Math and Science Bronze Award

[BadenP 93]

Oscar

I suggest you take a well done Venturing Leaders Training course to better understand what Venturing is, is supposed to be, and why it was created. No outdoors should not be its only focus, but it is still the standard around which the others are built, similiar to the boy scout program. If you view the successes and failures in Venturing you will find that most all of the sedentary indoor focus crews last less than a year, as the teens get bored with the same activities they can do at home. Most teens today do not get into the outdoors near enough, a well balanced program giving them new experiences and challenges their comfort zone and leadership skills will hold their interests for a long time. A well run crew is a solid mixture of all the interests of its members and some new ones to try for the first time.

[mds3d 90]

Since no one has posted a link to the proposed requirements, I am going to assume that no one actually knows them. If that is the case, no one can speak to how this award will fit into the Venturing program. To that note lets take an *Analogy* of Boy Scouts. It has been suggested here that the Outdoors are a pivotal part of Venturing. Whether or not that is (or should be) true, I think we all can agree on how important the outdoors are to Boy Scouts. That being said, there are MANY Merit Badges that involve Math and Science. Many of them also have an innate connection to the outdoors. To that extent it can be proven that the outdoors and "Math and Science" are not exclusive.

 

Lets take a few minutes to see how a Science oriented crew could spend time in the outdoors.

 

-They could take a trip to Sea Base. While learning to sail, they could take some time to learn and study about the wonderful marine life in the area (biology). They could also apply Math to the complex modern, and classic methods of water navigation. (This one is even High Adventure) The same could be said for Boundary Waters.

-They could plan a conservation project at a local park or preservation. In the process they could learn about how Biology and Environmental Science are used to help protect the species native to any area.

-They could backpack a part of the Appalachian trail and while on the way collect water samples from some of the more remote water sources to help any one of the many studies being done by Universities all along the Trail. They could learn about how their samples were used to help study and protect the Trail and the Mountains it runs through. (This activity could be done at any number of places across the country.)

 

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Anyone who thinks that Nerds do not belong in Scouts is an idiot, and the idea that the Outdoors and Science are anything close to inherently separate is just ignorant.

[OscarTango 9]

BadenP,click, I'm not saying the outdoor aspect is not important. I also believe it has an equal spot along with the other methods. Sorry for the confusion.

[bacchus 10]

I just picked up the new Venturing Manual. It does NOT include Math and Science Bronze. Not sure why the delay...

[emb021 16]

"I just picked up the new Venturing Manual. It does NOT include Math and Science Bronze."

 

AFAIK, its not a new edition, just a new printing. Strangely, its not listed on the ScoutStuff site...

 

Plans seem to be to separate the Venturer Handbook from the Ranger Guidebook, and put all the advancement books (Ranger, Quest, Trust) into a single, separate book, so maybe the M&S awards will go in there.

[venture4life94 10]

how old are all of you?

so what if national made an award towards math and science?

im in the venturing program now and you know what?

its amazing. i get to see so much diversity in one meeting its amazing.

scouting was meant to bring people together. it wasnt supposed to matter if "nerds" were in it or not. and you should be ashamed of yourselfs for making fun of them cause you know what some of them are/ or will be your boss someday. also in all retrospect im supposedly a nerd. im in drama, i play video games,rpgs and know quite a bit about a computer. and math/science has such a relovency in scouting. like the big dipper, the tip is the north star pointing you north. well guess what thats astromny which is *gasp* science. or the amount of thumbs going one above the other is 10xthat number= ft. i know national isnt all that innocent but seriously alot of you sound like conspersicy theroists. i have 4 out of 5 or now 6 bronzes. i want all 6. im glad their expanding. some of you need to open your mind. oh and to awnser a q from before, sea scouting has its own thing now so idk whats going to happen to that bronze. i heard it was going away.

[emb021 16]

"how old are all of you?"

 

Who are you speaking to?

 

Most of us here are adults. And many of us were involved as youth. I joined scouting as a cub, became a boy scout and stayed as an adult.

 

"so what if national made an award towards math and science?"

 

I think its a good idea. Others may not think so.

 

"im in the venturing program now and you know what?

its amazing. i get to see so much diversity in one meeting its amazing."

 

ok. I've been in Venturing since day one. Longer, really as I was in Exploring before it was rolled out.

 

"scouting was meant to bring people together."

 

No, it wasn't. Scouting was meant to help youth become better individuals. Part of how it does it is to bring people together. But don't confuse a method with the purpose.

 

"it wasnt supposed to matter if "nerds" were in it or not. and you should be ashamed of yourselfs for making fun of them cause you know what some of them are/ or will be your boss someday."

 

Who are you speaking to??

 

 

 

" i know national isnt all that innocent but seriously alot of you sound like conspersicy theroists."

 

Huh??

 

"i have 4 out of 5 or now 6 bronzes. i want all 6. im glad their expanding. some of you need to open your mind."

 

Again, who are you speaking to??

 

"oh and to awnser a q from before, sea scouting has its own thing now so idk whats going to happen to that bronze. i heard it was going away."

 

Not sure what you are talking about here. Sea Scouts are STILL part of Venturing. Don't be confused or listen to the nonsense out there that claims otherwise. The Sea Scout Bronze is NOT going away.

 

 

 

[BadenP 93]

Sounds like a Troll Alert to me emb021. A troll who needs some real help with spelling, sentence structure, and grammar.

[ilduncans 10]

So disregarding the troll, and returning to the thread ... did this ever get launched? I still haven't seen requirements published ...

[BadenP 93]

iduncans

 

The new Venturing handbook still isn't out yet and nothing on the NAtional site either so it is anyones guess.

[UCEagle72 10]

The new Venturing Handbook *is* out (just not on Scoutstuff) - but we have had copies in at the scout shop in Apopka for a while.

 

No Math & Science Bronze listed though ...

 

[emb021 16]

"The new Venturing Handbook *is* out (just not on Scoutstuff) - but we have had copies in at the scout shop in Apopka for a while. "

 

Uh, it is NOT a "new" Handbook.

 

Its a new printing, with 3-4 pages changed. Nothing more.

 

Two pages were updated with some text on YPT. This meant the Scout Oath was moved to a page with the Venturing Oath. And the page on Teen Leader Councils was re-writen to speak of Venturing Officers Associations (but not a very good re-write).

 

What people are looking for is a NEW EDITION. Ie, one that is heavily re-writen. This ain't it.

 

I can only say that AFAIK, there is no effort going on to do so.

 

"No Math & Science Bronze listed though ... "

 

Nope. No word on when this will roll out, along with the M&S Expert Award, nor a rumored Community Service Bronze.

 

 

 

[BadenP 93]

Who knows with National and with Mazzucca at the helm they may just come out with a whole new program called Venturing Explorers where you just do whatever you want with no structure, awards, uniforms, or handbooks.