
- Swimming
- Water Sports
- Whitewater
Conservation
- Environmental Science
- Fish & Wildlife Management
- Forestry
- Soil and Water Conservation
- Sustainability
Natural Science
- Archaeology
- Astronomy
- Bird Study
- Geology
- Insect Study
- Mammal Study
- Nature
- Oceanography
- Reptile and Amphibian Study
- Weather
Physical Science
Personal Development
- American Cultures
- American Heritage
- Citizenship in the Community
- Citizenship in the Nation
- Citizenship in Society
- Citizenship in the World
- Communication
- Disabilities Awareness
- Exploration
- Family Life
- Genealogy
- Personal Fitness
- Personal Management
- Public Speaking
- Reading
- Scholarship
- Search and Rescue
- Traffic Safety
- Wilderness Survival
US SCOUTING SERVICE PROJECT WORKSHEETS
Here, you will find helpful worksheets for all of the merit badges Scouts BSA offers. These can be used to organize your merit badge work. Keep in mind that the OFFICIAL Scouts BSA requirements are in the links above and that if requirements change, the worksheets are not guaranteed to reflect all the changes. ALWAYS refer to the links above for the official Scouts BSA requirements!
Troop 51 Atascadero 