Exploration is about curiosity, careful planning, and discovering something new. You'll learn from real explorers, try fieldwork, and then plan and carry out an expedition of your own. It's adventure with a purpose.
Why it's worth it
Explorers go where the maps are blank, whether that's a cave, a coral reef, the Arctic, or the space between stars, and they come back with knowledge everyone can use. This badge teaches you how real expeditions work: picking a question worth answering, planning the team, gear, and safety, and reporting what you found. Then you go on one yourself. It's a natural next step for Scouts who love the outdoors and want their adventures to mean something.
Start this week
- Write down three places or questions you'd love to explore, like a local cave system, a creek's source, or the night sky.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Exploration counselor, and contact them with a parent copied.
- Look up one living explorer and find a talk or article about their latest expedition.
- Start a field journal: a waterproof notebook and a pencil you'll carry on every outing.
Stay safe
- Plan every expedition with your counselor and a supervising adult, follow the Guide to Safe Scouting, and leave a written trip plan with someone at home.
- Caves, water, cliffs, and remote areas need trained adult leadership and the right gear. Never explore them alone.
Requirements · 9
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
General knowledge
Tips for this section: Think about how exploring outer space, the deep ocean, a jungle, or a research lab would be different. What would you need for each?
Example for this section: Compare environments: in space you need life support and years of planning; under the ocean, pressure-proof subs or robots; in a jungle, ways to handle heat, insects, and thick cover; in a city research lab, careful experiments instead of travel. Then explain what they have in common.
- Requirement 1a
Define exploration and explain how it's different from adventure travel, trekking or hiking, tour groups, or recreational outdoor trips
- Requirement 1b
Explain how exploring might be approached differently in space, under the ocean, in a jungle, or in a city research lab
- Requirement 2
Discuss the history of exploration with your counselor, and pick a field of study (such as aerospace, oil, paleontology, or oceanography) to show how exploration helped that field develop
Tip: Choose an explorer or era you find exciting and connect it to a field like geology, biology, or astronomy.
- Requirement 3
Explain to your counselor why exploring matters, and discuss the following
Tip: Find an example of an expedition that led to a new discovery, and explain why it mattered.
- Requirement 3a
Why exploration should rest on science
- Requirement 3b
How explorers have helped us understand the world
- Requirement 3c
What qualities and skills you believe an explorer needs
- Requirement 4
Real-life exploration. Choose 1 of 3
Tips for this section: Look up a modern explorer or a recent expedition online or at the library. See if you can watch a talk they've given.
Example for this section: Learn about an ocean exploration mission that maps the seafloor with remotely operated vehicles. Note the team's question, the tools they used, a surprise they found, and how they shared it with the public.
- Requirement 4a
Learn about a living explorer and make a short report or presentation (spoken, written, or slides) on their goals and what one of their expeditions achieved; share it with your counselor and unit
- Requirement 4b
Learn about a real scientific expedition: its mission objectives, its most interesting or important discoveries, and how its findings helped scientists answer key questions; share what you learned with your counselor and unit
- Requirement 4c
Learn about kinds of exploration done in labs or research facilities (such as medicine, biology, chemistry, physics, or astronomy), and explain to your counselor how lab research and exploration resemble field research and exploration
- Requirement 5
Exploration in the lab and field. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Pick a visit that matches your interests, like an observatory, a university lab, or a group that sponsors expeditions, in person or online, and take careful notes on what they're exploring.
Example for this section: Visit an observatory on a public night, or tour a group like the National Geographic Society online. Find out what questions they're trying to answer and what tools they use, and write it down to share with your counselor.
- Requirement 5a
With a parent or guardian's permission and counselor approval, visit in person or online a group that sponsors exploration (like the National Geographic Society, The Explorers Club, Smithsonian Institution, American Alpine Club, or World Wildlife Fund), learn what exploration it supports, and tell your counselor
- Requirement 5b
With permission and approval, visit in person or online a science lab, observatory, medical research center, or similar facility and learn what exploration happens there; share what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 6
Expedition planning steps
Tips for this section: Make a checklist for your expedition covering the goal, the team, gear, safety, and how you'll share what you find.
Example for this section: Walk through planning steps for a real trip: set a goal, choose the team and roles, research the area, plan the route and gear, write a risk and emergency plan, get permits and approvals, then decide how you'll share results.
