Geology is the study of rocks, minerals, and the forces that shape the Earth. You'll learn how geologists read the land, explore resources we use every day, and dig into a topic that interests you. Once you start, you'll never look at a rock the same way.
Why it's worth it
The ground under your feet has a story millions of years long, and geologists know how to read it. After this badge, a road cut becomes a stack of history pages, a pebble tells you where a river once flowed, and you'll know where the gravel, metal, and fuel you use every day came from. Geologists help find clean water, plan safe places to build, and warn people about landslides and earthquakes.
Start this week
- Pick up five different rocks from your yard, a park, or a driveway, and sort them by color, weight, and texture.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of a Geology counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Find your area on a geologic map online and figure out what kind of rock is right under your home.
- Read through the options in requirement 4 and pick the one that sounds most interesting to you.
Stay safe
- Stay away from cliff edges, road cuts with traffic, and quarry walls, and wear safety glasses if you're breaking rocks with a hammer.
- Never go into caves, mines, or quarries without permission and a trained guide.
Requirements · 6
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
Note: Get the land manager's permission before collecting any rock, mineral, or fossil samples; collecting isn't allowed in most national and state parks, and photos or sketches can stand in for specimens
- Requirement 1
Define geology. Discuss how geologists study rock formations, and explain why understanding the present helps geologists understand the past
Tip: Start a small rock collection and look at each one with a magnifying glass. Think about how a geologist would describe it.
For example: Explain how a geologist studies a rock: look at it with a hand lens, test hardness by scratching it, check color and luster, notice the grain size, and think about whether it formed from lava, from layers of sediment, or under heat and pressure.
- Requirement 2
Choose 3 resources taken from the Earth to be sold or used in industry. Discuss with your counselor how each one is found and processed
Tip: Look around your home for things that came from the Earth, like metal, gravel, or the fuel that heats your house.
For example: Pick three resources and follow each to your house: gravel from a quarry for the driveway, copper from a mine for the wires in your walls, and natural gas or coal for heat or electricity. Discuss how each is found and removed.
- Requirement 3
Study a geologic map of your area (or one your counselor approves). Discuss its rock types and estimated ages, decide if they're igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, and explain whether the map shows folded, faulted, horizontal, or intrusive rocks and how you decided
Tip: Ask your counselor or a library for a geologic map of your area, and find the spot where you live.
For example: On a geologic map, find the color for your neighborhood and read the legend. You might learn you live on sandstone that's 300 million years old, or on clay left behind by a glacier. Point out one other rock type nearby.
- Requirement 4
Geology focus area. Choose 1 of 4
Tips for this section: Pick the option that matches your interests and look for a nearby museum, road cut, or rock club to help.
Example for this section: Whatever option you choose, think field trip: a road cut to sketch rock layers, a riverbank to watch sediment move, or a museum to see fossils and minerals. Take notes and photos to share with your counselor.
