Life rank is about growing as a leader and a teacher. You'll take on more responsibility, earn more merit badges, serve your community and the environment, and help younger Scouts learn. It's the last step before Eagle, so this is a great time to build momentum.
Why it's worth it
Life is the rank where you become the Scout others learn from. You'll teach a younger Scout a real skill using EDGE, hold a leadership job for six months, and give service that includes caring for the land. By the end you'll have 11 merit badges and the habits that carry Scouts to Eagle: planning ahead, following through, and noticing what your troop needs before anyone asks.
Start this week
- Write down the date you became Star. The six months in requirements 1 and 5 count from there.
- Ask your Scoutmaster which younger Scouts need help with a rank skill, and pick one skill set to teach for requirement 6.
- Find a conservation project for at least 3 of your service hours. A parent can help you contact a park office, nature center, or your troop's service project leader.
- List the Eagle-required badges you still need and circle the long ones, like Personal Fitness, Personal Management, and Family Life.
- Message a counselor for your next badge, with a parent copied.
Plan ahead: Requirements 1 and 5 each take 6 months as a Star Scout. Start your position right away, and begin any Eagle-required badge with a long tracking period, like Personal Management's 13-week budget or Family Life's 90 days of chores.
Requirements · 8
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
Stay active in your troop for 6 months or more as a Star Scout
Tip: Stay involved in troop meetings and outings. Your example matters more now that younger Scouts look up to you.
- Requirement 2
As a Star Scout, show Scout spirit by living the Oath and Law; share how you've carried out your duty to God and lived the Oath and Law day to day
Tip: Share real examples of how the Oath and Law guide your choices, and talk about what duty to God means to you.
For example: Share a time the Oath or Law shaped a hard choice, like owning up to a mistake that cost your patrol on a campout. For duty to God, speak from your own beliefs and values, in your own words.
- Requirement 3
Earn 5 more merit badges (11 in all), including any 3 more from the Eagle-required list
Tip: Keep a list of your merit badges and which Eagle-required ones you still need. Plan a few for the next six months.
For example: Plan your next five: maybe Cooking, Personal Management, and Environmental Science from the Eagle list, plus electives like Climbing and Photography. Write a target month next to each one.
- Requirement 4
As a Star Scout, give 6 hours of service on one or more Scoutmaster-approved projects, with at least 3 of those hours on conservation
Tip: Look for conservation projects like trail work, tree planting, or stream cleanups. A park office or nature center can point you to opportunities.
For example: Conservation service might be pulling invasive plants with a park crew, planting trees, or cleaning up a stream bank. Add 3 more hours anywhere, like a food pantry, to reach 6.
- Requirement 5
As a Star Scout, actively serve 6 months as bugler, chaplain aide, den chief, historian, instructor, junior assistant Scoutmaster, librarian, OA troop rep, outdoor ethics guide, patrol leader, quartermaster, scribe, senior or assistant senior patrol leader, troop guide, or webmaster, or do a Scoutmaster-approved leadership project; Lone Scouts: a school, faith, club, or community leadership role
Tip: Take your position seriously and ask your Scoutmaster for feedback during your term, not just at the end.
For example: As troop guide, you might meet with the new-Scout patrol before each meeting, teach one skill a week, and make sure each new Scout has a buddy on campouts. Keep a short log of what you did.
- Requirement 6
As a Star Scout, teach another Scout (ideally younger) with Teaching EDGE the skills in one choice below, well enough that they can pass them to the Scoutmaster. Choose 1 of 8
Tip: Pick one of the listed skill sets that a younger Scout needs, like Tenderfoot first aid or First Class lashings. Then explain it, show it, guide them as they try it, and let them do it on their own.
For example: Teaching First Class lashings with EDGE: Explain when lashings should and shouldn't be used, Demonstrate the timber hitch, clove hitch, and the square, shear, and diagonal lashings slowly, Guide the Scout while they lash two staves, then Enable them by having them build a simple camp gadget on their own until they're ready to show the Scoutmaster.
- Requirement 6a
Tenderfoot 4a and 4b (first aid)
- Requirement 6b
Second Class 2b, 2c, and 2d (cooking and tools)
- Requirement 6c
Second Class 3a and 3d (navigation)
- Requirement 6d
First Class 3a through 3d (tools)
- Requirement 6e
First Class 4a and 4b (navigation)
- Requirement 6f
Second Class 6a and 6b (first aid)
- Requirement 6g
First Class 7a and 7b (first aid)
- Requirement 6h
Three requirements from one Eagle-required merit badge, approved by your Scoutmaster
- Requirement 7
As a Star Scout, have a Scoutmaster conference
Tip: Talk with your Scoutmaster about your leadership experience and start thinking about your Eagle plans.
For example: Talk about what you've learned as a leader and a teacher, and share early ideas for an Eagle project. Ask your Scoutmaster which ideas seem realistic and which need more thought.
- Requirement 8
Pass your Life board of review
Tip: Be ready to talk about what you've learned as a leader and teacher. The board wants to hear your story.
Ask yourself
- What did teaching a younger Scout show you about how you learn?
- Which conservation project made you see a place differently?
- What part of leading has gotten easier, and what still feels hard?
- What kind of Eagle project would you be proud to lead, and who would it help?
- Who were the older Scouts you looked up to, and are you becoming that kind of Scout?
Good questions to ask your Scoutmaster at your conference
- What do you think I'm ready to lead next, and where do I still need to grow?
- How have other Scouts in our troop found their Eagle project ideas?
- Which position would best prepare me to plan and lead an Eagle project?
- Is there an Eagle coach or mentor I should meet with a parent?
Helpful reads
- How advancement works, Ranks, sign-offs, conferences, and boards of review in plain words: how a Scout moves from Scout rank to Eagle, at a pace that fits your life., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Your Scoutmaster conference and board of review, What happens at each, how to get ready, questions they might ask you, and questions you can ask them. It's a conversation, not a test., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- The trail to Eagle, Star, Life, and Eagle in plain words: the time and leadership rules, which Eagle-required badges to start first, the records to keep, the project, and the board., Youth · Families · Leaders · 8 min read
For leaders & parents
- Match Life candidates with younger Scouts who need help with rank skills, so teaching benefits both.
- Point Scouts to approved conservation service opportunities in your area.
- Start an early conversation about the Eagle project so Scouts can plan ahead.
People & places that can help
- Scoutmaster and troop leaders — Guide your leadership role and help with service approvals.
- Local park, forest, or nature center — Often has conservation projects that welcome Scout groups.
- Merit badge counselors — Talk with them early; they can explain what each badge expects.
- Scouting America (opens in a new tab) — Official requirements and Eagle-required badge list.
- Volunteer.gov (opens in a new tab) — Find conservation volunteer projects on public lands like parks, forests, and wildlife refuges.
- Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook (opens in a new tab) — Look through the Eagle project workbook early so you know what planning a project involves.
- Scouting America Merit Badges (opens in a new tab) — Official requirements for every merit badge, including the Eagle-required ones.
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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.