Merit Badge Requirements and Workbooks

Click a merit badge name below for the current requirements.  Right click on a workbook name to save or print the optional workbooks. Workbooks can help Scouts organize notes, listen actively, and document their work. These workbooks can help you but you still need to read the merit badge pamphlet. The work space provided for each requirement should be used by the Scout to make notes for discussing the item with his counselor, not for providing the full and complete answers. Each Scout must do each requirement.

Notes:

  • Each workbook contains an attachment with important excerpts from the Guide To Advancement, No. 33088, which should be reviewed by the Scout, his parents, and the Merit Badge Counselor.  The Attachment to all Workbooks prepared before May, 2015, includes information from the 2013 edition of the Guide To Advancement, which should be replaced with a newer attachment, which includes information from the 2015 edition of the Guide To Advancement. Click here to download the revised attachment.
  • Some workbooks also include notes directed to the Counselor, and/or worksheets, checklists, and sample forms which may be used to complete various requirements.
  • Keep in mind that these workbooks are OPTIONAL aids. A Scout is expected to meet the requirements exactly as stated - no more and no less.
    If a requirement uses words like "show," "demonstrate," or "discuss," then every Scout must do that. Just filling out the workbook is NOT sufficient!
    He should use the workbooks to prepare notes to himself, and should not assume that filling in the workbook is sufficient to earn the badge.
  • Scouts STARTING a merit badge must use the CURRENT Boy Scout Requirements
  • Once a Scout has started a merit badge, he can continue to work on those requirements even if new requirements are published. The Scout must choose whether to complete the full set of new requirements or the full set of old requirements. A Scout cannot pick and choose from both sets. If he chooses to use the new requirements, he can, of course, use the work he has done on any of the old requirements, if the requirement is unchanged, or only had editorial changes which don't actually change the actual requirement.  For those Scouts who are using the older requirements because they've already started in the badge, the older requirements and workbooks are accessible by following links from the current requirements pages
  • If a merit badge pamphlet is updated during the year, a Scout can choose to use either full set of old requirements or new requirements in the pamphlet. Those will show an effective date of the following year (i.e. a pamphlet issued in June of 2008 will say "2009 requirements").   Once the Boy Scout Requirements are updated, all Scouts starting the merit badge must use the new requirements.
  • If a BLANK appears in the lists below, it indicates that revisions to the workbook are pending, due to revised requirements.
  • You can also download ZIP files containing all of the current worksheets as either word processing and/or PDF formats Keep in mind these are BIG files.
  • The word processor versions of the workbooks have been prepared using the Microsoft Office 365 Suite (Word 2013) and are in the DOCX file format, which was introduced in 2007.  Consequently, they are NOT compatible with earlier versions on Microsoft Office or other word processors which do not support that file format, unless the user has downloaded and installed a Compatibility Pack. Users of Microsoft Office XP, 2000 and 2003 can download the Compatibility Pack, by clicking here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3. By installing the Compatibility Pack you will be able to use Microsoft Office XP, 2000, or 2003 to open, edit, and save files using the file formats in newer versions of Word (DOCX), Excel (XLSX), and PowerPoint (PPTX) .
  • The PDF versions of the workbooks have been designed with form fields.  Scouts may download these files and then type their notes into the form fields, and save their work locally. They have been tested successfully with the Adobe Acrobat Reader, the Foxit PDF Reader, and the Nuance PDF Reader.  Each of those programs are available as free downloads. Other PDF readers may also work, however, we do know that the PDF reader native to the Firefox web browser does NOT allow data input. We have not been able to test them on "Mac" computers.
  • In response to requests we have gotten, we have added light lines in the form field boxes to provide for those Scouts that wish to hand write their responses.

Since 2010, all new and revised workbooks have been prepared by Paul Wolf, with some input from RW Smith, a volunteer affiliated with meritbadge.org. To our knowledge, they now reflect the current requirements in all cases. 