- Requirement 4a
Option A: surface and sedimentary processes
- Requirement 4a1
Do a counselor-approved experiment showing how sediment settles out of water. Explain to your counselor what it shows and why that matters
- Requirement 4a2
On topographic maps from your counselor, plot stream gradients (elevation change divided by distance) for 4 stream types: straight, meandering, dendritic, and trellis. Explain which flow fastest and which carry bigger sediment grains, and why
- Requirement 4a3
On a stream diagram, mark where you'd find a point bar, a cut bank, a fill bank, medial channel bars, and a lake delta, and describe the relative grain size of sediment in each
- Requirement 4a4
Do a counselor-approved experiment showing that some sediment carried by water is too tiny to see without a magnifier
- Requirement 4a5
Visit a nearby stream and look for clues to which way the water flows, even if it's dry. Write notes and sketch the clues in a notebook, then discuss them with your counselor
- Requirement 4b
Option B: energy resources
- Requirement 4b1
List the 5 main Earth resources used to make electricity in the United States
- Requirement 4b2
Discuss the 3 things needed for oil and gas to collect underground: source rock, reservoir rock, and a trap
- Requirement 4b3
Explain how each of these helps find oil or gas underground: geologic maps, subsurface structure and isopach maps, reflection seismic, stratigraphic correlation, electric well logs, offshore platforms, and core and cutting samples
- Requirement 4b4
Use at least 20 data points from your counselor to draw a subsurface structure map. Use your map to explain how such maps help locate oil, gas, or coal
- Requirement 4b5
Oil, gas, or coal project. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 4b5a
Make a display or presentation on how oil and gas or coal is located, extracted, and processed, using maps, books, magazine articles, and online research (with a parent's or guardian's permission). Present it in 5 minutes to your counselor or to a small group, like your class at school
- Requirement 4b5b
With permission and help from a parent or guardian and your counselor, arrange to visit a working drilling rig. Talk with the geologist there about what they do on site, and ask to see the cutting samples taken there
- Requirement 4c
Option C: mineral resources
- Requirement 4c1
Define rock. Discuss the 3 classes of rock, how each forms, and what each is like
- Requirement 4c2
Define mineral. Discuss how minerals form, their chemical makeup, and the properties used to identify them, such as luster, streak, color, cleavage, hardness, crystal form, and specific gravity
- Requirement 4c3
Rock and mineral collection. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 4c3a
Collect 10 different rocks or minerals. Write in a notebook where you got each one (found, bought, or traded). Label each, identify its class and origin, find its chemical makeup, and list its physical properties. Share the collection with your counselor
- Requirement 4c3b
With your counselor's help, identify 15 different rocks and minerals. List each one's name, say whether it's a rock or a mineral, and give its class (for a rock) or its identifying physical properties (for a mineral)
- Requirement 4c4
List 3 of the most common road-building materials in your area, and explain how each is produced and used to build roads
- Requirement 4c5
Mining and construction. Choose 1 of 3
- Requirement 4c5a
With approval from a parent or guardian and your counselor, visit an active mine, quarry, or sand and gravel pit. Afterward, tell your counselor what resources come from there and how society uses them
- Requirement 4c5b
With your counselor, choose 2 rocks and 2 minerals. Discuss how each is mined and describe how society uses it
- Requirement 4c5c
With approval from a parent or guardian and your counselor, visit a civil engineer's office to see how geology shapes construction projects. Talk over what you learned with your counselor
- Requirement 4d
Option D: Earth history
- Requirement 4d1
Make a chart of the proposed geologic eras and periods, and figure out in which period the rocks in your region may have formed
- Requirement 4d2
Explain plate tectonics. Make a chart or talk with your counselor about how it works, and discuss how it controls where most of Earth's volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain ranges are found
- Requirement 4d3
Explain to your counselor how living things get buried and become fossils, and discuss what extinction means
- Requirement 4d4
Explain how fossils reveal ancient life, environments, climates, and geography. Discuss these habitats and how animals in each get food: pelagic, benthonic, littoral, lacustrine, fluvial, eolian, brackish, open marine, and protected reef
- Requirement 4d5
Collect 10 fossils of different plants or animals, or identify 15 with your counselor's help. Note in a notebook how you got each, classify each as well as you can, explain how each may have lived and fed, and tell what else the fossils teach you
- Requirement 4d6
Fossils in the field. Choose 1 of 4
- Requirement 4d6a
Visit a science museum or university geology department with fossils on display. Before you go, with approval from a parent or guardian and your counselor, book a time with a curator or guide to show you how fossils are preserved and prepared for display
- Requirement 4d6b
Visit a building in your area made from fossil-bearing rock. Figure out the type of rock, and tell your counselor what fossil evidence you found
- Requirement 4d6c
Visit a rock outcrop that has fossils. Figure out what kind of rock holds them, and tell your counselor what fossil evidence you found
- Requirement 4d6d
Prepare a presentation or display about your state fossil (or a neighboring state's, if yours has none) with a picture, its age, and its classification, using maps, books, magazine articles, and online research (with permission). Share it with your counselor or a small group, like your class
- Requirement 5
Leave No Trace in geology
Tips for this section: Collect only where it's allowed, and leave fossils and formations in parks for others to enjoy.
