Requirements for the Citizenship In The Nation merit badge:
- Explain what Citizenship in the Nation means and what it takes to be a good citizen of this country. Discuss the rights, duties, and obligations of a responsible and active American citizen.
- Do TWO of the following:
- Visit a place that is listed as a National Historic Landmark or that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tell your counselor what you learned about the landmark or site and what you found interesting about it.
- Tour your state capitol building or the U.S. Capitol. Tell your counselor what you learned about the capitol, its function, and the history.
- Tour a federal facility. Explain to your counselor what you saw there and what you learned about its function in the local community and how it serves this nation.
- Choose a national monument that interests you. Using books, brochures, the Internet (with your parent's permission), and other resources, find out more about the monument. Tell your counselor what you learned, and explain why the monument is important to this country's citizens.
- Watch the national evening news five days in a row OR read the front page of a major daily newspaper five days in a row. Discuss the national issues you learned about with your counselor. Choose one of the issues and explain how it affects you and your family.
- Discuss each of the following documents with your counselor. Tell your counselor how you feel life in the United States might be different without each one.
- Declaration of Independence
- Preamble to the Constitution
- The Constitution
- Bill of Rights
- Amendments to the Constitution
- List the six functions of government as noted in the Preamble to the Constitution. Discuss with your counselor how these functions affect your family and local community.
- With your counselor's approval, choose a speech of national historical importance. Find out about the author, and tell your counselor about the person who gave the speech. Explain the importance of the speech at the time it was given, and tell how it applies to American citizens today. Choose a sentence or two from the speech that has significant meaning to you, and tell your counselor why.
- Name the three branches of our federal government and explain to your counselor their functions. Explain how citizens are involved in each branch. For each branch of government, explain the importance of the system of checks and balances.
- Name your two senators and the member of Congress from your congressional district. Write a letter about a national issue and send it to one of these elected officials, sharing your view with him or her. Show your letter and any response you receive to your counselor.
Citizenship In The Nation Worksheet
Comments:
Oct 12, 2013 - Katherine G. Leonard
I am a merit badge counselor (and ASM). It is my opinion that the worksheets were more user-friendly when they printed out with lines, instead of open boxes. Unless the scouts are typing directly into the form, the lines are better.
Thank you for considering my input.
Aug 16, 2014 - Mary Can #8 be in email form?
May 26, 2015 - Terry EckbergAre the locations for requirement 2a and 2d the same and the main difference is 2a is a physical visit and 2d is more of a research effort?
May 26, 2015 - Scouter Paul@Terry - The requirements refer to two different places. National
Monuments and Historic Places are different things. There are
about 114 national monuments, but more like 90,000 historic
places. So, any scout should be able to visit some historic place
not too far away, but the closest national monument might be quite
far.
Jun 29, 2015 - RobertCan requirement #8 be in email form or do you actually have to write a
letter?
Jul 02, 2015 - Scouter Paul@Robert - The requirement states "letter", not "email". But, the
merit badge counselor may interpret that to include email.
Mar 08, 2016 - Keith BI have purchased detailed documentary tours of the Denver Mint and a second of the US Capitol Building to fulfill requirement #2 when teaching at a Merit Badge class event. During these videos I use that time to review scouts' worksheets and call them aside separately to go over various requirements with them.
Jun 06, 2016 - Jeff MAll National Park units with the designation of National Historic Site, National Historical Park,
National Memorial, National Battlefield, National Cemetery and most National Monuments
are already part of the National Historic Landmark or National Register of Historic Places.
They must be on either of the two lists before they can become park units. National
Monuments that are natural (not man made) are the exception.
Aug 21, 2016 - Jeff MAs far as requirement #8... My son wrote a letter on the computer and he emailed a PDF
copy to our representative. In the body of the email he explained that it was for the merit
badge. As each rep gets hundreds of emails and letters, explaining that the correspondence
is for the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge they expedited a formal response. Any
representative's office is always more then willing to help the scouts in any way they can.
Nov 21, 2019 - Maskinne2We are looking to satisfy requirement 2C :Tour a federal facility. What are some options
(other than the Mint) for fulfilling this requirement?
Nov 21, 2019 - Scouter Paul@Maskinne2 - federal buildings, federal courts, post offices,
military bases, federal prisons
Dec 10, 2019 - Peg My son has been asked to edit his 1.5 page essay five times. It’s about his views on gun control
and even though he has a counter-claim saying that he recognizes the second amendment would
be hard to change, he cites good sources to back up his views on stricter controls. His counselor
who is a gun owner and against gun controls want him to include his views. I think that’s
inappropriate and more than what the requirement asks. What is your opinion?
Thank you,Peg
Dec 10, 2019 - Peg Thank you,Peg
Oh, by the way, some of the views he wants my son to include are that hunters like to use AR15s
and that there should be stricter sentences for gun crimes, among several others. My son started
researching those points and saw some disturbing things...also, these are not his views.
