Woodcarving

        

 Hi this is Marcus, and I earned the woodcarving merit badge, I earned my tot'n chip which gives you permission as a scout to use knives, hatchets, axes, etc. I carved a Star Trek symbol. I liked the merit badge, I did it at camp and I think that this merit badge was easy the time it took was fun.

Notes from the mom:
Any merit badge earned at camp has two thumbs up in my book!

Genealogy Merit Badge

Hi from Marcus!  I signed up to do this merit badge as a class at a local genealogy library.  There were a bunch of pre-requisites and then the rest we did in class.
I learned about some of my ancestors.  I interviewed my Grandmother.  I learned that she got hit by a car when she was a kid and had her front teeth knocked out.  I also wrote an autobiography about myself.
What  I liked best about this merit badge was being able to learn about my ancestors.  This merit badge took several hours at home for doing my autobiography, the pedigree charts and the interview.  The class was a lot of fun and I brought two friends with me who also earned the merit badge that day!

Notes from the mom:
This merit badge was a lot of book work and writing.  It was time consuming to write everything out by hand, but the great thing is Marcus will always have this information and it's in his own handwriting.  He worked on it with two friends, and on the day of the class they all went and earned this merit badge.  It was an excellent experience.  Cost: time.

Collections Merit Badge

            Hi this is Marcus and I earned the collections merit badge. I  have a billion Lego bricks so I used my Lego collection for the badge. I had to do a lot of paper work explaining the growth, development and care of the collection.
I started collecting Lego's when I was two, my older brother Neil got a few sets and I liked playing with them. I liked this merit badge, it was easy, fun to let someone learn about your collection.
On a scale from one to ten, this badge gets an eight.







Notes from the mom:
This is a great merit badge.  Most boys collect something that can be used for this badge.  I signed up to be a counselor for merit badge for the boys in our troop.  I've seen some amazing collections such as: model airplanes, cars, PEZ, books, and even candy wrappers from around the world.  Each collection is as unique as the boy who collects it.  The great thing is that it gives them an opportunity to evaluate their collection as a collection.  Cost: nothing, since it's a collection they already have.

Music Merit Badge

              Hi this is Marcus, I have earned the Music Merit Badge, for this merit badge I learned to play the cello and learned how to use the instrument at school for 6 months. I love to play the cello, for the badge I sang the first verse of a song given to me by my counselor and I taught my family three scout songs: Bazooka bubblegum, The shark song, and Alfie the family pet.  These are three songs I learned at Scout camp.

Notes from the mom:
Both boys have finished this merit badge.  Because they were already taking music lessons this merit badge was a no-brainer.  When earning merit badges you can definitely play to the boys' strengths.  Because we already had instruments and classes at school this one was low cost, but did take 6 months to complete.

Pets Merit Badge

Hi!  Marcus here!  For the Pets merit badge you have to care for a pet for four months.  In March I brought home three chicks.  A gold laced cochin, a white frizzle and a buff silky.  My mom helped me set up a brooder in the garage with bedding, heat, food and water.  I named them Squirmy, Purple and Fuzzy.  I chose chickens as pets because I have a friend who is raising chickens.  I thought it looked like fun so we got chickens!
When they were chicks, they lived in a box with all their supplies so they could have what they needed.  They lived in the garage and we took them out in the yard when it was warm during the day.  They can't live outside until they have feathers.  When it was warmer and the chicks were older we built a coop outside.  My parents helped me build it.
While I ride my bike, I have trained the chickens to sit on the handlebars.  They were all supposed to be hens, but two are roosters.

This is a fun merit badge to earn.  I recommend you get a new pet instead of caring for one you already have.  This adds to the fun of doing the merit badge.

Notes from the mom:
Marcus wanted chickens and I really wasn't sure about it, but he had his counselor's approval and so off to the IFA we went.  We got a brooder and three chicks and Marcus tended them several times a day.  He was extremely responsible about them and worked hard to train this chickens to perch on his bike as he rides.  What a great opportunity this merit badge was to try something new, and learn more about chickens.  As with any pet there are costs.  Because this was a new pet to us there were costs for the brooder and coop, so this was an expensive merit badge but well worth it.

Cycling Merit Badge

              

I started the Cycling merit badge in April of 2013.  The idea was to get the training rides in before it was too hot to ride the 50 miler.  By June 15th I was ready for 50 miles but by that time the daytime highs were up above 100 degrees.  We left early in the morning but it was still over 100 before we were done.
This merit badge can be earned as one of the Eagle required, or you can substitute swimming or hiking.  My dad is a cyclist so he was really excited to do this merit badge with me.  I had already earned swimming.  Let me say that the requirements for cycling and swimming are in no way equal.  You can earn swimming in a day but this one is quite a bit more challenging to earn.  I'm glad I did it, I think it was a great merit badge and so much fun.

Notes from the mom:
Okay, I'll be honest, I worried.  I send my son out onto the roads and hope for the best!  He had an excellent counselor and he had an excellent time.  I thought the merit badge would be done for little more than the cost of snacks and drinks (and you can definitely do it that way) but this one cost us a new bike, helmet, gear, etc.  But if you can see the picture above of my son and his dad cycling away for the 50 miler, their happiness and together time was worth it.  My son discovered he loves riding and I really believe one of the purposes of merit badges is to find things you love and develop those loves and find things you hate too.

Programming Merit Badge

This was a new Merit Badge in 2013.  I started earning it last fall and finished in July 2014.
Finding a counselor can be tricky if you don't know someone who is knowledgeable about computers and who has signed up to be a counselor.

The first requirement says to earn the cyber chip.  It's definitely easier to do this one before the 9th grade.  Here is the link to get you started:

http://www.scouting.org/cyberchip.aspx

My counselor had me doing a bunch of programming requirements.  I did Arduino, that was the first language I used.  I also went to a website called code.learn.org and worked one some programming requirements there.  When you finish the program on that website that fulfills the requirements for another programming language.  The third one I did was using Lego robots.

The merit badge itself is cool because it says something in binary.  Look it up!  And then make sure to sew it onto your sash the right way up.

Notes from the mom:
This was a great merit badge.  My son really got into the programming requirements and had a lot of fun doing it.  Free!  Wahoo!