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.

• When working on merit badges, Scouts and Scouters should be aware of some vital information in the current edition of the Guide to Advancement (BSA publication 33088). In each workbook, we have inserted a note after the last requirement, with a link to a document with excerpts from the current edition of the Guide to Advancement.Click here to download the current version. You can download a complete copy of the Guide to Advancement from http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/33088.pdf. 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!
  Scouts should use the workbooks to prepare notes to themselves, and should not assume that filling in the workbook is sufficient to earn the badge.
• Scouts STARTING a merit badge must use the CURRENT requirements, which are found on Scouting.org
• Once Scouts have started a merit badge, they 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. Scouts cannot pick and choose from both sets. If the new requirements are selected, they can, of course, use the work they have 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 2024 will say "2025 requirements"). Once the new year begins, 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.
• 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 on Windows based systems 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. If you use a "Mac" computer, we strongly suggest that you use the freeAdobe Acrobat Reader for Macin lieu of the PDF reader built-in to the system. The built-in pdf reader may not properly display or print the data entered into the workbook form fields.
• In response to requests we have eceived, 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, 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

We encourage Scouting websites to provide links to either this page or to the files identified below However, in order to ensure the material is up to date, we do not permit other websitess to provide copies directly. And since the workbooks are all are copyright. 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 when 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.

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."
   If the Scout is using earlier requirements, repeat this step until the correct version of the requirements is visible.
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.

Page updated on: !--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="REGENERATED" s-format="%B %d, %Y" -->

Materials found at U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. Websites may be reproduced and used locally by Scouting volunteers for training purposes consistent with the programs of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) or other Scouting and Guiding Organizations. No material found here may be used or reproduced for electronic redistribution or for commercial or other non-Scouting purposes without the express permission of the U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. (USSSP) or other copyright holders. USSSP is not affiliated with BSA or WOSM and does not speak on behalf of BSA or WOSM. Opinions expressed on these web pages are those of the web authors. You can support this website with in two ways: Visit Our Trading Post at www.ScoutingBooks.com or make a donation by clicking the button below.
(U.S. Scouting Service Project Donation)

(Ruth Lyons Memorial Donations)