Dec 10, 2019 - Scouter Paul@Peg - I'm not sure why your scout is writing a 1.5 page essay for
any requirement in this merit badge. Is this for requirement #4e?
Regardless, from your description, it is my opinion that the counselor is pushing his views rather than doing his job as a merit badge counselor.
There's always another side to situations like this, but the requirements ask the scout to tell his views, not parrot his counselor's views.
Dec 10, 2019 - Peg Regardless, from your description, it is my opinion that the counselor is pushing his views rather than doing his job as a merit badge counselor.
There's always another side to situations like this, but the requirements ask the scout to tell his views, not parrot his counselor's views.
Thank you, Paul. Sorry, it was for requirement 8 - the letter to a senator giving the scout’s views
on a topic of national significance. He started by writing a couple of paragraphs about the need for
stricter gun controls. The counselor felt that his point of view would be strengthened by
mentioning counter claims, but the ones he wanted him to include (like the ones I mentioned) took
him to weird websites with some gruesome details. After five revisions, he then claimed my son
didn’t write it and wanted him to start over with a different topic. It was ridiculous. I think he simply
didn’t like his stance on gun control. My son finished this requirement with a different counselor,
but ithe whole experience certainly lessened his enthusiasm for scouts.
Dec 10, 2019 - Peg Is there a way to complain about a counselor other than the form on the scouts’ site? No one
seems to respond to that. This person, in my opinion, has no business being a counselor. I would
like to make sure no other kid has to experience this kind of thing in the future.
Dec 10, 2019 - Scouter Paul@Peg - Your Council (and probably District) has an "Advancement
Committee" led by the "Advancement Chair" volunteer. It is their
role to administer the merit badge program in your local area,
including approving merit badge counselors.
See Guide to Advancment.
Jan 21, 2020 - Dave StallardSee Guide to Advancment.
As a counselor for this merit badge, I accept a submission to the
Senator/Representative’s website (written as a formal business letter) for Req 8.
Embrace the technology.
Jan 30, 2020 - Pamela HanshawI have a question. Does the ability to discuss the affect of an amendment mean the scouts must to
memorize the 27 amendments and to be able to discuss what would life be like withouthout it?
Can they use notes or the worksheet to reference for this discussion?
How would you life be different today without the ____th amendment?
Jan 30, 2020 - Scouter PaulHow would you life be different today without the ____th amendment?
@Pamela - Your question gives me the impression that a counselor
is asking a scout to do more than you feel is appropriate -
maybe I'm reading it wrong.
Requirement #4 says to discuss each document, not every item inside every document. The scout should be familiar enough with each document to be able to discuss its effect on the country.
If a counselor is requiring a scout to memorize all the amendments, I would find a different counselor and tell the District or Council Advancement Chair of my concerns.
May 11, 2020 - Andrea LukenRequirement #4 says to discuss each document, not every item inside every document. The scout should be familiar enough with each document to be able to discuss its effect on the country.
If a counselor is requiring a scout to memorize all the amendments, I would find a different counselor and tell the District or Council Advancement Chair of my concerns.
With the current COVID-19 Pandemic- can the scouts do a virtual
tour of a National Historic Landmark instead of physically
visiting a site for this badge?
May 17, 2020 - Jane@Andrea Luken - The BSA has updated its COVID-19 FAQs page at the following link:
www.scouting.org/coronavirus/covid-19-faq/
In the FAQs, the BSA says:
"Some advancement activities can be completed by video conferencing but not all. For example, virtual visits to a city council meeting, national historic landmarks, museums, and art galleries may be acceptable, but swimming, rifle shooting, and motorboating merit badges cannot be completed virtually."
The word "may" means that it's at the discretion of the merit badge counselor if the counselor thinks that a virtual visit would meet the intent of the requirement or not.
Just my opinion, but I think in most cases the Scout will have a better experience if they wait until they are able to visit the National Historic Landmark or National Register of Historic Places in person (many can be visited outdoors). On the other hand, if the Scout is close to aging out of the program, then this might not be an option for the Scout.
www.scouting.org/coronavirus/covid-19-faq/
In the FAQs, the BSA says:
"Some advancement activities can be completed by video conferencing but not all. For example, virtual visits to a city council meeting, national historic landmarks, museums, and art galleries may be acceptable, but swimming, rifle shooting, and motorboating merit badges cannot be completed virtually."
The word "may" means that it's at the discretion of the merit badge counselor if the counselor thinks that a virtual visit would meet the intent of the requirement or not.
Just my opinion, but I think in most cases the Scout will have a better experience if they wait until they are able to visit the National Historic Landmark or National Register of Historic Places in person (many can be visited outdoors). On the other hand, if the Scout is close to aging out of the program, then this might not be an option for the Scout.
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