Scouting Badges, Pins and Belt Loops · 4(d). Show a topographic map with magnetic north-south lines. 4(e). Show how to measure distances on a map using an orienteering compass. 4(f).

Scouting Badges, Pins and Belt Loops

Now you can work on scouting achievements such as merit badges, pins or belt loops during your visit to the International Wolf Center, through our interactive WolfLink program and by taking advantage of a wide array of content on this Web site. If you or your troop/crew are planning a visit to the Center, please let us know in advance if you plan to work on any of these achievements.

Center staff at our facility in Ely, Minnesota are certified Merit Badge Counselors to help make your visit even more valuable. You must have a blue merit badge card signed by your scoutmaster.

Below is a list of merit badges that the International Wolf Center can provide resources by addressing specific knowledge requirements, addressing activities that need to be completed and providing a location to complete requirements.

· American Cultures · Art · Communications* · Environmental Science*+ · Fish and Wildlife Management · Journalism

· Mammal Study · Nature · Orienteering · Photography · Public Speaking

*Badges required for achieving Eagle Rank. +Badge that contributes to the World Conservation Award. The International Wolf Center can also provide programming and/or resources to help scouts with the following advancements: Webelos Scouts

• Naturalist Activity Badge Cub Scouts

• Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop • Wildlife Conservation Pin

Venture Crews

• Outdoor Bronze & Ranger Award - Plants & Wildlife

Note: This list does not highlight activities that could be completed within the troop or at home.

Download merit badge list.

American Cultures Requirement: 1(e). Go to a library or museum to see a program or exhibit featuring one group's traditions. Report on what you see and learn. How to fulfill it:

• Visit our Center with friends or family, or register your troop for a Group Visit with and explore our Wolves & Humans Museum which features Native American culture as it relates to wolves through art, regalia and artifacts.

Art Requirement: 4. With your parent's permission and your counselor's approval, visit a museum, art exhibit, art gallery, artists' co-op, or artist's workshop. Find out about the art displayed or created there. Discuss what you learn with your counselor.

How to fulfill it: • Visit our Center with friends or family, or register your troop for a Group Visit

with and explore our Wolves & Humans Museum or our rotating art displays which feature original and print art in a variety of media in two and three-dimensions.

Communications Requirements: 4. Interview someone you know fairly well, like, or respect because of his or her position, talent, career, or life experiences. Listen actively to learn as much as you can about the person. Then prepare and deliver to your counselor an introduction of the person as though this person were to be a guest speaker, and include

reasons why the audience would want to hear this person speak. Show how you would call to invite this person to speak. 7(a). Write to the editor of a magazine or your local newspaper to express your opinion or share information on any subject you choose. Send your message by fax, email, or regular mail. How to fulfill:

• Visit our Center to meet and interview our wolf expert presenters or, register your troop for a Group Visit or videoconferencing program presentation and afterwards, interview your wolf expert presenter.

• Write to the information services director, editor of the Wolf Chronicles e-newsletter or the communications director, editor of the International Wolf magazine.

Environmental Science Requirements: 3(e)(2). Do research on one species that was endangered or threatened but which has now recovered. Find out how the organism recovered, and what its new status is. Write a 100-word report on the species and discuss it with your counselor. 4(a). Mark off a plot of 4 square yards in each study area, and

count the number of species found there. Estimate how much space is occupied by each plant species and the type and number of non-plant species you find. Write a

report that adequately discusses the biodiversity and population density of these study areas. Discuss your report with your counselor. 6. Find out about three career opportunities in environmental science. Pick one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession might interest you. How to fulfill:

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf Management & Recovery program.

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf Ecology program with outdoor “habitat hoops” and a Bog Walk.

• Register your troop for a Group Visit and request an interview with one or more of our environmental educators/biologists on their career path and qualifications.

• Register your troop for a videoconferencing program to virtually learn about wolves and interview one of our environmental educators/biologists on their career path and qualifications.

Fish and Wildlife Management Requirements: 2. List and discuss at least three major problems that continue to threaten your state's fish and wildlife resources. 3. Describe some practical ways in which everyone can help with the fish and wildlife conservation effort. 8. Using resources found at the library and in periodicals, books,

and the Internet (with your parent's permission), learn about three different kinds of work done by fish and wildlife managers. Find out the education and training requirements for each position. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center and attend the free Wolf 101 program (Requirements 2 & 3). • Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf Management & Recovery

program and visit our private library (Requirements 2, 3 & 8). • Register your troop for a custom videoconferencing program to virtually learn

about wolves (Requirements 2 & 3).

