Too big a Bite? Lifesaving, Env Science, Wilderness Survival

[MrsSmith]

Summer Camp is coming - mid-August. My 13 1/2 year old, second year camper wants to take the above 3 badges. He is pretty determined to get those Eagle required ones first (has four now) and then horse around when he gets older. Looking over the past threads I see these rank high in difficulty level. Any advice? I told him it looks like a summer long project. He is willing to get started now on the reading and paperwork.

[dozer]

It can be done. Get the EScience reports out of the way before camp.

Wild surv. is an overnighter with other classroom work. Lifesaving is going to be the real working one. showing some good innitiative there, Good luck to him.

Alan

[evmori]

I guess he has swimming already. If not, Lifesaving is out of the question. Environmental Science is a toughie but if he gets the paperwork done before camp & don't forget the eco-system then it's not that bad. Wilderness Survival isn't Eagle required and not all that tough.

 

I would let him go! Sounds like a good plan to me especially since he wants to get started now!

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[MrsSmith]

Evmori, You're right, of course, about Wilderness Survival. I forgot to add that he wants to "train" for Order of the Arrow: he's hoping to get elected.

 

He is signing up for Camping this summer, too, but I did not include that in the question because the majority of it is done already.

 

BTW, he did take swimming last year.

[OldGreyEagle]

Hmmm, Lifesaving, Env Science, Wilderness Survival all in one week at Summer Camp,Hmmmm by crackee I dont see why the youngun cant do it, things ain't like they used to be, when I was a whippersnapper of a scout. To get the Lifesaving merit badge we had to carve our own life jacket out of a cork tree, and beleve me, finding a cork tree in the northern margin of the Louisiana Purchase certainly tested your tree Identification skill.

 

to earn the Wilderness survival meritbadge we hiked naked in the woods and they wouldnt let us back to the fire until each scout brought back a pair of mastadon tusks

 

Environmental Science? Heck thats easy now, when I was a scout you had to reanimate dead tissue, fortunately one of the scouts in my patrol had a dad who was a Dr. We all called him Dr Frankie, it was short for his real last name, which I forget what is was.

 

If he does the pre work for the badges, especially Environmental Sciences he should have no trouble, again, IF pre work is done. How far is the camp from where you live? COuld he visit the camp ahead of time, like during week one and talk to the counselor and see what he could get done? Maybe he can have it all done before he starts His week there.

 

ANyway, the those are the thoughts of an old geezer(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[FScouter]

He could go to summer camp for the purpose of having fun too.

[MrsSmith]

FScout, to a competitive, overachiever this is fun; anyway it does keep him out of trouble for now.

 

OGE This is the modern age of Leave No Trace. No disturbing the mastodon bones or cutting up cork trees. And do you mean he should confirm with the MB counselor before starting the badge whether some or all of these experiments can be done before he goes to camp? It would be very difficult to get him there before that week.

[OldGreyEagle]

Disturbing Mastadon Bones? Heck we had to hunt, kill, dress and butcher the darn fool thing and all we had were shards of obsedian, and, ... and, ... and, ... We liked it!

 

Anyway, it was worth a shot. When my son took Env Science he read the book and did most of the work before he went. The observation in nature, the environmental impact part, he did the plants option and took pictures everyday, by the time he went to camp, he had it 95 % done. Our camp is only 40 minutes away, so going up for a pre meeting once wouldnt be bad, it was just a chance it could work for him

[OldGreyEagle]

Yikes!(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[OldGreyEagle]

Double Yikes(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[purcelce]

I say let him go for it. This kid appears to know what he wants, and know what he's doing. If he's just going for these mb's then he should be fine time wise.

 

Wilderness Survival can be completed during the session besides the overnighter.

 

Environmental Science - A lot of time is spent in the field studying nature.

 

Lifesaving - Yikes...When I had the choice I got Emergency Prep instead.

 

Good luck to MrsSmith's baby boy!!! I'm sure he'll achieve his goal.

 

 

[packsaddle]

By crackee? By crackee? Now I'm repeating things...BTW what is the difference between a geezer and a coot (the featherless biped kind)? One of my favorite cartoons is of a Dilbert type sitting at his desk with the caption, "25 to 65 in what seems like 6 seconds flat" or something like that.

 

I agree with dozer, it can be done with some work ahead of time. Wilderness survival is a great one for summer camp. I agree with Ed on the lifesaving badge. Environmental Science is a really tough one to do correctly. But even getting a partial and working on it later would be a start. Unless he gets help with the exercises and experiments, though, it could be tough to get most of it done beforehand.

 

....teeth sucking noises....By crackee?

[MrsSmith]

So Noted. Thanks.

[John-in-KC]

Ahhhh... The joy of the Leaders' Guide and the Program Guide.

 

My Council camps have them; I hope yours do too.

 

These wonderful tomes generally list not only the MB offerings, but also if any pre-requisites are required.

 

It's worth a call from your SM to your DE to ask "Can ES requirements x, y, and z be done before we come down?" The DE can ask the Reservation Director, or call the camp Program Director.

 

PS: The long pole in the tent is the 400 yeard swim test for Lifesaving. Strongly recommend Mrs. Smith's son work on physical conditioning for that event, hard.

 

(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[LPC_Thumper]

I have sat on many (hundreds would make you think I was old, I don't think I'm old) Eagle Boards. One of our favorite questions is, "Tell me about a merit badge that was hard. One that you didn't like."

 

There are usually four mentioned. Your son is looking at two of them.

 

BTW, we usually ask "Tell me something you've learned in Scouting, that you don't think you would have learned if you weren't in the program." They almost always go back to that dreaded merit badge, and tell us how they've applied some of those skills.

 

I have taught Env Sci at camp, and the current reqs require a research project about an endangered local animal. Some research before hand, if approved by the camp, can GREATLY aid in softening the strains caused by this badge at camp.

 

In the old days, when I was a Scoutmaster, our troop adopted the tradition of the Friday night essay writting marathon. Our first year, I made dutch oven brownies for the older boys that were busily working on the essay (back then it was a 500 word report about what happened while they slept in a field for 10 hours that week, or something like that.) Second year back, these boys brought a mix in and cooked for those in the class. Needless to say the tradition was started. I learned that, we are now 15 years later, nobody knows why, but EVERYBODY knows that those that have completed Env Sci cook goodies on Friday night for those that are working on the badge.