Please submit comments about errors, omissions, or suggestions about the format of any of the WORKBOOKS to: Workbooks@USScouts.Org
Comments or suggestions for changes to the wording of the requirements for any MERIT BADGE should be sent to the BSA at: Advancement.Team@Scouting.Org

Copies of all of these workbooks (in PDF format only) are also available on the Meritbadge.org website, and a few are also available on sites which are maintained by the BSA, including Scouting.org, BoysLife.org, or boyslifeorg.files.wordpress.com,. However, if you find copies on any other site, they have been placed there without our permission, and we would be grateful to be notified of those cases. Please write us at Workbooks@USScouts.Org with the website address.

The workbooks are all © Copyright - U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
The requirements are all © Copyright - Boy Scouts of America – and are used with permission.
The name American Heritage™ is a trademark owned by American Heritage Publishing Company, Inc. and is used by permission.

Please note that the dates listed below represent the months the workbooks were last revised and uploaded. 
The PDF files will indicate that date in the first page header. 
The WORD processor files, however, will always indicate the CURRENT month, whenever the file is opened for editing. 

 
The workbooks listed below reflect the CURRENT requirements (including any changes made since the last edition of Boy Scout Requirements was issued.)

If a Scout is working on a merit badge using a previous version of the requirements, and wishes to use a workbook that reflects those requirements, the workbook can still be downloaded from this site.  To do so, follow this procedure:
  1. Click on the merit badge name in the listing below, to bring up the web page with the current requirements.
  2. On that page, click on the link below the title, that reads "For the previous requirements, Click here."
  3. The workbook that matches the requirements on that page can be downloaded by clicking on one of the links in the box near the bottom of that page.
 
