1. Meet age requirements. Be a boy who is 11 years old, or one who has completed the fifth grade or earned the Arrow of Light Award and is at least 10 years old, but is not yet 18 years old.
2. Complete a Boy Scout application and health history signed by your parent or guardian.
3. Find a Scout troop near your home.
4. Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.
5. Demonstrate the Scout sign, salute, and handshake.
6. Demonstrate tying the square knot (a joining knot).
7. Understand and agree to live by the Scout Oath or Promise, Law, motto, and slogan, and the Outdoor Code.
8. Describe the Scout badge.
9. Complete the pamphlet exercises. With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide.
10. Participate in a Scoutmaster conference. Turn in your Boy Scout application and health history form signed by your parent or guardian, then participate in a Scoutmaster conference.

Online Resources

• The application form to join Boy Scouting is available online for Download here.
• The troop locator on the Scout Zone web site will show you a list of some of the Boy Scout troops in your area.
• Your local council service center can put you in touch with your future troop. Contact information for your council can be retrieved here.
• The pamphlet How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide is available online for download here.

NOTE: These requirements may be worked on simultaneously with those for Second Class and First Class; however these ranks must be earned in sequence.

Some of the links are direct links to BSA's Advancement Movies©, you'll need Apple's free Quicktime™ program to view.

Click on the to see a detailed lesson on the requirement. They are big files so please be patient.

#	Movie	Requirement
1.		Present yourself to your leader, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the camping gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it.
2.		Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch.
3.		On the campout, assist in preparing and cooking one of your patrol's meals. Tell why it is important for each patrol member to share in meal preparation and cleanup, and explain the importance of eating together.
4a.		Demonstrate how to whip and fuse the ends of a rope.
4b.		Demonstrate that you know how to tie the following knots and tell what their uses are: two half hitches and the taut-line hitch.
5.		Explain the rules of safe hiking, both on the highway and cross-country, during the day and at night. Explain what to do if you are lost.
6.		Demonstrate how to display, raise, lower, and fold the American flag.
7.		Repeat from memory and explain in your own words the Scout Oath, Law, motto, and slogan.
8.		Know your patrol name, give the patrol yell, and describe your patrol flag.
9.		Explain the importance of the buddy system as it relates to your personal safety on outings and in your neighborhood. Describe what a bully is and how you should respond to one.
10a.		Record your best in the following tests: Push-ups, Pull-ups, Sit-ups, Standing long jump, 1/4-mile walk/run. Record them again 30 days later.
10b.		Show improvement in the activities listed in requirement 10a after practicing for 30 days.
11.		Identify local poisonous plants; tell how to treat for exposure to them.
12a.		Demonstrate how to care for someone who is choking.
12b.		Show first aid for the following: Simple cuts and scrapes Blisters on the hand and foot Minor (thermal/heat) burns or scalds (superficial, or first-degree) Bites or stings of insects and ticks Venomous snakebite Nosebleed Frostbite and sunburn
13.		Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.
14.		Participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
15.		Complete your board of review.

First Aid Documents

Covers All First Requirements
for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class
and Requirement #1 for the First Aid Merit Badge

PDF      (Adobe PDF Version 6+)      No Animation, No Movies
PPS      (MS Powerpoint 97-2003)    No Movies
PPSX   (MS Powerpoint 2007)          Full version, everything works

Get Microsoft Office 2007 Powerpoint Viewer (25MB)

NOTE: These requirements may be worked on simultaneously with those for Second Class and First Class; however these ranks must be earned in sequence.

Some of the links are direct links to BSA's Advancement Movies©, you'll need Apple's free Quicktime™ program to view.

Click on the to see a detailed lesson on the requirement. They are big files so please be patient.

