Season (Specific) Badge

(Discover Science and Technology)
By Marie Dichoso-Beavers, Adele Nolan, and Kerry Cordy

NOTE: This badge can be earned once for each season, fall, winter, spring and summer.

Preschool: Do three requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1 * What type of weather can you expect during your chosen season? What type of clothing is appropriate?

_____ 2.* What colors are associated with your season?

Level 1: Do four requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1.* Do Preschool requirements 1 & 2.

_____ 2. * Know when your season officially begins and ends. What causes the seasons? What is happening with the Sun and the Earth during the season you chose?

Level 2: Do five requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1.* Do Level 1 requirements 1 & 2.

_____ 2.* Keep a weather log for at least one week. Every day record the following information:
• Temperature
• Cloud type
• Wind speed and direction
• Rain fall/Snow fall

Is this typical weather for this time of year?

Level 3: Do six requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1.* Do Level 2 requirements 1 & 2.

_____ 2.* Know how your season affects your community. Does it affect tourism? Agriculture? Transportation?

Level 4: Do seven requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1.* Do Level 3 requirements 1 & 2.

_____ 2.* Learn about a seasonal job in your community. This might be a holiday retail position, a seasonal agricultural position, or even a summer lifeguard. How old do you have to be to apply for this position? What experience do you have to have? What does it pay? How long do you work?

Level 5: Do nine requirements including the two starred *

_____ 1. * Do Level 4 requirements 1 & 2.

_____ 2. * Teach someone how to do a skill from this badge or teach some knowledge about this badge to someone. You can teach kids, your spouse, seniors, anyone, just as long as you are sharing your new found knowledge. If for some reason you cannot teach what you have learned to someone else, you may choose an additional 2 optional requirements instead.

Optional Requirements:

_____ 3. Create a piece of artwork or a craft that represents your season. Examples might include:

Winter: Make scented pine cones. Collect pine cones, wash them with soap and water, bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for one hour. Place the cooled pine cones in a resealable plastic bag and sprinkle a few drops of essential oil (cinnamon, apple, orange, nutmeg) and shake the bag. Place the pine cones in a bowl or basket.
Spring: Place the flowers between sheets of wax paper and place between two heavy books. Make bookmarks, note cards, pictures, etc. for a friend with your flowers.
Summer: Make a picture frame by gluing seashells to a plastic frame.
Fall: Collect fall leaves and either press them or do leaf rubbings.

_____ 4. Take a seasonal hike. Pay attention to what plants are blooming, or have lost their leaves. How does the season affect what you see?

_____ 5. Watch a documentary about your season.

_____ 6. Find out what holidays occur during your season.

_____ 7. Participate in a seasonal form of entertainment such as ice skating in the winter, leaf throwing in the fall, swimming in the summer or picking wildflowers in the spring.

_____ 8. Participate in a seasonal community service project such as tree planting or leaf raking.

_____ 9. Find out what sports are played during your season.

_____ 10. Find out what fruits and vegetables are available in your season. Where do the fruits and vegetables come from that are not currently in season in your area, but are still available at the grocery store?

_____ 11. Find out about your season in other parts of the world. For example, when it is summer in the U.S. it is winter in Australia. What is the season like there and how does it differ from the season at home?

_____ 12. Learn what constellations can be seen during your season and where they appear in the sky.

_____ 13. Learn how your local animals behave during your season. Do they hibernate, forage for food, mate, breed, migrate, go through metamorphosis, etc.?

_____ 14. Grow or care for a plant typically planted in the season you chose. Some examples include:

Winter: Care for Chrysanthemums or a Christmas Cactus, or for the indoor bulb you planted in the fall (see below). Describe what you need to do to care for the plant and keep it healthy during the season.
Spring: Examine how roots and shoots grow. Gather a glass jar, paper towel, bean seeds, water, and a spoon. Fold the paper towel in half, roll in into a tube, and put it into the jar. Slip bean seeds into the side of the jar in between the glass and the paper towel. Wet the paper towel by spooning water onto the paper until it is really wet. Place the jar in a sunny location. Journal what happens to the bean seeds. Another option is to plant spring flowers in your family’s garden. This requirement is fulfilled if you earn the Flower Gardening Merit Badge
Summer: Plant some vegetables or herbs (from small plants or seeds). This requirement is fulfilled if you earn the Gardening Merit Badge.
Fall: Plant some bulbs in indoor pots. These bulbs will not bloom until winter. Compare growing bulbs in indoor pots to planting bulbs outdoors in the fall to bloom in the spring.

_____ 15. Earn a Merit Badge focusing on the season you chose as a theme. Some examples include: Astronomy, Collecting, Gardening, Cooking, Flower Gardening, Holidays (Specific).

_____ 16. Make something typically eaten during the season you chose. Serve it to your family, friends, or group. Why is this dish/recipe/meal typically eaten during this season? Levels 1-2: make one dish. Level 3: make two dishes. Levels 4-5: make an entire meal

_____ 17. Research stories from ancient times that tried to explain the change in seasons. Make up a myth of your own explaining why the seasons change, and focus on creating a story explaining what happens during the season you chose. Share your story

_____ 18. Discuss with your family what projects are done to take care of your home during the season you chose. Do at least two of these projects during that season.
Some ideas include:

Winter: Make a plan to protect pipes from freezing or help shop for items to keep on hand in case of a winter storm.
Spring: Help with a spring cleanup project (inside or outside the house) or plant flowers or vegetables.
Summer: Help care for a garden and harvest any fruits/vegetables or help take care of the lawn or family pool.
Fall: Help care for the yard (raking leaves, planting bulbs, clearing up dead plants from the summer, etc.) or help your family winterize the house (covering air conditioning or heating units, putting summer furniture away, etc.).