Mammal Study Requirements: 1. Explain the meaning of "animal," "invertebrate," "vertebrate," and "mammal." Name three characteristics that distinguish mammals from all other animals. 2. Explain how the animal kingdom is classified. Explain where mammals fit in the classification of animals. Classify three mammals from phylum through species.

3(a). Spend three hours in each of two different kinds of natural habitats or at different elevations. List the different mammal species and individual members that

you identified by sight or sign. Tell why all mammals do not live in the same kind of habitat. 4(c). Write a life history of a native game mammal that lives in your area, covering the points outlined in requirement 3c. List sources for this information. 4(e). Visit a natural history museum. Report on how specimens are prepared and cataloged. Explain the purposes of museums. 4(g). Trace two possible food chains of carnivorous mammals from soil through four stages to the mammal. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family and observe a Wolf 101 program - contact the Center in advance to coordinate the "Mammal Study Merit Badge Wolf 101" with education staff (Requirements 1, 2, 4, 4(e) & 4(g)).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program, free time to explore the Wolves & Humans Museum and schedule a meeting with our information services director to discuss care of the museum (Requirements 1, 2, 4, 4(e) & 4(g)).

• Register your troop for a Two-Day Wolf Sampler Group Visit with a Wolf Ecology program, which includes two field trips to different micro-ecosystems such as an upland forest and a bog (Requirements 1, 2, 3(a), 4, 4(e) & 4(g)).

• Register your troop for a Wolf Ecology videoconferencing program to virtually learn about wolves (Requirements 1, 2 & 4).

Nature Requirements: 1. Name three ways in which plants are important to animals. Name a plant that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk. 2. Name three ways in which animals are important to plants. Name an animal that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk. 3. Explain the term "food chain." Give an example of a four-step

land food chain and a four-step water food chain. 4(b). Mammals

1. In the field, identify three species of wild animals. 2. Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild mammal.

How to fulfill:

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Northwoods Ecology program and request a plaster track activity (Requirements 1, 2, 3, 4(b)2).

• Add a hike to your visit to attempt requirement 4(b)1. • Register your troop for a Wolf Ecology videoconferencing program to virtually

learn about wolves (Requirements 1, 2 & 3).

Orienteering Requirements: 2. Explain what orienteering is. 3(a). Explain how a compass works. Describe the features of an orienteering compass. 3(b). In the field, show how to take a compass bearing and follow it. 4(a). Explain how a topographic map shows terrain features. Point out and name five terrain features on a map and in the

field. 4(b). Point out and name 10 symbols on a topographic map. 4(c). Explain the meaning of declination. Tell why you must consider declination when using map and compass together. 4(d). Show a topographic map with magnetic north-south lines. 4(e). Show how to measure distances on a map using an orienteering compass. 4(f). Show how to orient a map using a compass. 5. Set up a 100-meter pace course. Determine your walking and running pace for 100 meters. Tell why it is important to pace-count. 7(a). Take part in three orienteering events. One of these must be a cross-country course. How to fulfill:

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with and request an orienteering program on our on-site beginner orienteering course (all listed requirements).

Photography Requirements: 4(a). Produce a picture story using the photojournalistic technique of documenting an event. Share your plan with your counselor and get your counselor's input and approval before you proceed. Then, using either a film camera or a digital camera, produce your approved picture story. Process your images and select eight to 12 images that best tell your story. Arrange your images in order, then, mount the prints on a poster board. If you

are using digital images, you may create a slide show on your computer or produce printouts for your poster board. Share your picture story with your counselor. 4(b). Choose a topic that interests you to photograph for an exhibit or display. Get your counselor's approval then, photograph (digital or film) your topic. Process your images. Choose 20 of your favorite images and mount them on poster board. Share your display with your counselor. If you are using digital images, you may create a slide show on your computer or produce printouts for your poster board. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family, or register your troop for a Group Visit to the Center for a unique and educational photographic experience (all listed requirements).

