Boy Scout Requirements – effective Jan. 1, 2016 Comparison to Current Requirements NOTE: No text in the column indicates a new requirement. Please send questions and comments to Advancement.Team@scouting.org. Scout Rank Requirements—Comparable to the required Arrow of Light adventure, “Scouting Adventure” NOTE: Scout is not currently a rank, but will become a rank effective Jan. 1, 2016. NEW SCOUT RANK REQUIREMENTS CURRENT JOINING REQUIREMENTS All requirements for the Scout rank must be completed as a member of a troop. If you have already completed these requirements as part of the Webelos Scouting Adventure, simply demonstrate your knowledge or skills to your Scoutmaster or other designated leader after joining the troop. Meet the age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old. 1. Complete all of the items below. Repeat from memory the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout motto, and Scout slogan. In your own words, explain their meaning. Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath or Promise, Scout Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code. Explain what spirit is. Describe some ways you have shown Scout spirit by practicing the Scout Oath, Scout Law, Scout motto, and Scout slogan. Give the Boy sign, salute, and handshake. Explain when they should be used. Demonstrate the sign, salute, and handshake. Describe the Class Scout badge and tell what each part stands for. Explain the significance of the First Class Scout badge. Describe the badge. Repeat from memory the Outdoor Code. In your own words, explain what the Outdoor Code means to you. Repeat from memory the Pledge of Allegiance. In your own explain its meaning. Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. 2 After attending at least one Boy Scout troop meeting, do the following: Describe how the Scouts in the troop provide its leadership. Describe the four steps of Boy Scout advancement. Describe what the ranks in Boy Scouting are and how they are earned.
10. While working toward the Tenderfoot rank, and after completing Scout rank requirement 7, participate in a Scoutmaster conference. Participate in a Scoutmaster conference. 11. Successfully complete your board of review for the Tenderfoot rank. Complete your board of review. NOTES: For Varsity Scouts working on Boy Scout requirements, replace “troop” with “team” and “Scoutmaster” with “Varsity Scout Coach.” The requirements for the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks may be worked on simultaneously; however, these ranks must be earned in sequence. Alternative requirements for the Tenderfoot rank are available for Scouts with physical or mental disabilities. Second Class Rank Requirements NEW SECOND CLASS REQUIREMENTS CURRENT REQUIREMENTS CAMPING and OUTDOOR ETHICS 1a. Since joining, participate in five separate troop/patrol activities, three of which include overnight camping. These five activities do not include troop or patrol meetings. On at least two of the three campouts, spend the night in a tent that you pitch or other structure that you help erect (such as a lean-to, snow cave, or tepee). Since joining, have participated in five separate troop/patrol activities (other than troop/patrol meetings), two of which included camping overnight. 1b. Explain the principles of Leave No Trace and tell how you practiced them on a campout or outing. This outing must be different from the one used for Tenderfoot requirement 1c. Discuss the principles of Leave No Trace. Demonstrate the principles of Leave No Trace on these outings. [PREVIOUSLY FIRST CLASS] 1c. On one of these campouts, select a location for your patrol site and recommend it to your patrol leader, senior patrol leader, or troop guide. Explain what factors you should consider when choosing a patrol site and where to pitch a tent. On one of these campouts, select your patrol site and sleep in a tent that you pitched. Explain what factors you should consider when choosing a patrol site and where to pitch a tent. COOKING and TOOLS 2a. Explain when it is appropriate to use a fire for cooking or other purposes and when it would not be appropriate to do so. Explain when it is appropriate to use a cooking fire. 2b. Use the tools listed in Tenderfoot requirement 3d to prepare tinder, kindling, and fuel wood for a cooking fire. Use the tools listed in requirement 3c to prepare tinder, kindling, and fuel for a cooking fire.
4b. Demonstrate how to use a handheld GPS unit, GPS app on a smartphone, or other electronic navigation system. Use GPS to find your current location, a destination of your choice, and the route you will take to get there. Follow that route to arrive at your destination. NATURE 5a. Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your local area or campsite location. You may show evidence by identifying fallen leaves or fallen fruit that you find in the field, or as part of a collection you have made, or by photographs you have taken. Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your community. 5b. Identify two ways to obtain a weather forecast for an upcoming activity. Explain why weather forecasts are important when planning for an event. 5c. Describe at least three natural indicators of impending hazardous weather, the potential dangerous events that might result from such weather conditions, and the appropriate actions to take. 5d Describe extreme weather conditions you might encounter in the outdoors in your local geographic area. Discuss how you would determine ahead of time the potential risk of these types of weather dangers, alternative planning considerations to avoid such risks, and how you would prepare for and respond to those weather conditions. AQUATICS 6a. Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test.3 Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test. 3 6b. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe trip afloat. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe trip afloat. 6c. Identify the parts of a canoe, kayak, or other boat. Identify the parts of a paddle or an oar. 6d. Describe proper body positioning in a watercraft, depending on the type and size of the vessel. Explain the importance of proper body position in the boat. 6e. With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and as rescuer. (The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.) With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and as rescuer. (The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.)