Youth organization the Boy Scouts have a new Merit Badge to earn. Keeping up with technology seems to be the way to the future for them. Last year the Boy Scouts of America announced adding a video gaming belt loop. In 2011 they have tied up with NASA to announce a Robotics merit badge.
Based on STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math the merit badge in robotics is part of the new curriculum for the Boy Scouts of America. There are a total of 31 STEM related merit badges that a Boy Scout can earn.
To earn the new Robotics badge the Boy Scouts will have to design and build a robot. They will learn about sensors, robotic movement and programming as they design and build the robot. About 10,000 or more boy scouts are expected to earn this new merit badge in the coming year. It will have NASA’s Mars-rover on it.
The Boy Scouts organization which is based in Texas has 2.7 million members and offers 120 badges at present. The most popular of these is the first aid badge with 500,000 scouts earning the badge annually.