Oceans cover most of the Earth and affect weather, food, and life everywhere. You'll learn how seawater moves, what lives in it, and how scientists study it. You don't need to live near the coast to explore the ocean.
Why it's worth it
The ocean makes much of the oxygen you breathe, steers the weather where you live, and feeds billions of people, yet most of it has never been seen by a human. Oceanography mixes physics, chemistry, biology, and geology to explain all of it. You'll learn how to escape a rip current, why tides rise twice a day in many places, and how scientists explore the deep with robots. You can do this badge whether you live on the coast or a thousand miles inland.
Start this week
- Fill two glasses with water, stir a few spoons of salt into one, and see which one floats an egg. You've started requirement 2.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Oceanography counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Look at a NOAA ocean floor map online and find the deepest trench and the longest mountain range.
- Decide whether you'll write a report, visit an ocean facility, or give a speech for requirement 8, so you can plan ahead.
Stay safe
- Follow Safe Swim Defense for any activity in or near open water, and never swim at a beach without a lifeguard or qualified adult.
- Check the surf and rip current forecast before going to the beach, and stay out of the water when warnings are posted.
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
Name four branches of oceanography, and give at least five reasons it matters for people to learn about the oceans
Tip: Think about all the ways oceans affect your life, even if you live far inland, like weather and food.
For example: List the four main branches, physical, chemical, biological, and geological, with one real question each studies. Then give five reasons the ocean matters to people, even inland, like rain from ocean moisture, seafood, shipping, oxygen made by plankton, and medicines found in sea life.
- Requirement 2
Explain salinity, temperature, and density, and how oceanographers measure each in seawater. Discuss ocean circulation and currents, and describe how the oceans affect weather and climate
Tip: Try a simple test with salt water and fresh water, like seeing which one an egg floats in.
- Requirement 3
Describe what ocean waves are like, then do 3a through 3d
Tip: Watch videos of waves and tides and explain what causes each. Learn how to escape a rip current.
For example: Explain rip currents with a drawing of water rushing back out between sandbars, and show how to escape: stay calm, swim parallel to shore, then angle back in. Compare that with a tsunami, which comes from an earthquake, not wind.
- Requirement 3a
Tell how a storm surge, a tsunami, a tidal wave, and a tidal bore differ from each other
- Requirement 3b
Explain how sea, swell, and surf are different
- Requirement 3c
Explain what makes breakers form
- Requirement 3d
Explain what a rip current is, how to stay out of one, and what to do if one catches you
- Requirement 4
Draw a cross-section of the sea floor labeling a trench, canyon, rift valley, seamount, guyot, and oceanic ridge. Compare ocean depths with the heights of mountains on land, and show 4a through 4c
Tip: Draw the ocean floor from the shore out to the deep, and label each feature.
For example: Draw a cross-section from the beach out: the continental shelf, slope, and abyssal plain, plus a canyon, a seamount, a flat-topped guyot, an oceanic ridge with its rift valley, and a trench. Add a depth scale and compare the deepest trench with Mount Everest.
- Requirement 4a
Show what the continental shelf is
- Requirement 4b
Show what the continental slope is
- Requirement 4c
Show what the abyssal plain is
- Requirement 5
List the chief salts, gases, and nutrients found in seawater and describe some key properties of water. Tell how ocean life changes seawater's chemistry, and how evaporation and rainfall change its saltiness
Tip: Let a dish of salt water dry on a sunny windowsill and look at what's left. Then think about where those salts come from and how rain or a hot, dry day changes how salty the sea gets.
- Requirement 6
Describe some properties of seawater that matter to living things. Define benthos, nekton, and plankton and name some plants and animals in each group. Describe phytoplankton's role and importance in the ocean food chain
Tip: Make a chart that sorts sea creatures into bottom dwellers, swimmers, and drifters, and note how each one's body handles salt, pressure, or cold.
- Requirement 7
Hands-on ocean project. Choose 1 of 6
Tips for this section: Choose a project you'll enjoy, like building a model or doing a simple experiment at home.
Example for this section: Build a wave tank from a long plastic bin: make waves with a paddle, watch them bounce off the end and bend around a block, then add a jetty or breakwater made of stones and see how the pattern changes. Or build a plankton net from old tights and a wire hanger.