#	Movie	Requirement
1a.		Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean.
1b.		Using a compass and a map together, take a five-mile hike (or 10 miles by bike) approved by your adult leader and your parent or guardian. (Note: If you use a wheelchair or crutches, or if it is difficult for you to get around, you may substitute "trip" for "hike.")
2a.		Since joining, have participated in five separate troop/patrol activities (other than troop/patrol meetings), two of which included camping overnight.
2b.		On one of these campouts, select your patrol site and sleep in a tent that you pitched.
2c.		On one campout, demonstrate proper care, sharpening, and use of the knife, saw, and ax, and describe when they should be used.
2d.		Use the tools listed in requirement 2c to prepare tinder, kindling, and fuel for a cooking fire.
2e.		Discuss when it is appropriate to use a cooking fire and a lightweight stove. Discuss the safety procedures for using both.
2f.		Demonstrate how to light a fire and a lightweight stove.
2g.		On one campout, plan and cook over an open fire one hot breakfast or lunch for yourself, selecting foods from the food pyramid. Explain the importance of good nutrition. Tell how to transport, store, and prepare the foods you selected.
3.		Participate in a flag ceremony for your school, religious institution, chartered organization, community, or troop activity. (Flag Information)
4.		Participate in an approved (minimum of one hour) service project.
5.		Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of wild animals (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish, mollusks) found in your community.
6a.		Show what to do for "hurry" cases of stopped breathing, serious bleeding, and ingested poisoning.
6b.		Prepare a personal first-aid kit to take with you on a hike.
6c.		Demonstrate first aid for the following: Object in the eye Bite of a suspected rabid animal Puncture wounds from a splinter, nail, and fishhook Serious burns (partial thickness, or second-degree) Heat exhaustion Shock Heatstroke, dehydration, hypothermia, and hyperventilation
7a.		Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe swim.
7b.		Demonstrate your ability to jump feetfirst into water over your head in depth, level off and swim 25 feet on the surface, stop, turn sharply, resume swimming, then return to your starting place.
7c.		Demonstrate water rescue methods by reaching with your arm or leg, by reaching with a suitable object, and by throwing lines and objects. Explain why swimming rescues should not be attempted when a reaching or throwing rescue is possible, and explain why and how a rescue swimmer should avoid contact with the victim.
8a.		Participate in a school, community, or troop program on the dangers of using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco and other practices that could be harmful to your health. Discuss your participation in the program with your family.
8b.		Explain the three R's of personal safety and protection.
9.		Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.
10.		Participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
11.		Complete your board of review.

First Aid Documents

Covers All First Requirements
for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class
and Requirement #1 for the First Aid Merit Badge

PDF      (Adobe PDF Version 6+)      No Animation, No Movies
PPS      (MS Powerpoint 97-2003)    No Movies
PPSX   (MS Powerpoint 2007)          Full version, everything works

Get Microsoft Office 2007 Powerpoint Viewer (25MB)

 NOTE: These requirements may be worked on simultaneously with those for Second Class and First Class; however these ranks must be earned in sequence.

Some of the links are direct links to BSA's Advancement Movies©, you'll need Apple's free Quicktime™ program to view.

Click on the to see a detailed lesson on the requirement. They are big files so please be patient.

