Scouts BSA

Cooking

The Cooking merit badge introduces principles of cooking that can be used both at home and outdoors. Scouts who earn this badge will learn about food safety, nutritional guidelines, meal planning, and methods of food preparation, and will review the variety of culinary (or cooking) careers available. Scouts will be learning about important food/kitchen safety in the University of Houston’s industrial kitchen in the Cameron building.

Citizenship in the Community

A nation is a patchwork of communities that differ from each other and may be governed differently. But regardless of how local communities differ, they all have one point in common: In the United States, local government means self-government. Scouts will learn how they can make a difference in their community by contacting their own officials.

Citizenship in the Nation

As Scouts fulfill the requirements for this merit badge, they will learn how to become active citizens who are aware of and grateful for their liberties and rights, to participate in their governments and protect their freedom, helping to develop their country and standing up for individual rights on behalf of all its citizens.

Citizenship in the World

Scouts learn about the rights, duties, and responsibilities of citizens in different countries, how governments function around the world, and the role of international organizations like the United Nations. Though the world is big, scouts can hold the knowledge of current events to impact the world. This badge builds understanding about the world beyond our own country.

Communication

Communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. The field of communication promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication. Scouts will be learning how to write a speech, learning how to persuade, how to interview, and much more to make communication in later life much easier.

Emergency Preparedness

Scouts are often called upon to help because they know first aid and they know about the discipline and planning needed to react in an emergency. Earning this merit badge helps a Scout to be prepared by learning the actions that can be helpful and needed before, during, and after an emergency. Scouts will be performing a large-scale triage simulation to test their prioritization, first aid skills, and ability to prepare with limited resources.

Environmental Science

While earning the Environmental Science merit badge, Scouts will get a taste of what it is like to be an environmental scientist, making observations and carrying out experiments to investigate the natural world. Scouts will be studying the interaction of plant, insect, animal, and human actions in an outdoor setting, and observing natural change over a 2 day period.

First Aid

Caring for injured or ill persons until they can receive professional medical care is an important skill for every Scout. With some knowledge of first aid, a Scout can provide immediate care and help to someone who is hurt or who becomes ill. First aid can help prevent infection and serious loss of blood. It could even save a limb or a life. Scouts will be making a first aid kit to take home and learning how to bandage, splint, do CPR, and much more to master the skills needed for proficient first aid.

Personal Fitness

Personal fitness is an individual effort and a desire to be the best one can be. Regardless of their current levels of personal fitness, in the twelve weeks it will take Scouts to complete the athletic requirements for this merit badge, they will be in better shape, feel better about themselves, have more energy, and gain self-confidence in their overall abilities. Scouts will make their training schedule and begin their first training session at Hermann Park.

Sustainability

Reduce waste and teach sustainable practices to others so you can help conserve Earth’s resources with the Sustainability Merit Badge. Scouts will develop and implement a plan to reduce their water usage, household food waste, and learn about the sustainability of different energy sources, including fossil fuels, solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal.

Chemistry

The Chemistry merit badge explores how substances react with each other, how they change, how certain forces connect molecules, and how molecules are made are all parts of chemistry. Stretch your imagination to envision molecules that cannot be seen—but can be proven to exist—and you become a chemist. Scouts will be performing several experiments to study the laws of nature and the physics of everyday objects and chemicals.

Dentistry

Teeth do a lot more than just peek out from under that winning smile. They have all sorts of duties, and having healthy teeth will help a person to eat, speak, and look great. Scouts will be meeting a special guest to learn how to make dental stone of their teeth and how teeth do much more than tear food apart.

Disability Awareness

Understand various disabilities and how they affect your friends, family, and community members with the Disability Awareness Merit Badge. Scouts will learn about the experiences of someone with a disability, explain the significance of disability etiquette, and how it may differ depending on the specific disability.

Dog Care & Pet Care

The love and interdependence between humans and dogs have endured for thousands of years. Today, dogs are our coworkers and companions. They assist search-and-rescue teams, law enforcement officers, hunters, farmers, and people with disabilities. They also play with us and keep us company. Scouts will learn about the different types of dogs, how to train them, and first aid for our furry friends. Pet ownership is a mixture of fun, excitement, responsibility, commitment, expense, and learning. Besides providing a window into the animal world, owning pets gives us opportunities to participate in activities that strengthen the human-animal bond. Pet ownership teaches us about the responsibility we have to the other living beings on this planet.

