Scout Skills

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Revision as of 20:59, April 12, 2009

Scout Skills are the Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class skills that every Scout is asked to learn in his first year. Most troops hold an Advancement Campout after the Webelos have crossed over into the troop each year to focus on these life skills. Many Merit Badge Days also offer a Scout Skills curriculum for new Scouts.

Boy Scout Summer Camps also offer new Scout Programs that focus on the basic Scout Skills needed for Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks.

It is the goal of every troop that new Scouts will learn these basic skills in their first year:

Here are the basic Scout Skills with resources and related awards.

First Aid

Tenderfoot

12a Demonstrate how to care for someone who is choking. (pp. 296-7)

12.b.. Show first aid for the following:  Simple cuts and scrapes,  Blisters on the hand and foot,  Minor (thermal/heat) burns or scalds (superficial, or first degree),  Bites and stings of insects and ticks,  Venomous snakebite,  Nosebleed,  Frostbite and sunburn. (pp. 304-24)

Second Class

6a Show what to do for "hurry" cases of stopped breathing, serious bleeding, and internal poisoning. (pp. 293-302)

6b Prepare a personal first aid kit to take with you on a hike. (pp. 289)

6c Demonstrate first aid for the following:  Object in the eye,  Bite of a suspected rabid animal,  Puncture wounds, from a splinter, nail, and fishhook,  Serious burns (second degree),  Heat exhaustion,  Shock,  Heatstroke, dehydration, hypothermia, and hyperventilation. (pp. 304-24)

First Class

8b Demonstrate bandages for a sprained ankle and for injuries on the head, the upper arm, and the collarbone. (pp. 309-17)

8c Show how to transport by yourself, and with one other person, a person:

from a smoke-filled room

with a sprained ankle, for at least 25 yards. (pp. 326-7)

8d Tell the five most common signs of a heart attack. Explain the steps (procedures) in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). (p. 298)

Resources

• Your handbook is your primary reference. See First Aid Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
• See also: First Aid Merit Badge Pamphlet - First Aid Kit - Emergency Kit - Guide to Safe Scouting - Physcial

Related Awards

Camping

Tenderfoot

1. Present yourself to your leader, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it. (pp. 224-30)

3. On the campout, assist in preparing and cooking one of your patrol's meals. Tell why it is important for each patrol member to share in meal preparation and cleanup, and explain the importance of eating together. (pp. 265-81)

5. Explain the rules of safe hiking, both on the highway and cross-country, during the day and at night. Explain what to do if you are lost. (pp. 38-41)

9. Explain the importance of the buddy system as it relates to your personal safety on outings and in your neighborhood. Describe what a bully is and how you should respond to one. (p. 57)

Second Class

2b On one of these campouts, select your patrol site and sleep in a tent that you pitched. (pp. 77-85)

2c On one campout, demonstrate proper care, sharpening, and use of the knife, saw, and ax, and describe when they should be used. (pp. 77-85)

2d Use the tools listed in requirement 2c to prepare tinder, kindling, and fuel for a cooking fire. (pp. 248-55)

2e. Discuss when it is appropriate to use a cooking fire and a lightweight stove. Discuss the safety procedures for using both. (pp. 248-55)

2f Demonstrate how to light a fire and a lightweight stove. (pp. 249-55)

2g. On one campout, plan and cook over an open fire one hot breakfast or lunch for yourself, selecting foods from the food pyramid. Explain the importance of good nutrition. Tell how to transport, store, and prepare the foods you selected. (pp. 257-68)

1a Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean. (pp. 67-72)

First Class

1. Demonstrate how to find directions during the day and at night without using a compass. (pp. 114-117)

4a Help plan a patrol menu for one campout that includes at least one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner and that requires cooking at least two meals. Tell how the menu includes the foods from the food pyramid and meets nutritional needs. (pp. 257-80)

4b Using the menu planned in requirement 4a, make a list showing the cost and food amounts needed to feed three or more boys and secure the ingredients. (p. 260)

4c Tell which pans, utensils, and other gear will be needed to cook and serve these meals. (p. 260)

4d Explain the procedures to follow in the safe handling and storage of fresh meats, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, and other perishable food products. Tell how to properly dispose of camp garbage, cans, plastic containers, and other rubbish. (pp. 257-80)

4e On one campout, serve as your patrol's cook. Supervise your assistant(s) in using a stove or building a cooking fire. Prepare the breakfast, lunch, and dinner planned in requirement 4a. Lead your patrol in saying grace at the meals and supervise cleanup. (pp. 248-81)

Resources

Camping

• Your handbook is your primary reference. See Outdoor Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
• See also: Camping Merit Badge Pamphlet - Hiking Skills - Hydration - Outdoor Gear - Tents - Water Purification - Weather Skills

Orienteering

Second Class

1a. Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean. (pp. 67-72)

1b Using a compass and a map together, take a 5-mile hike (or 10 miles by bike) approved by your adult leader and your parent or guardian. (pp. 72-74)

First Class

1. Demonstrate how to find directions during the day and at night without using a compass.

2. Using a compass, complete an orienteering course that covers at least one mile and requires measuring the height and/or width of designated items (tree, tower, canyon, ditch, etc.)