#	Movie	Requirement
1.		Demonstrate how to find directions during the day and at night without using a compass.
2.		Using a compass, complete an orienteering course that covers at least one mile and requires measuring the height and/or width of designated items (tree, tower, canyon, ditch, etc.).
3.		Since joining, have participated in 10 separate troop/patrol activities (other than troop/patrol meetings), three of which included camping overnight.
4a.		Help plan a patrol menu for one campout that includes at least one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner, and that requires cooking at least two of the meals. Tell how the menu includes the foods from the food pyramid and meets nutritional needs.
4b.		Using the menu planned in requirement 4a, make a list showing the cost and food amounts needed to feed three or more boys and secure the ingredients.
4c.		Tell which pans, utensils, and other gear will be needed to cook and serve these meals.
4d.		Explain the procedures to follow in the safe handling and storage of fresh meats, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, and other perishable food products. Tell how to properly dispose of camp garbage, cans, plastic containers, and other rubbish.
4e.		On one campout, serve as your patrol's cook. Supervise your assistant(s) in using a stove or building a cooking fire. Prepare the breakfast, lunch, and dinner planned in requirement 4a. Lead your patrol in saying grace at the meals and supervise cleanup.
5.		Visit and discuss with a selected individual approved by your leader (elected official, judge, attorney, civil servant, principal, teacher) your constitutional rights and obligations as a U.S. citizen.
6.		Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your community.
7a.		Discuss when you should and should not use lashings.
7b.		Demonstrate tying the timber hitch and clove hitch and their use in square, shear, and diagonal lashings by joining two or more poles or staves together.
7c.		Use lashing to make a useful camp gadget.
8a.		Demonstrate tying the bowline knot and describe several ways it can be used.
8b.		Demonstrate bandages for a sprained ankle and for injuries on the head, the upper arm, and the collarbone.
8c.		Show how to transport by yourself, and with one other person, a person From a smoke-filled room With a sprained ankle, for at least 25 yards
8d.		Tell the five most common signals of a heart attack. Explain the steps (procedures) in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
9a.		Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe trip afloat.
9b.		Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test.
9c.		With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and as rescuer. (The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.)
10.		Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.
11.		Tell someone who is eligible to join Boy Scouts, or an inactive Boy Scout, about your troop's activities. Invite him to a troop outing, activity, service project, or meeting. Tell him how to join, or encourage the inactive Boy Scout to become active.
12.		Describe the three things you should avoid doing related to use of the Internet. Describe a cyberbully and how you should respond to one.
13.		Participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
14.		Complete your board of review.

First Aid Documents

Covers All First Requirements
for Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class
and Requirement #1 for the First Aid Merit Badge

PDF      (Adobe PDF Version 6+)      No Animation, No Movies
PPS      (MS Powerpoint 97-2003)    No Movies
PPSX   (MS Powerpoint 2007)          Full version, everything works

Get Microsoft Office 2007 Powerpoint Viewer (25MB)

* You must choose only one merit badge listed in items (g) and (j). If you have earned more than one of the badges listed in items (g) and (j), choose one and list the remaining badges to make your total of 21.

Note: All requirements must be completed before a candidate's 18th birthday. The Eagle Scout Board of Review can be held after the candidate's 18th birthday. For more information, see Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, publication No. 33088D. Also see the note below.

If you have a permanent physical or mental disability, you may become an Eagle Scout by qualifying for as many required merit badges as you can and qualifying for alternative merit badges for the rest. If you seek to become an Eagle Scout under this procedure, you must submit a special application to your local council service center. Your application must be approved by your council advancement committee before you can work on alternative merit badges.

The Alternate requirements are also listed in more detail under Eagle Scout Rank - Alternate Requirements on page 18 of the 2003 Boy Scout Requirements book. (No. 33215F).

Boy Scout Troop Positions

• Senior Patrol Leader
• Assistant Senior Patrol Leader
• Patrol leader
• Troop Guide
• Instructor
• Librarian
• Historian
• Den Chief
• Scribe
• Quartermaster
• Chaplain Aide
• Order of the Arrow Troop Representative
• Junior Assistant Scoutmaster

After becoming an Eagle Scout, you may earn Palms by completing the following requirements:

1. Be active in your troop and patrol for at least three months after becoming an Eagle Scout or after award of last Palm. (Eagle Palms must be earned in sequence, and the three-month tenure requirement must be observed for each Palm.)
2. Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise) and Scout Law in your everyday life.
3. Make a satisfactory effort to develop and demonstrate leadership ability.
4. Earn five additional merit badges beyond those required for Eagle or last Palm. (Merit badges earned any time since becoming a Boy Scout may be used to meet this requirement.)
5. Take part in a Scoutmaster conference.
6. Complete a board of review.

You may wear only the proper combination of Palms for the number of merit badges you earned beyond the rank of Eagle. The Bronze Palm represents five merit badges, the Gold Palm 10, and the Silver Palm 15.