Boy Scouts Get New Robotics Merit Badge

The Boy Scouts' new robotics merit badge doesn't entirely make up for the loss of the bee keeping badge, but it comes pretty close

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Boy Scouts Get New Robotics Merit Badge

The Boy Scouts have been around for long enough that they still have merit badges for things like basket weaving, but as a forward-looking organization, they've adapted by dropping (say) the rabbit raising badge and implementing badges for slightly more relevant skills like, you guessed it, robotics! The new robotics merit badge, pictured above, will be awarded to scouts who design, build, and demonstrate a robot of their own creation.

Ken Berry, assistant director of the Science and Engineering Education Center at the University of Texas at Dallas, helped make the badge possible, and expects at least 10,000 scouts (out of the 2.7 million scouts in the US) to qualify for the badge next year. 

"There's a low floor and a high ceiling with regard to robotics," [Berry] said. "It's very easy to get into, and you can go a long, long way."

While that's true in principle, I don't necessarily agree in practice. Since robotics isn't generally taught in elementary and middle school, or even high school here in the U.S., it can be a tough thing to get an introduction to, and even tougher to find a support system for. That's why it's especially good for an organization like the Boy Scouts to step up and tackle robotics head-on with a sexy new merit badge featuring one of our favorite Mars rovers, as long as they're prepared to back it up with resources when necessary.

[ NASA ] via [ NPR ]

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