Fingerprinting

Scouts will learn about and use an important technique that is used by law enforcement officers, along with other materials like matching dental records and DNA sampling, to help identify amnesia victims, missing persons, abducted children, and others. They will also learn the important functions of the skin physiologically.

Healthcare Professions

Explore the different types of healthcare fields and professions with the Health Care Professions Merit Badge. Scouts will learn how professionals in different health care fields work together to keep people healthy. Scouts will also be learning the essential skills of some of these professionals, including starting an IV-line, suturing, intubation, and more.

Public Health

The field of public health deals with maintaining and monitoring the health of communities, and with the detection, cure, and prevention of health risks and diseases. Although public health is generally seen as a community-oriented service, it starts with the individual. From a single individual to the family unit to the smallest isolated rural town to the worldwide global community, one person can influence the health of many.

 

Safety

Knowing about safety helps Scouts to make the right choices and to take the best actions to avoid accidents by making informed choices in their everyday activities and to respond appropriately during an emergency. Any place, even the home, can have incidents. Scouts learn how to keep their homes and families safe and educate the community about safety for their safety project. Scouts will be meeting a special guest with extensive experience in home safety.

Registration & Attendance    

• Merit Badge Classes require a minimum of 10 scouts and a maximum of 20 scouts.
• Online pre-registration is required.
• A Scout must get approval from their Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) and bring the blue card with them to class.

Conduct & Class Expectations

Requirements can be withheld from a scout due to the following:

• Disruptive behavior
• Non-participation
• Incomplete requirements
• Use of a cellphone or AirPods during class
• Scouts must be present for the entire class to receive a signed blue card

What’s Included

• Registration for Scout includes a tour of The Health Museum.  All additional adults and children will need to pay regular admission to tour the museum.
• The program fee includes a trained Scouts Program Educator, all workshop materials, free admission for the scout to tour the museum on the day of class, and Free Parking. Workshop fees do not include badges.

Food & Drink

• Scouts should bring a refillable water bottle.
• Scouts are expected to bring their own lunch/snack. Lunch is NOT provided.

Dress & Identification

• Class A or Class B uniforms are required, with the exception of Personal Fitness. 

Scout Communications & MB Requirements

• Any requirements that need to be emailed to the merit badge counselor should have a parent cc’d in accordance with Safeguarding Youth Training (SYT) guidelines.
• For requirements fulfilled before the date of the merit badge class, the student and parent/guardian should provide proof of completion. Approval of the requirement will be at the discretion of the merit badge counselor.
• Please refer to the website for any prerequisites and post-requisites.

Cancellations & Refunds

• Cancellations made at least 14 days in advance are eligible for a full refund.
• No refunds for cancellations less than 14 days before the program.
• The museum reserves the right to cancel or reschedule programs due to low enrollment or unforeseen circumstances.

Do I need to bring a blue card for my scout?

Yes! A Scout must get approval from their Assistant Scoutmaster (ASM) or Scoutmaster (SM) and bring the blue card with them to class.

How do requirements that need to be completed outside of the class get signed off?

Proof of completion of all requirements should be sent to Faten Shanar at fshanar@thehealthmuseum.org, and cc a parent per Safeguarding Youth guidelines. The blue card will be hand-signed and sent via email.

Is there a time limit that requirements finished outside of class need to be done?

Nope! Take as long as you need to finish your requirements fairly and completely. In some cases, a partial blue card can be given.

Can the guardian/parent of the scout walk around the museum during class?

The payment for the class does not include admission for a guardian/parent to tour the museum. An admission ticket needs to be purchased to explore the museum. Otherwise, parents are more than welcome to sit with the class.

1. Submit your request by filling out this Request Form.
2. You will receive a response from our Scouts Program team within 2-4 days.
3. Please note this form does NOT confirm your booking.
4. For questions about on-demand classes, please contact Faten Shanar at fshanar@thehealthmuseum.org