Geology Merit Badge

This page provides materials and information for Scouts in Troop 149 working towards earning Geology Merit Badge.

Introduction Basic information

	Additional Materials Misc. Links & Documents
	Lesson Plan Specific requirements for our trip

Introduction (top)

The first step towards earning any merit badge is to read the pamphlet! Don't worry if some of the material doesn't make sense at first. We will cover the material together.

Back in 2002, we took advantage of a special opportunity. Our troop scheduled "An Adventure Through Time" tour of Devils Lake, Wisconsin during our August outing (8/16-18/2002). The tour was conducted by Paul Herr, a registered professional geologist with a Masters Degree in geology and 18 years of experience, and owner of Devils Lake Nature Safaris. In addition to having an experienced geologist give us a guided tour of what many folks regard as "The Grand Canyon of the Midwest," Mr. Herr accomodated our troop by incorporating most of the Geology merit badge requirements into his 3-hour hike and help me develop a custom worksheet unique to Devils Lake.

The requirements have since change from that initial document but so I have revised it to If at any point you have a question or are not sure of what has been covered or what needs to be done, ask me!

Additional Materials (top)

Here you'll find additional material that can help you understand Geology and especially the Devils Lake area from our August outing. I particularly encourage you to browse the sites as they are valuable references.

Articles

The Baraboo Ranges and Devil's Lake Gorge (External Link )
An interactive tour of the entire Baraboo Quartzite Syncline. Very well done. I highly recommend that you vist this site.
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Devils Lake Nature Safaris (Acrobat )
An excellent site to prepare for our tour. Mr. Herr has provided information on Devils Lake that will introduce you to the geology of the area. Note: Mr. Herr has donated his company to the UW-Madison Geology Museum and the site is no longer active. So I have provided a link to a PDF version of the information)
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Bob's Rock Shop: Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems (External Link )
Lots of great info. The section on Introduction to Crystallography and Mineral Crystal Systems is very technical but interesting to scan. The photos and diagrams will give you a sense of the various crystal mineral forms.
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Geology by Lightplane (External Link )
A series of aerial photographs of the Baraboo quartzite range taken from a small plane.
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Soil Regions of Wisconsin (External Link )
A color coded map of Wisconsin showing the various soil types by region. This map was produced by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey in 1993.

Links

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (External Link )
Follow the links to their sample maps of Wisconsin bedrock and soils.
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MeritBadge.com Geology Requirements (External Link )
Requirements and links to many interesting Geology sites.

Lesson Plan (top)

The first Acrobat files describes the merit badge's requirements along with comments for each on what material was covered during the Devils Lake outing, what was not be covered, and what you'll need to know in order to complete the badge. The other file(s) are supplimental forms and information that you can use as an aide to help understand and complete the requirements.

	Devils Lake Geology Merit Badge Requirements (Acrobat ) Merit badge requirements with information and comments specific to the Devils Lake geology and the "An Adventure Through Time" tour of led by Paul Herr, founder of Devils Lake Nature Safaris. Mr. Paul Herr even provided comments and information for most of the requirements. These comments are separated from the requirements text by horizontal lines. .
	Mineral Idetification Key (Acrobat ) This dicotomous key (meaning 2 part key) is a very useful tool for identifying minerals. The first half is an introduction on termonology and how to use the key. Make sure you raad that part carefully. The second have is the key itself. It starts by asking a question. If you answwer "Yes" you then follow the directions next to that response. If the answer is "no" you follow that key or part. So you either go to part 1 or part 2, hence the two parts. .
	Rock Identification Key (Acrobat ) The same methodology from the Mineral Indentification key except it covers rocks. Be sure to read the introduction as it contains valuable infornation. .
	Colletion Labels (Acrobat ) You must collect 10 samples or rocks, mineral, fossils and/or earth material. Collecting is not particularly hard to do, but it will take a little effort and TIME. So start collecting now! Use these labels to organize your collection.