Merit Badge Requirements
(Click on a merit badge name below)		 Workbooks
Last updated		 Word Processor Format
(DOCX)		 Portable Document Format
(PDF)
ZIP File of ALL available current worksheets (VERY Large Files!) All files All Files
Eagle Required Merit Badges
1 Camping January 2016 Camping Camping
2 Citizenship in the Community March, 2016 Cit-Comm Cit-Comm
3 Citizenship in the Nation November, 2013 Cit-Nation Cit-Nation
4 Citizenship in the World February, 2016 Cit-World Cit-World
5 Communication January 2014 Communication Communication
38 Cooking February, 2016 Cooking Cooking
39 Cycling February, 2015 Cycling Cycling
6 Emergency Preparedness March, 2016 Emerg-Prep Emerg-Prep
7 Environmental Science March, 2016 Env-Science Env-Science
129 Family Life February, 2015 Family-Life Family-Life
8 First Aid March, 2016 First-Aid First-Aid
61 Hiking April, 2016 Hiking Hiking
9 Lifesaving February, 2016 Lifesaving Lifesaving
10 Personal Fitness February, 2015 Pers-Fitness Pers-Fitness
11 Personal Management March, 2016 Pers-Manage Pers-Manage
152 Sustainability February, 2015 Sustainability Sustainability
14 Swimming February, 2015 Swimming Swimming
All Current Merit Badges in Alphabetical Order
15 AMERICAN BUSINESS January 2016 Am-Business Am-Business
17 AMERICAN CULTURES December, 2013 Am-Culture Am-Culture
16 AMERICAN HERITAGE™ February, 2015 Am-Heritage Am-Heritage
121 AMERICAN LABOR January 2016 Am-Labor Am-Labor
28 ANIMAL SCIENCE December, 2013 Animal-Science Animal-Science
158 ANIMATION May, 2015 Animation Animation
132 ARCHAEOLOGY July 2016 Archaeology Archaeology
19 ARCHERY January 2016 Archery Archery
20 ARCHITECTURE February, 2015 Architecture Architecture
21 ART October, 2013 Art Art
22 ASTRONOMY October, 2013 Astronomy Astronomy
23 ATHLETICS December, 2013 Athletics Athletics
127 AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE December, 2013 Auto-Maint Auto-Maint
25 AVIATION February, 2014 Aviation Aviation
26 BACKPACKING September, 2015 Backpacking Backpacking
27 BASKETRY February, 2015 Basketry Basketry
29 BIRD STUDY December, 2013 Bird-Study Bird-Study
32 BUGLING December, 2013 Bugling Bugling
1 CAMPING January 2016 Camping Camping
33 CANOEING February, 2015 Canoeing Canoeing
34 CHEMISTRY January 2016 Chemistry Chemistry
147 CHESS December, 2013 Chess Chess
2 CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY March, 2016 Cit-Comm Cit-Comm
3 CITIZENSHIP IN THE NATION November, 2013 Cit-Nation Cit-Nation
4 CITIZENSHIP IN THE WORLD February 2016 Cit-World Cit-World
133 CLIMBING December, 2013 Climbing Climbing
35 COIN COLLECTING February, 2014 Coin-Collect Coin-Collect
128 COLLECTIONS December, 2013 Collections Collections
5 COMMUNICATION January, 2014 Communication Communication
137 COMPOSITE MATERIALS January, 2014 Composite-Mat Composite-Mat
38 COOKING February, 2016 Cooking
Cooking
131 CRIME PREVENTION January, 2014 Crime-Prev Crime-Prev
39 CYCLING February, 2015 Cycling Cycling
40 DENTISTRY January, 2014 Dentistry Dentistry
154 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY and Boy Scout Cyber Chip March, 2016 Digital-Tech Digital-Tech
60 DISABILITIES AWARENESS January, 2014 Disability-Aware Disability-Aware
41 DOG CARE September, 2016 Dog-Care Dog-Care
42 DRAFTING February, 2015 Drafting Drafting
43 ELECTRICITY January, 2014 Electricity Electricity
44 ELECTRONICS January, 2014 Electronics Electronics
6 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS August, 2016 Emerg-Prep Emerg-Prep
45 ENERGY February, 2015 Energy Energy
46 ENGINEERING January, 2014 Engineering Engineering
134 ENTREPRENEURSHIP October, 2014 Entrepreneur Entrepreneur
7 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE March, 2016 Env-Science Env-Science
129 FAMILY LIFE February, 2015 Family-Life Family-Life
48 FARM MECHANICS January, 2014 Farm-Mech Farm-Mech
49 FINGERPRINTING January, 2014 Fingerprinting Fingerprinting
50 FIRE SAFETY May, 2015 Fire-Safety Fire-Safety
8 FIRST AID March, 2016 First-Aid First-Aid
51 FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT February, 2015 Fish-and-Wildlife Fish-and-Wildlife
52 FISHING February, 2015 Fishing Fishing
136 FLY FISHING January, 2014 Fly-Fishing Fly-Fishing
54 FORESTRY July, 2016 Forestry Forestry
151 GAME DESIGN December, 2013 Game-Design Game-Design
55 GARDENING June, 2014 Gardening Gardening
56 GENEALOGY January, 2014 Genealogy Genealogy
145 GEOCACHING December, 2013 Geocaching Geocaching