- Requirement 6a
Discuss with your counselor setting objectives (goals) for an expedition, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6b
Discuss with your counselor planning the mission, including an agenda or schedule and a list of documents or permits that may be needed, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6c
Discuss with your counselor budgeting enough money, with estimated costs for travel, gear, lodging, meals, permits or licenses, and other expenses, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6d
Discuss with your counselor working out the gear and supplies needed for personal and mission needs for the whole expedition, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6e
Discuss with your counselor communication and transportation needs, including how you'll stay in touch with your base and the outside world and with each other on-site, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6f
Discuss with your counselor setting safety and first-aid procedures (including medical evacuation), identifying hazards explorers might face and ways to prevent or avoid them, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6g
Discuss with your counselor choosing the team, including who is essential to success and what skills the leader needs, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 6h
Discuss with your counselor setting up detailed recordkeeping and planning how to interpret and share findings after the expedition, and why this step is needed
- Requirement 7
With a parent or guardian's permission and your counselor's approval, get ready for a real expedition to a place, near or far, that you haven't explored before, doing the following
Tip: Plan with your counselor and a supervising adult, and make sure your route and safety plan are approved before you go.
- Requirement 7a
Prepare while supervised by a trained expedition leader or planner, or another qualified adult with exploration experience (such as a science teacher, museum staff member, or qualified instructor)
- Requirement 7b
Let the steps from requirement 6 guide your preparations; list the gear and supplies you'll need and explain to your counselor the reason for each item and how it will help; decide who should go
- Requirement 7c
Before you leave, check your preparations against each step from requirement 6 and tell your counselor how it went; go through the Scouting America SAFE Checklist with your counselor and make sure every foreseeable hazard is addressed
- Requirement 8
Going on an expedition
Tips for this section: Keep a field journal during your expedition, then share your results with photos, a map, or a short presentation.
Example for this section: Your expedition might be a weekend studying birds at a wetland you've never visited, with a qualified adult your counselor approves. Write a short report with your objectives, a map, your species list, photos of the place (not of other Scouts), and whether you reached your goal.
- Requirement 8a
With a parent or guardian's permission and supervised by your counselor or a qualified person your counselor approves, go on a real expedition to a place you haven't explored before, using your planning from requirement 6 and preparations from requirement 7
- Requirement 8b
Discuss with your counselor why outdoor ethics matter so much in exploration and how they encourage responsible adventuring, and explain how you followed Leave No Trace, Tread Lightly!, and the Outdoor Code on your expedition
- Requirement 8c
After returning, write a 1-3 page report on your expedition's results and how you met your objectives: state the objectives, findings and observations, photos, any discoveries, problems or adverse events, and a conclusion on whether you reached your goal (one page may be photos, graphs, or figures)
- Requirement 9
Careers and hobbies. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Talk with a scientist, park ranger, or explorer, or try a hobby like caving or astronomy with a club.
- Requirement 9a
Research an exploration-related career: education and training, costs, job outlook, pay, duties, and advancement (by searching, interviewing a professional, or visiting a workplace, with a parent or guardian's permission); discuss your findings with your counselor and what makes the career appealing
- Requirement 9b
Explore how skills from this badge could support a hobby: research training, costs, and groups that support it, then discuss possible short- and long-term goals with your counselor
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A natural history or science museum research department
Scientists there return from real expeditions with specimens and data, and some museums offer behind-the-scenes tours.
How: Have an adult email the museum's education office to ask about youth programs or a short talk with a researcher.
A show cave, planetarium, or university research station
See where exploration happens and the tools people use to map, measure, and observe.
How: Check the website for guided tours and go with your family or patrol.
Where it can lead
- Field scientistGeologists, biologists, and archaeologists collect data in remote places.
- Ocean or polar research technicianRuns instruments and equipment on research ships and stations.
- Expedition guideLeads trips to wild places and keeps teams safe; many start on camp staff.
- Astronaut or mission specialistExplores space after years of science, engineering, or military training.
- Science photographer or filmmakerDocuments expeditions so the public can see what was found.
Ask yourself
- What question do you most want to answer by exploring?
- What did planning your expedition teach you that you didn't expect?
- When something didn't go as planned on your expedition, how did your team adapt?
- How did keeping a field journal change what you noticed?
- Where would you go next if you could explore anywhere?
Good questions to ask your counselor, a scientist, or an expedition leader
- How do you decide a question is worth an expedition?
- What's the hardest part of planning that people don't see?
- Tell me about a time an expedition went wrong. What did your team do?
- What skills do you look for when you pick team members?
- How can someone my age start doing real exploration?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Help Scouts turn a regular troop outing into a real expedition with a research goal.
- Look for local science museums, universities, or clubs that host field activities.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- The Explorers Club (opens in a new tab) — Stories about explorers and expeditions around the world.
- National Geographic (opens in a new tab) — Articles and videos about modern explorers and discoveries.
- Science museum or university — Scientists there may share field research opportunities.
- NOAA Ocean Exploration (opens in a new tab) — Live and recorded deep-sea dives, expedition logs, and maps.
- National Geographic Education (opens in a new tab) — Explorer profiles and expedition stories written for students.
- National Speleological Society (opens in a new tab) — How people explore and protect caves safely.
- NASA (opens in a new tab) — Current missions exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
Pairs well with
Into this? Explore more
Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.