<center>Petroleum Geology and the Development of the Boy Scout Geology Merit Badge</center>

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) first initiated its merit geology badge program in 1911, one of less than 30 available badges. As of January 2003, there were 120 merit badges covering a wide range of skills and interests. Geology has been represented in various forms since the program’s beginning. The Mining merit badge evolved into Rocks and Minerals, which then became the Geology merit badge. In 2001, 16,334 geology merit badges were earned for a total of 377,703 since the badge’s inception ( www.scouting.org/factsheets ).
Merit badges are periodically reviewed and revised. Some are discontinued or replaced with one or more new merit badges.
Mining Merit Badge
The Mining merit badge, initiated in 1911, had only four requirements:

1. Know and name 50 minerals
   
2. Know, name, and describe the 14 great divisions of the earth’s crust (according to Geikie)
   
3. Define watershed, delta, drift, fault, glacier, terrace, stratum, dip; and identify 10 different kinds of rock
   
4. Describe methods for mine ventilation and safety devices.

Minor changes were made to the requirements in a 1914 or 1915 revision, but the requirements still revolved around the mining industry and mining safety. A major revision of the Mining merit badge took place in 1927. The badge then increased from 4 to 15 requirements. Explanations of faulting and folding were added, and the first mention of oil and gas appeared. Requirement #10 was to “explain how we locate petroleum and natural gas pools, and how we obtain oil and gas.”
In September 1937, the Mining merit badge was replaced with the Rocks and Minerals merit badge. The title of this merit badge pretty much summed up the three requirements! The merit badge was limited to the collection, identification, and display of rocks and minerals.
AAPG and the Geology Merit Badge
The AAPG formed the Committee on Boy Scout Literature in 1945 at the urging of A.C. Bace (Stanolind) and George W. Pirtle (independent geologist, Tyler, TX). According to a BSA Geology merit badge pamphlet from 1953, original committee members also included Max W. Ball and Dr. Chalmer L. Cooper (USGS), Professor Ray L. Six (Oklahoma A&M), Dr. R.C. Spivey (Shell), Professor W.T. Thom, Jr. (Princeton Univ.), Dr. Russell Maurice Tripp (Research, Inc.), and Frank Gouin (independent geologist, OK).
In 1953, the Geology merit badge replaced the Rocks and Minerals badge. Frank Gouin was the chairman of the committee to revise this badge along with Dr. Carl C. Branson (University of Oklahoma) and prior committee members Spivey, Cooper, and Ball. The merit badge had only four requirements, but three of these requirements contained four or five options. Requirement #1 was to gather a collection of fossils, minerals, rocks, or ores. Requirement #2 included a visit to a mine, rock quarry, oil or gas field; or a gravel, clay, or shell pit. A description of how the deposit was formed, found, developed, product economics, and safety issues was required. Requirement #3 dealt with topographic maps and air photos. Requirement #4 stressed mapping, with an option to “make a structure contour map obtained from surface mapping and diamond core, or other type of core drilling or oil well drilling.”
A section on what a geologist does stated that four out of five geologists become “oil geologists” with an expected starting salary of $300.00/month, and that the oil and gas industry employed 8,000-10,000 geologists. “You may have to be a nomad instead of settling down for life in one spot. You may have to ‘sit on’ a well all night and then drive a hundred miles to report on it. You may have to burn in India, freeze in Alaska, or do both in the Texas Panhandle.” Minor revisions of the Geology merit badge occurred in 1957.
With the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and a push for energy conservation, a new merit badge, Energy, was added in 1977. Included were requirements for energy resources, energy conservation, waste, pollution, and supply/demand.
In 1982, the Geology merit badge was re-introduced to include anticlines, synclines, and faults. A requirement was to draw simple diagrams to show an anticline, syncline, fault, unconformity, strikes, and dips. There was also a discussion of the main steps in the geologic history of a mountain range. The trip to an oil or gas field remained an option. A new requirement was to describe five energy sources related to geology, how they occur, and how they are used.
The last major revision of the Geology merit badge occurred in 1985, again with cooperation with the leadership of the AAPG. The badge now had 13 requirements that were organized under five categories: earth materials, earth processes, earth history, geology and people, and careers in geology. The earth materials section included the collection and identification of rocks and minerals. The earth processes section covered geomorphology, the hydrologic cycle, volcanoes, mountain building, and the ocean floor. The earth history section included the geologic time chart, fossils, and continental drift. The geology and people section covered environmental geology and energy sources with the field trip option in this category. The careers in geology section included, “visit with a geologist, other than your counselor. Tell what he does. Find out how he prepared for the job.” In the 1995 printing, women geologists were finally recognized! The “he’s” were replaced with “he or she.”
Other areas of AAPG and HGS Scouting Support
In addition to AAPG’s continuing involvement in the Geology merit badge requirements, the organization and its local chapters have served the Scouting program in many ways. In 1983, AAPG members provided the geological expertise to locate and drill two successful water wells at the Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, NM (AAPG Explorer, v. 6/7 p. 58) Before the drilling of the water wells, Philmont was dependent upon surface water supplies. Philmont Scout Ranch was established in 1938 by Oklahoma oilman Waite Phillips (Phillips Petroleum). The AAPG’s Youth Involvement Committee (formerly the Boy Scout Committee) also helps coordinate the instruction of the Boy Scout merit badge at the Boy Scout National Jamborees, held every four years.
The HGS has sponsored Explorer Posts and worked with the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) to teach Geology and Energy merit badges, and the Webelos Geology Activity Badge. Over 300 Houston-area Scouts participated in this HMNS program from 1999 to 2001. For more information about the HMNS Scouting program visit the classes o