Jayhawk Area Council Boy Scout Merit Badge Day at the Topeka Zoo Sunday, October 23, 2016

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1 Jayhawk Area Council Boy Scout Merit Badge Day at the Topeka Zoo Sunday, October 23, 2016 Sunday, October 23, 2016 is Scout Day at the Topeka Zoo. From 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm Boy Scouts can complete some requirements for a merit badge at MBDZ - Merit Badge Day at the Zoo and from 2:00pm earn two community service hours for helping to host Cub Scouts attending CSDZ - Cub Scout Day at the Zoo. From 12:00 noon to 2:00pm MBDZ - Merit Badge Day at the Zoo Boy Scouts will have the opportunity to: 1. Complete at least partial requirements, for one Merit Badge Choose Mammal Study, Nature or Reptile/Amphibian Merit Badges. Requirements and pre-requisite reports to be completed prior to MBDZ are listed on additional pages supplemental to this flier. From 2:00pm to 4:00pm CSDZ - Cub Scout Day at the Zoo Boy Scouts will have the opportunity to: 2. Earn two (2) Community Service hours, for service to the Topeka Zoo, helping to host Cub Scouts and their families attending CSDZ - Cub Scout Day at the Zoo, as well as the general public. IMPORTANT: Because the pre-requisite reports, posters and or exhibits will be shared with Cub Scouts and others, MBDZ PARTICIPANTS MUST COMPLETE PRE-REQUISITES PRIOR TO OCTOBER 23. Pre-requisite reports should be written. Merit Badge Counselors registered by Jayhawk Area Council will evaluate pre-requisites during the merit badge class prior to presentations for Cub Scouts. Boy Scouts, remember that young Cub Scouts have short attention spans. The information you share should be brief, less than 4 minutes. Many people are visual learners so pictures or illustrations you draw on posters would interest Cub Scouts. Boy Scouts and adults must register online on the Jayhawk Area Council website, the calendar page, to attend one of the merit badge classes. Registration fees are: $12.00 for Boy Scouts including FOTZ Friends of the Topeka Zoo Members $7.00 for Adults accompanying Boy Scouts to the Merit Badge Classes including FOTZ Members IMPORTANT At a minimum one adult leader or parent is required to attend with a Scout or group of Scouts from their unit and pay MBDZ adult leader registration fee of $7.00 for the class. Registration Deadline: 11:59pm, Tuesday, October 18, 2016, that s Tuesday after Monday Troop Meetings. For questions about Merit Badge Day at the Zoo - contact the Jayhawk Area Council Office Flier revised August 25, 2016

2 Jayhawk Area Council - Merit Badge Day at the Topeka Zoo Boy Scouts selecting the Mammal Study Merit Badge Class will complete requirements (in bold print) 1, 2, 4g and part of 5 during the class at the zoo. Requirement 3 is a pre-requisite and must be completed before MBDZ. The Scout should select a mammal, write a history about that mammal and be prepared to tell the history to Cub Scouts visiting the zoo for CSDZ from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Make sure the animal selected is a mammal. A poster can be prepared for use in telling the animal history. Sharing with Cub Scouts will earn a Boy Scout two Community Service hours for service to the Topeka Zoo. Requirements to be completed for the Mammal Study Merit Badge: 1. Explain the meaning of "animal," "invertebrate," "vertebrate," and "mammal." Name three characteristics that distinguish mammals from all other animals. 2. Explain how the animal kingdom is classified. Explain where mammals fit in the classification of animals. Classify three mammals from phylum through species. 3. Required pre-requisite: c. From study and reading, write a simple history of one non-game mammal that lives in your area. Tell how this mammal lived before its habitat was affected in any way by man. Tell how it reproduces, what it eats, what eats it, and its natural habitat. Describe its dependency upon plants, upon other animals (including man), and how they depend upon it. Tell how it is helpful or harmful to man. (Boy Scouts will tell their reports from 2:00pm to 4:00pm and can use posters, if desired.) 4. g. Trace two possible food chains of carnivorous mammals from the soil through four stages to the mammal. 5. Work with your counselor, select and carry out one project that will influence the numbers of one or more mammals. (Requirement 5 will be discussed/partially completed at the zoo. Requirement 5 can be completed in a number of ways. See project options, including the instructions for building a Bat House, accompanying this flier. ) Note: Visit for a complete list of Merit Badge requirements, worksheets and lists of topical links for resource information. A merit badge counselor registered with Jayhawk Area Council to counsel for Mammal Study Merit Badge must approve projects for requirement #5 prior to or following October 23for Scouts to complete the merit badge.

