Environmental Science > Introduction & Overview
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Environmental Science
Merit Badge
Digital Resource Guide
Character Development
The Environmental Science merit badge promotes character development by offering Scouts the opportunity to experience hands-on learning with the environment around them. As they explore conservation and learn more about environmental impacts, Scouts deepen citizenship and responsibility. Studying Environmental Science shows Scouts that each person’s actions affect ecosystems.
Scouts become more aware of their environmental roles. This shapes them into thoughtful, ethical decision-makers who value conservation and preservation.
Overview
While earning the Environmental Science merit badge, Scouts will get a taste of what it is like to be an environmental scientist, making observations and carrying out experiments to investigate the natural world.
What Is Environmental Science?
You would not be here without the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the food you eat.
Environmental scientists have determined that air is about 21% oxygen. Water is H₂O. For good health, we need a complex mixture of different types of food.
It is important to understand our environment at many levels. Let’s get started!
Environmental science explores how Earth’s natural systems function and examines the relationships between humans and their environment. It examines the connections between living things, including plants, animals, and humans, and the nonliving parts of the planet, such as air, water, soil, and energy from the sun. Environmental science helps people understand environmental problems, conserve natural resources, and develop solutions that improve environmental conditions for the future.
Definition and Scope of Environmental Science
Helpful Tip
How to Research a Country’s Citizenship Duties and Freedoms
Pay attention to your surroundings. Notice how water, air, and soil interact with plants and animals. Now you’re practicing the same observation skills as environmental scientists.
History of Environmental Science
For thousands of years, Native Americans managed land and resources sustainably, using forests, wildlife, and fire in ways that allowed ecosystems to recover naturally. With European settlement, resource use became more extractive, leading to deforestation, wildlife loss, and pollution. Even so, early laws and conservation efforts showed a growing recognition that natural resources required careful management. By the late 1800s, conservation organizations formed, and the federal government began protecting public lands through national parks, forests, and wildlife agencies.
Did You Know:
Yellowstone, established in 1872, is commonly referred to as the world’s first national park, marking a major milestone in conservation history.
Scouting and Environmental Science
Environmental science has been closely connected to Scouting since its earliest days. As the conservation movement grew in the early 1900s, Scouting was founded in 1910 with a strong emphasis on outdoor activities, nature study, and conservation. Today, Scouts play an active role in reducing pollution, supporting sustainability, and protecting nature for camping, hiking, and the wildlife that share these spaces.
Connected Scout Badges
Alongside this merit badge, there are more than a dozen other badges connected to environmental science.
Animal Science
Architecture
Chemistry
Citizenship in the
Community
Citizenship in the Nation
Citizenship in the World
Energy
Engineering
Fish and Wildlife Management
Forestry
Gardening
Landscape Architecture
Mammal Study
Mining in Society
Nature
Oceanography
Plant Science
Public Health
Pulp and Paper
Reptile and Amphibian Study
Soil and Water Conservation
Sustainability
Weather
Connected Special Awards
Scouting America offers awards linked to environmental science.
Scouts have cared for the environment since the very beginning of Scouting. As you work on this badge, practice Leave No Trace, and protect the natural world, you carry on that tradition. Whether or not you pursue a career in environmental science, you will continue to make a positive impact as a responsible environmental steward.
Scouting America has taught more than 45 million young environmentalists throughout its history. Today, Scouting America continues to train American youth in principles of conservation and environmental science.
Did You Know:
Scouts have helped make a significant impact on the environment by planting millions of trees, removing invasive species, and monitoring wildlife. An individual Scout’s contribution may seem small, but together we make a huge difference.
Now that you can explain environmental science,
find out about ecosystems.