58 GEOLOGY January, 2014 Geology Geology
59 GOLF January, 2014 Golf Golf
122 GRAPHIC ARTS January, 2014 Graphic-Arts Graphic-Arts
61 HIKING April, 2016 Hiking Hiking
62 HOME REPAIRS January, 2014 Home-Repair Home-Repair
63 HORSEMANSHIP October, 2013 Horsemanship Horsemanship
64 INDIAN LORE January, 2014 Indian-Lore Indian-Lore
65 INSECT STUDY July, 2015 Insect-Study Insect-Study
144 INVENTING December, 2013 Inventing Inventing
66 JOURNALISM January, 2014 Journalism Journalism
149 KAYAKING December, 2013 Kayaking Kayaking
67 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE January, 2014 Landscape-Arch Landscape-Arch
68 LAW January, 2014 Law Law
69 LEATHERWORK October, 2013 Leatherwork Leatherwork
9 LIFESAVING February, 2016 Lifesaving Lifesaving
71 MAMMAL STUDY February, 2015 Mammal-Study Mammal-Study
130 MEDICINE January, 2014 Medicine Medicine
74 METALWORK September, 2016 Metalwork Metalwork
155 MINING IN SOCIETY March, 2016 Mining-in-Society Mining-in-Society
75 MODEL DESIGN AND BUILDING January, 2014 Model-Design Model-Design
76 MOTORBOATING December, 2014 Motorboating Motorboating
156 MOVIEMAKING October, 2013 Moviemaking Moviemaking
77 MUSIC January, 2014 Music Music
78 NATURE January, 2014 Nature Nature
24 NUCLEAR SCIENCE January, 2014 Nuclear-Science Nuclear-Science
79 OCEANOGRAPHY January, 2014 Oceanography Oceanography
80 ORIENTEERING January, 2014 Orienteering Orienteering
81 PAINTING January, 2014 Painting Painting
10 PERSONAL FITNESS February, 2015 Pers-Fitness Pers-Fitness
11 PERSONAL MANAGEMENT March, 2016 Pers-Manage Pers-Manage
82 PETS October, 2013 Pets Pets
83 PHOTOGRAPHY and Boy Scout Cyber Chip June, 2016 Photography Photography
84 PIONEERING October, 2013 Pioneering Pioneering
85 PLANT SCIENCE January, 2014 Plant-Science Plant-Science
86 PLUMBING January, 2014 Plumbing Plumbing
87 POTTERY January, 2014 Pottery Pottery
153 PROGRAMMING and Boy Scout Cyber Chip March, 2016 Programming Programming
89 PUBLIC HEALTH February, 2015 Public-Health Public-Health
90 PUBLIC SPEAKING January, 2014 Public-Speaking Public-Speaking
91 PULP AND PAPER October, 2013 Pulp-and-Paper Pulp-and-Paper
93 RADIO January, 2014 Radio Radio
94 RAILROADING March, 2016 Railroading Railroading
95 READING January, 2014 Reading Reading
96 REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN STUDY July, 2016 Reptile-Amphibian Reptile-Amphibian
123 RIFLE SHOOTING February, 2015 Rifle-Shooting Rifle-Shooting
146 ROBOTICS
 December, 2013 Robotics
 Robotics
98 ROWING January, 2014 Rowing Rowing
12 SAFETY October, 2013 Safety Safety
99 SALESMANSHIP January, 2014 Salesmanship Salesmanship
100 SCHOLARSHIP January, 2014 Scholarship Scholarship
143 SCOUTING HERITAGE October, 2013 Scouting-Heritage Scouting-Heritage
138 SCUBA DIVING December, 2013 Scuba Scuba
101 SCULPTURE January, 2014 Sculpture Sculpture
150 SEARCH AND RESCUE January, 2014 Search-Rescue Search-Rescue
124 SHOTGUN SHOOTING June, 2015 Shotgun-Shooting Shotgun-Shooting
157 SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND CODES March, 2015 Signs-Signals-and-Codes Signs-Signals-and-Codes
103 SKATING March, 2016 Skating Skating
105 SMALL-BOAT SAILING June, 2015 Small-Boat-Sailing Small-Boat-Sailing
135 SNOW SPORTS January 2016 Snow-Sports Snow-Sports
106 SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION January, 2014 Soil-Water Soil-Water
107 SPACE EXPLORATION January, 2014 Space-Explore Space-Explore
13 SPORTS June, 2015 Sports Sports
108 STAMP COLLECTING January, 2014 Stamp-Collecting Stamp-Collecting
109 SURVEYING January, 2014 Surveying Surveying
152 SUSTAINABILITY February, 2015 Sustainability Sustainability
14 SWIMMING February, 2015 Swimming Swimming
110 TEXTILE January, 2014 Textile Textile
111 THEATER January, 2014 Theater Theater
112 TRAFFIC SAFETY September, 2016 Traffic-Safety Traffic-Safety
113 TRUCK TRANSPORTATION January, 2014 Truck-Transport Truck-Transport
114 VETERINARY MEDICINE January, 2014 Vet-Medicine Vet-Medicine
115 WATER SPORTS February, 2015 Water Sports Water Sports
116 WEATHER October, 2013 Weather Weather
148 WELDING December, 2013 Welding Welding
125 WHITEWATER February, 2015 Whitewater Whitewater
117 WILDERNESS SURVIVAL January, 2014 Wilderness-Survival Wilderness-Survival
118 WOOD CARVING February, 2015 Wood-Carving Wood-Carving
119 WOODWORK January, 2014 Woodwork Woodwork

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