3 Merit Badge Day at the Topeka Zoo - continued Boy Scouts selecting the Nature Merit Badge Class are asked to complete one pre-requisite prior October 23. The choices are to prepare a collection display from just one of the fields of nature studied for requirement 4 or prepare a talk or a poster about requirement 1, 2, 3. At MBDZ a merit badge counselor registered with Jayhawk Area Council to counsel for Nature Merit Badge will evaluate and approve the pre-requisite. During the class at the zoo Boy Scouts selecting the Nature Merit Badge Class will complete requirements in bold print below, during the class at the zoo: 1, 2, and 3, 4(a)(1), 4(b)(1 & 2), 4(c)(1, 2 & 3). Requirement 4 requires completion of 5 of 7 options. Requirements 4(a)(2) and two additional requirements 4 options (d) through (h) must be completed prior to October 23 or working with a registered merit badge counselor following October 23 for Scouts to complete the merit badge. Requirements to be completed for the Nature Merit Badge Class: 1. Name three ways in which plants are important to animals. Name a plant that is important to animals that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk. 2. Name three ways in which animals are important to plants. Name an animal that is protected in your state or region, and explain why it is at risk. 3. Explain the term "food chain." Give an example of a four-step land food chain and a four-step water food chain. 4. Do all the requirements in FIVE of the following fields: a. BIRDS 1. In the field, identify eight species of birds. 2. Make and set out a birdhouse OR a feeding station OR a birdbath. List what birds used it during a period of one month. b. MAMMALS 1. In the field, identify three species of wild mammals. 2. Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild mammal. c. REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS 1. Show that you can recognize the venomous snakes in your area. 2. In the field, identify three species of reptiles or amphibians. 3. Recognize one species of toad or frog by voice; OR identify one reptile or amphibian by eggs, den, burrow or other signs. d. INSECTS and SPIDERS 1. Collect, mount, and label 10 species of insects or spiders. 2. Hatch an insect from the pupa or cocoon; OR hatch adults from nymphs; OR keep larvae until they form pupae or cocoons; OR keep a colony of ants or bees through one season. e. FISH 1. Catch and identify two species of fish. (Catch and identity should be documented - take a photo of you and the fish with a documented date identify the fish - then return the fish to the water, unless large enough to be cooked and eaten.) 2. Collect four kinds of animal food eaten by fish in the wild. f. MOLLUSKS AND CRUSTACEANS 1. Identify five species of mollusks and crustaceans. 2. Collect, mount, and label six shells. g. PLANTS 1. In the field, identify 15 species of wild plants. (Grasses, forbs, shrubs, trees which contribute to food chain.) 2. Collect and label seeds of six plants; OR the leaves of 12 plants. h. SOILS AND ROCKS 1. Collect and identify soils found in different layers of a soil profile. 2. Collect and identify five different types of rocks from your area.

