Scientist Badge

The Scientist badge features a test tube

Requirements of the badge

The scientist badge requires six experiments or investigations to be done, three from the physical world, and three from the living world. The specifications for this badge are also available on the scouts.org.uk website

One of our cubs, Marcus, attempted this badge at home and wrote up the results of his experiments so he could show Akela what he had done. Three of these are available on this website as an example:

Making an artificial rainbow Making an electromagnet Measuring your pulse rate

Physical world

1. Make a simple switch. Show how it could be used to control a light bulb powered by a battery.
2. Show how electrical currents produce magnetic, chemical and heating effects, and explain what happens.
   See Marcus's electromagnet experiment here
3. Show that hot air rises.
4. Make an artificial rainbow by splitting up a beam of white light.
   See Marcus's artificial rainbow write-up here
5. Make a pin-hole camera and understand the principles of operation.
6. Keep simple weather records over a month, e.g. rainfall, temperature, cloud cover, wind direction.
7. Make a simple compass and show the effects of metallic and magnetic materials upon it.
8. Make a simple periscope.
9. Show how to recover dissolved substances from a water solution.
10. Recognise three different constellations.
11. Make a model to show how the Earth orbits the Sun

Living world

1. Make some yoghurt and find out how living organisms are involved in the process.
2. Grow cress (or a similar plant) and investigate what happens when light and water are excluded from it.
3. Use a net and jar to find out how many different creatures live in the water and mud at the edge of a pond.
4. Set up a wormery or ant colony and record the activity over a few weeks.
5. Grow a bean or pea. When the root and shoot are visible investigate what happens when the seed is turned upside down and left to continue growing.
6. Collect seeds from various plants and discover how these are protected and dispersed.
7. Grow crystals or make crystal shapes from paper
8. Investigate what happens to their pulse rate before during and after exercise.
   See Marcus's pulse rate experiment results here