- Requirement 7a
Build a plankton net and use it for about 20 minutes (towed from a dock or rowboat, while wading, or held in a current). Keep the sample, look at it under a microscope or strong magnifier, and identify its three most common plankton types. A lake or stream is fine
- Requirement 7b
Build several clay-or-plaster-and-wood models of a volcanic island showing an atoll developing, starting as a fringing reef, then a barrier reef. Describe Darwin's theory of how coral reefs form
- Requirement 7c
For five days in a row, four times a day, measure water temperature at the surface, middle, and bottom of a body of water, plus air temperature, cloud cover, and roughness. Make a Secchi disk for turbidity. Graph the results and explain how water and air temperature relate
- Requirement 7d
Build a model of how littoral currents, tides, and waves move sediment near shore. Include high and low waterlines, a low-tide terrace, a berm, and coastal cliffs, and show how offshore bars build up and wash away
- Requirement 7e
Build a wave generator and use it to show wave reflection and refraction, and how groins, jetties, and breakwaters change those patterns
- Requirement 7f
With approval from your counselor and permission from a parent or guardian, follow online satellite images of one location for three weeks. Tell your counselor what you learned
- Requirement 8
Report, visit, or speech. Choose 1 of 3
Tips for this section: If you can, visit an aquarium or marine center. If not, read an oceanography book, or give a short talk to your troop on why oceanography matters or on ocean careers.
Example for this section: A five-minute speech to your troop on why oceanography matters could use coral reefs as the example: how scientists track the warm water that bleaches reefs, and why that matters for fish and coastlines. Get your counselor's OK on your outline, use a photo or two, and practice twice.
- Requirement 8a
Read a book about oceanography that your counselor approves and write a 500-word report on it
- Requirement 8b
Visit a marine site. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 8b1
Visit an oceanographic research ship and write a 500-word report about the visit
- Requirement 8b2
Visit an oceanographic institute, marine laboratory, or marine aquarium and write a 500-word report about the visit
- Requirement 8c
Give your troop a five-minute prepared speech on why oceanography is important or on careers in oceanography. Get your counselor's approval of your outline first
- Requirement 9
Describe four ways marine scientists study the ocean, the geology beneath it, and the life in its waters
Tip: Look up how scientists use ships, buoys, satellites, and underwater robots to study the sea.
For example: Describe research ships taking water samples, floats that drift and record temperature and salinity, satellites measuring sea surface height, and remotely operated vehicles filming the deep sea floor.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
An aquarium or marine science center
You can see plankton, fish, and invertebrates up close and ask educators how each one is adapted to its home.
How: Have a leader check the website for group or Scout programs and ask for the education department. Some offer behind-the-scenes tours.
A university marine lab or NOAA facility
Researchers can show you instruments, samples, and sometimes a research vessel at the dock.
How: A leader can email the outreach office and ask whether they host open houses or small group visits.
Where it can lead
- OceanographerStudies currents, seawater chemistry, or the sea floor; usually needs a science degree.
- Marine biologistStudies ocean life from plankton to whales, in labs and at sea.
- ROV pilot or technicianOperates underwater robots for research, energy, and salvage; many train through technical programs.
- Coast Guard memberDoes search and rescue, protects the environment, and enforces laws on the water.
- NOAA Corps officerA uniformed service that runs NOAA's research ships and aircraft.
Ask yourself
- What did you think the ocean was like before this badge, and what changed your mind?
- Which ocean creature's adaptation amazed you the most?
- How does the ocean affect your life where you live, even far from the coast?
- What part of the ocean would you most want to explore, and how would you get there?
- What's one thing you could do to help keep the ocean healthy?
Good questions to ask a marine scientist or aquarium educator
- What's the biggest mystery about the ocean that scientists are still working on?
- What does a day at sea on a research ship actually look like?
- How do you study animals that live too deep for people to dive?
- What changes in the ocean worry you most right now?
- What school subjects should I focus on if I want to study the ocean?
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 trip to an aquarium, science center, or coastal research facility.
- Let scouts present their ocean talks at a troop meeting.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- NOAA (opens in a new tab) — Ocean science, maps, and education resources.
- Aquarium or marine science center — See ocean life and talk with educators.
- Public library — Books, videos, and a librarian who can help you dig deeper.
- NOAA Ocean Exploration (opens in a new tab) — Photos, videos, and maps from expeditions to the deep sea.
- NOAA National Ocean Service (opens in a new tab) — Clear explanations of tides, currents, and coasts.
- National Weather Service: Rip Current Safety (opens in a new tab) — How rip currents form and how to escape one.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (opens in a new tab) — One of the world's top ocean research centers, with stories from scientists at sea.
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.