The Badge Archive

Items needed:

• Print a copy of Energy Quiz, cut out the objects it asks you to sort. There should be 5 power objects.
• Printed copy of New-Used Ideas
• Old Newspapers or magazines – several sheets for each scout.
• Various recyclable materials (paper, plastic bottles, glass bottles, aluminum cans, etc.) and small
• DIY recycling bins or recyclables sorter (small trash cans, cardboard boxes, paper grocery bags, etc.)

(Troops with a larger budget may want to do a different recycling craft)

Energy Quiz

Information Needed: Electricity is used in our homes every day. A power plant creates that electrical energy that we use. It’s sent through the power lines to our home. A Power Outage happens when we lose the connection to the power plant. Sometimes that is because something happens to the power lines. Occasionally that is because so many people use the power, there is no more power left to send. It’s rare, because power companies work hard to provide enough power that everyone needs. We can do our part by making sure we only use the energy we need.

Action Needed: Hide the 5 power objects around the room and ask scouts to find them. Then have them sort the objects by which one uses the most power. Discuss how you can make sure not to use each object more than you need to (i.e. don’t leave the doors to your home and windows open when you are using air conditioning or heating).

(Requirement 1 Earned)

Newspaper Origami

Information Needed: Sometimes when you are done using something, instead of throwing it in the trash or recyclables, you can use it for something new instead. (Use the New-Used Ideas to show examples and have them think of their own.)

Fun Activity: Take the old newspaper and magazines and use it to do origami. Make something to display or an envelope to use.

(Requirement 2 Earned)

Note to Leaders – Click here if you need step by step instructions on how to do origami for kids.

Recycling Challenge

Information Needed: When you put items in a recycling bin, they are broken down and used to make new items

Fun Activity: Spread recyclables around the floor of the meeting room. Make two groups of scouts for teams for a relay race. Each team lines up on opposite sides of the room. One scout from each team starts and runs to pick up one piece and put it in the correct recycling bin. She returns to the end of the line and the next scout goes out for their own piece. The relay continues until all is clean. Go through the containers to make sure they were placed in the correct place. If they weren’t have the scouts figure out which one it does belong to without telling them.

Optional bonus rounds: Change up the sorters or remove one type of sorting bin. Have one team hide the recyclables for the other team to find and sort.

(Requirement 3 Earned)

Note to Leaders – If you need step by step instructions on how to do a recyclable race, you can watch this video.

Meeting End

Scouts can redo the recycling challenge or more origami until it’s time to go home.

General Notes

Note to Leaders – No Basic Plan compiled by The Badge Archive will earn multiple badges in one level. Part of being budget friendly is not costing more than the price of one official GSUSA badge per meeting.

Some badges will take two meetings to finish. This helps scouts enjoy activities and keeps the troop budget in mind by only needing one GSUSA badge for every two meetings. Troops may choose to get a fun patch for one of the meetings if scouts want a badge/patch for every meeting. Scouts can earn the fun patch if they only attend one meeting and get a fun patch and the official badge if they go to both.