Public Speaking Requirement: 4. Select a topic of interest to your audience. Collect and organize information about the topic and prepare an outline. Write an eight- to 10-minute speech, practice it then, deliver it in a conversational way. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family, or register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program and free time to explore the Wolves & Humans Museum to gather information. Schedule a meeting with one of our educators to discuss public speaking skills and challenges. You may even request to use our auditorium to present your 10-minute speech to your troop, friends or family during your visit.

Webelos Scouts

Naturalist Activity Badge Requirements: 4. Visit a museum of natural history, a nature center, or a zoo with your family, Webelos den, or pack. 9. Give examples of:

• A producer, a consumer, and a decomposer in the food chain of an ecosystem

• One way humans have changed the balance of nature • How you can help protect the balance of nature

10. Identify a plant, bird, or wild animal that is found only in your area of the country. 11. Learn about aquatic ecosystems and wetlands in your area. 12. Look around your neighborhood and identify how litter might be dangerous to the birds and other animals. Clean up the litter. Identify what else you might do to make your neighborhood safer for animals. 13. While you are a Webelos Scout, earn the Cub Scout Academics belt loop for Wildlife Conservation (see below). How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family and observe a Wolf 101 program - contact the Center in advance to coordinate greater detail of the food chain and human impact on the environment (Requirements 4, 9, 10 & 12).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program focused on the food chain and human impact on the environment (Requirements 4, 9, 10 & 12).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program focused on the food chain and the human impact on the environment, and a Bog Walk or Beavers & Wolves Field Trip (Requirements 4, 9, 10, 11 & 12).

• Add a service project (such as litter pick-up) to your visit for requirement 12. • Register your troop for a Wolf Ecology videoconferencing program to virtually

learn about wolves and chat about wildlife conservation with an educator (Requirement 9).

Cub Scouts Wildlife Conservation Belt Loop Requirements: 1. Explain what natural resources are and why it's important to protect and conserve them. 2. Make a poster that shows and explains the food chain. 3. Learn about an endangered species. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family and observe a Wolf 101 program (All requirements – will learn about the food chain).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program (All requirements - will learn about the food chain).

• Register your troop for a Wolf 101 videoconferencing program to virtually learn about wolves (All requirements - will learn about the food chain).

Wildlife Conservation Academics Pin Requirements: 1. Visit a wildlife sanctuary, nature center, or fish hatchery. 3. Learn about five animals that use camouflage to protect themselves. 6. Make a plaster cast of an animal track. 7. With your parent or adult partner, visit with a person who works in wildlife conservation, such as a park ranger, biologist, range manager, geologist, horticulturist, zookeeper, fishery technician, or conservation officer. 9. Participate in an environmental service project that helps maintain habitat for wildlife, such as cleaning up an area or planting trees. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family and observe a Wolf 101 program and ask the educator to share with you four more animals that use camouflage (the wolf is discussed during the program)(Requirements 1, 3, & 7).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program and ask the educator to share with you four more animals that use camouflage (the wolf is discussed during the program), and request with time to visit with your educator afterwards about wildlife conservation (Requirements 1, 3, & 7).

• Register your troop for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program and a Northwoods Ecology program and request both a plaster track activity and time to visit with a staff member about wildlife conservation (Requirements 1, 3, 6 & 7).

• Add a service project (such as litter pick-up) to your visit for requirement 9.

• Register your troop for a Wolf Ecology videoconferencing program to virtually learn about wolves and chat about wildlife conservation with an educator (Requirements 3 & 7).

Venture Crews – Outdoor Bronze & Ranger Award

Plants & Wildlife Elective Requirement: 3(a). Study a specific plant or wildlife species approved by your Advisor that can be found in several different areas. Observe this species thoroughly in various areas and seasons of the year. Study the history of this species, paying particular attention to how it has adapted over time. How to fulfill:

• Visit the Center with friends or family at different times of the year and attend a Wolf 101 program and observe the ambassador wolves. Spend time in the Wolves & Humans exhibit to study the natural and cultural history of the wolf (Requirements 3(a).).

• Register your crew for a Group Visit with a Wolf 101 program and observe the ambassador wolves. Spend time in the Wolves & Humans exhibit to study the natural and cultural history of the wolf (Requirements 3(a).).

• Register your troop for a Wolf 101 videoconferencing program to virtually learn about wolves and observe the ambassador wolves in real time (Requirements 3(a).).

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