Example for this section: Leave No Trace in geology means collecting only where it's allowed, taking just a small sample instead of a whole slab, never chipping at fossils or formations in parks, and filling any holes you dig.
- Requirement 5a
Discuss with your counselor why the Outdoor Code and the Leave No Trace Seven Principles matter when studying geology
- Requirement 5b
Explain how you followed the Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace on trips into natural areas and when gathering rock and fossil specimens for this badge
- Requirement 6
Careers and hobbies. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Talk with a geologist, or try a hobby like rock hounding with a local rock and mineral club.
- Requirement 6a
Explore careers related to geology. Research one, including the training and education needed, costs, job outlook, pay, duties, and advancement (with permission, by internet or library search, an interview, or a workplace visit). Discuss your findings with your counselor and why the career might interest you
- Requirement 6b
Explore how geology skills could lead to a hobby or healthy lifestyle. Research the training, costs, and groups that support it, and discuss with your counselor the short- and long-term goals you might set
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A natural history museum or university geology collection
You can see minerals, fossils, and rock samples labeled and organized, and sometimes talk with a curator.
How: Have an adult check the museum's website for youth programs, or email a university geology department to ask if a student or professor can show a Scout group around.
A rock and mineral club meeting or show
Members love helping beginners identify rocks and often give away samples to young collectors.
How: Have a parent find a local club and ask about junior members or upcoming shows. Bring a few of your rocks to ask about.
A state park with interesting geology
Rangers can explain how the cliffs, caves, or waterfalls formed and point out features you'd miss on your own.
How: Check the park's website for ranger-led walks, or have an adult call ahead to ask about a talk for your patrol.
Where it can lead
- GeologistStudies rocks and Earth processes for energy, mining, construction, or research; needs a science degree.
- HydrologistFinds and protects groundwater and studies how water moves through rock and soil.
- Geotechnical engineerChecks that ground is safe to build on before roads, dams, and buildings go up.
- Drilling or mining technicianRuns equipment that samples or removes rock; trained on the job or through technical programs.
- Park ranger or naturalistExplains the landscape to visitors in places shaped by geology.
Ask yourself
- What landform near you have you always wondered about?
- Which part of geology feels confusing, and who could explain it with a real rock in hand?
- How has learning about rocks changed what you notice on a hike or a drive?
- Where do you think the materials in your house came from, and how do you feel about that now?
- What part of Earth's story do you want to learn more about?
Good questions to ask a geologist or your counselor
- What's the most interesting rock formation near here, and how did it form?
- What do you carry in your field pack, and what do you use most?
- How do geologists help keep people safe from things like landslides or earthquakes?
- What's something you discovered in your work that surprised you?
- If I like geology, which school subjects should I focus on now?
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
- Plan a field trip to a quarry, road cut, or state park with interesting geology, with permission and safety in mind.
- Connect Scouts with a local rock and mineral club or a university geology department.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- U.S. Geological Survey (opens in a new tab) — Geologic maps and earth science information.
- Local rock and mineral club — Members love sharing collections and collecting tips.
- Natural history museum — See rock, mineral, and fossil collections up close.
- National Geologic Map Database (opens in a new tab) — Search for geologic maps of your area for requirement 3.
- NPS Geology (opens in a new tab) — How the landscapes in national parks formed, with photos and park-by-park stories.
- American Geosciences Institute (opens in a new tab) — Earth science explainers and information on geoscience careers.
- American Federation of Mineralogical Societies (opens in a new tab) — Find rock and mineral clubs and learn the code of ethics for collectors.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.