Resources

• REI Videos: Parts of a Compass - Topographic Maps - Map to Compass - Compass to Map - Triangulation - Declination
• REI:Navigation Basics
• Topographical Maps Free US Geological Survey - Topozone.com - Google Satellite, Street, and Terrain Maps

Related Awards

Orienteering - Camping - Pioneering - Knots

Citizenship

Tenderfoot

6. Demonstrate how to display, raise, lower, and fold the American flag. (pp. 42-44)

Second Class

3. Participate in a flag ceremony for your school, religious institution, chartered organization, community, or troop activity. (p. 87)

4. Participate in an approved (minimum of one hour) service project. (p. 80)

First Class

5. Visit and discuss with a selected individual approved by your leader (elected official, judge, attorney, civil servant, principal, teacher) your constitutional rights and obligations as a U.S. citizen.

Related Awards

Nature

Tenderfoot

11. Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them. (p. 59)

Second Class

5. Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of wild animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, mollusks) found in your community. (pp. 89-92)

First Class

6. Identify or show evidence of at least ten kinds of native plants found in your community. (pp. 131-136)

Resources

• General Resources: American Museum of Natural History - Discover Magazine - Environmental Protection Agency - Int. Assn. of Fish and Wildlife Agencies - Nat. Climatic Data Center - Nat. Geographic Society - Nat. Park Service - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - American Meteorological Society - American Zoo and Aquarium Association - The Discovery Channel - Nat. Fish and Wildlife Foundation - Nat. Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin - Nat. Wildlife Federation
• Conservation Resources: Soil and Water Conservation Merit Badge resources - Conservation and Resource Center - Leave No Trace Center - Wildlife Conservation Society
• Bird Resources: Bird Study Merit Badge resources
• Fish Resources: Fishing Merit Badge Requirement resources - American Fisheries Society
• Insect Resources: Insect Study Merit Badge resources
• Mammal Resources: Mammal Study Merit Badge resources
• Reptile & Amphibian Resources: Reptile and Amphibian Study Merit Badge resources - Frog Songs

Related Awards

Knots & Pioneering

Scout 6. Square knot

Tenderfoot

4a [Demonstrate how to [Whipping|whip]] and fuse the ends of a rope. (p. 34)

4b. Demonstrate you know how to tie the following knots and tell what their uses are: two half hitches and the taut-line hitch. (pp. 36-7)

First Class

7a Discuss when you should and should not use lashings.

7b Demonstrate tying the timber hitch and clove hitch and their use in square, shear, and diagonal lashings by joining two or more poles or staves together.

7c Use lashing to make a useful camp gadget.

First Class 8a Demonstrate tying the bowline knot and describe several ways it can be used. (pp. 148-9)

8. a. Demonstrate tying the bowline knot and describe several ways it can be used.

7. a. Discuss when you should and should not use lashings

7. b. Demonstrate tying the timber hitch and clove hitch and their use in square, shear, and diagonal lashings by joining two or more poles or staves together.

7. c. Use lashing to make a useful camp gadget.

Resources

• Animated Knots: Basic Scout Knots - Forty Scout knots - Special Knots - Sailing knots - Fishing knots - Folsoms Knots - Animatedknots.com - Great Animations - More Animated Knots - More great Animated Knots - Still more - Knot Videos - Basics Videos - Basics2
• Other Knot Links: Advanced knots - Ropers Knots Page - Climbing Knots - Fishing knots - Knots Index

Related Awards

• Pioneering

Swimming

Second Class

7.a. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe swim.

7.b. Demonstrate your ability to jump feetfirst into water over your head in depth, level off and swim 25 feet on the surface, stop, turn sharply, resume swimming, then return to your starting place.

7.c. Demonstrate water rescue methods by reaching with your arm or leg, by reaching with a suitable object, and by throwing lines and objects. Explain why swimming rescues should not be attempted when a reaching or throwing rescue is possible, and explain why and how a rescue swimmer should avoid contact with the victim.

First Class

9. a. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe trip afloat.

9. b. Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test.

9. c. With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and rescuer. (The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.)

Resources

• Your handbook is your primary reference. See Swimming Skills for step-by-step instructions and lesson video links.
• See also: Swimming & Lifesaving Merit Badge Pamphlets - Guide to Safe Scouting - Safe Swim Defense - Safety Afloat

Related Awards

Personal Fitness

Tenderfoot

10.a. Record your best in the following tests:

• Push-ups
• Pull-ups
• Sit-ups
• Standing long jump
• 1/4 mile walk/run

10.a. Show improvement in the activities listed in requirement 10a after practicing for 30 days.

Related Awards