Geocaching Merit Badge Requirements
1. Safety
Do the following:
A. Explain the most likely hazards you may encounter while geocaching and what you should do to anticipate, prevent, mitigate, and respond to them.
B. Discuss first aid and prevention for injuries or illnesses that could occur while geocaching, including:
Cuts and scrapes
Snakebite
Insect stings
Tick bites
Poisonous plants
Sunburn
Heatstroke
Heat exhaustion
Hypothermia
Dehydration
C. Discuss how to properly plan a GPS activity, including the buddy system, sharing your plan with others, weather, route, and proper clothing.
2. Geocaching Ethics
Discuss with your counselor:
A. Why you should never bury a geocache.
B. Proper geocaching etiquette when hiding and seeking caches, including how to properly hide, post, maintain, and dismantle a cache.
C. How the Leave No Trace principles apply to geocaching.
3. Geocaching Vocabulary
Explain these terms:
Waypoint
Log
Cache
Accuracy
Difficulty rating
Terrain rating
Attributes
Trackable
Then choose five additional geocaching terms and explain them to your counselor.
4. GPS
Explain how the Global Positioning System (GPS) works.
Using Teaching EDGE, demonstrate how to use a GPS unit.
Your demonstration must include:
Marking a waypoint
Editing a waypoint
Changing field functions
Changing the coordinate system
5. Map & Compass
Do the following:
A. Show that you know how to use a map and compass and explain why this is important for geocaching.
B. Explain the similarities and differences between GPS navigation and standard map-reading skills, including the benefits of each.
6. Finding a Cache
Describe the four steps to finding your first geocache to your counselor.
Then mark and edit a waypoint.
7. Find Geocaches
With parent/guardian permission, use Geocaching.com to locate public geocaches in your area. Then find and log at least two geocaches.
8. Choose ONE of these four options
A. Cache to Eagle If your council has a Cache to Eagle series:
Visit at least three locations.
Describe the Scouting service projects highlighted by each cache.
Explain how Cache to Eagle shares Scouting's service with the public.
B. Scouting Travel Bug
Create a Scouting-related Travel Bug promoting a value of Scouting.
Release it into a public geocache.
With parent/guardian permission, monitor it for 30 days.
Keep a log and share it with your counselor.
C. Hide a Public Geocache
Set up and hide a public geocache following the merit badge pamphlet guidelines.
Before doing so, give your counselor a three-month maintenance plan.
Be personally responsible for maintaining it for those three months.
With parent/guardian permission, monitor the online logs for 30 days.
Share the logs with your counselor.
Archive the cache when you're no longer maintaining it.
D. Cache In Trash Out (CITO)
Explain what CITO means.
Describe how you've practiced CITO at public caches or a CITO event.
Then either:
Create CITO containers to leave at public caches, or
Host a CITO event for your unit or the public.
9. Plan a Geohunt
Plan a geohunt for a youth group, such as:
Your troop
A neighboring Cub Scout pack
Your school
Your place of worship
You must:
Choose a theme.
Set up a course with at least four waypoints.
Teach the participants how to use a GPS unit.
Play the game.
Tell your counselor about your experience.
Share the materials you used and developed.
Answer the following questions about what you read:
1. What navigation system uses satellites to determine your location? (Acronym)
2. What should you never do to a geocache? (1 word)
3. What system of outdoor ethics should geocachers follow? (3 words)
4. What rating describes how physically challenging a geocache is? (1 word)
5. What does CITO stand for? (4 words)
Now, put all of the answers you got together, in order, and put it into the certitude below:
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.