4 Merit Badge Day at the Topeka Zoo - continued Note: The required prerequisite 9(c )Requirements to be completed for the Reptile & Amphibian Study Merit Badge 1. Describe the identifying characteristics of six species of reptiles and four species of amphibians found in the United States. For any four of these, make sketches from your own observations or take photographs. Show markings, color patterns, or other characteristics that are important in the identification of each of the four species. Discuss the habits and habitats of all 10 species. 2. Discuss with your merit badge counselor the approximate number of species and general geographic distribution of reptiles and amphibians in the United States. Prepare a list of the most common species found in your local area or state. 3. Describe the main differences between a. Amphibians and reptiles b. Alligators and crocodiles c. Toads and frogs d. Salamanders and lizards e. Snakes and lizards 4. Explain how reptiles and amphibians are an important component of the natural environment. List four species that are officially protected by the federal government or by the state you live in, and tell why each is protected. List three species of reptiles and three species of amphibians found in your local area that are not protected. Discuss the food habits of all 10 species. 5. Describe how reptiles and amphibians reproduce. 6. From observation, describe how snakes move forward. Describe the functions of the muscles, ribs, and belly plates. 7. Describe in detail six venomous snakes and the one venomous lizard found in the United States. Describe their habits and geographic range. Tell what you should do in case of a bite by a venomous species. 8. Do ONE of the following a. Maintain one or more reptiles or amphibians for at least a month. Record food accepted, eating methods, changes in coloration, shedding of skins, and general habits; or keep the eggs of a reptile from the time of laying until hatching; or keep the eggs of an amphibian from the time of laying until their transformation into tadpoles (frogs) or larvae (salamanders). b. Choose a reptile or amphibian that you can observe at a local zoo, aquarium, nature center, or other such exhibit (such as your classroom or school). Study the specimen weekly for a period of three months. At each visit, sketch the specimen in its captive habitat and note any changes in its coloration, shedding of skins, and general habits and behavior. Find out, either from information you locate on your own or by talking to the caretaker, what this species eats and what are its native habitat and home range, preferred climate, average life expectancy, and natural predators. Also identify any human caused threats to its population and any laws that protect the species and its habitat. After the observation period, share what you have learned with your counselor. 9. Do TWO of the following: a. Identify at night three kinds of toads or frogs by their voices. Imitate the song of each for your counselor. Stalk each with a flashlight and discover how each sings and from where. b. Identify by sight eight species of reptiles or amphibians. c. Using visual aids such as the sketches or photographs made in completing requirement 1, give a brief talk to a small group on three different reptiles and amphibians. Prepare to give this talk for Cub Scouts at Cub Scout Day at the Zoo. Find suggestions in this flier for preparing your talk and information about the attention span of a young Cub Scout. Use information from the Reptile and Amphibian Boy Scout Merit Badge Book and the other requirements for this badge in preparing your talk. 10. Tell five superstitions or false beliefs about reptiles and amphibians and give a correct explanation for each. Give seven examples of unusual behavior or other true facts about reptiles and amphibians. NOTE: Scouts must not use venomous reptiles in fulfilling requirement 8a. Species listed by federal or state law as endangered, protected, or threatened must not be used as live specimens in completing requirement 8a unless official permission has been given. In most cases all specimens should be returned to the wild at the location of capture after the requirement has been met. Check with your merit badge counselor for those instances where the return of these specimens would not be appropriate. Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, some plants and animals are, or may be, protected by federal law. The same ones and/or others may be protected by state law. Be sure that you do not collect protected species. Check with your mb counselor and/or state wildlife/fish/game officials regarding species regulations before you begin to collect

5 Managing Mammals This page from meritbadge.org can help with Mammal Study Merit Badge, Requirement 5. We have seen that the number of mammals a given area of land or water will support is called its carrying capacity. To influence that number, we must improve the habitat in some way. If, for example, you would like to see more cottontails around your home, you might plant shrubs for food, and you might build a brush pile for cover. On the other hand, if you live in a city and your building is overrun with mice and rats, you would want to eliminate them. The best way is to clean up trash piles and keep a tight lid on garbage cans. All mammals need food, water, shelter, and living space. Without all four they cannot survive. And so, if you want to influence their numbers, you must adjust the environment to their needs. Here are a few possible projects:

6 Boy Scout Mammal Study Merit Badge Requirement 5. Working with your counselor, select and carry out one project that will influence the numbers of one or more mammals. One project option is to build a bat box.

7 From Boy s Life Build A Bat House 2. Use your pocketknife to scribe shallow grooves (less than 1 16 deep) across the inside of the back sheet of plywood, about 1 4 to 1 2 apart. These scored lines help bats grip the plywood. This simple one-chamber bat house will give those beneficial bug-eaters a much-needed boost. WHAT YOU LL NEED 1 2 x 30 x 36 sheet of exterior plywood (Don t use pressure-treated plywood; it s toxic.) 1 2 x 26 x 36 sheet of exterior plywood 1 x 4 x 40 board for the roof Two 1 x 2 x boards for interior frame 1 x 2 x 36 board for interior frame Four 1 x 2 x 3 wood spacer blocks Crosscut saw Pocketknife One quart of dark exterior water-based stain 53 1 exterior wood screws Seven exterior wood screws for the roof Drill 1 2 drill bit for vent holes 3 32 drill bit for screw pilot holes Countersink bit so screws are flush Phillips screwdriving bit Two squeeze tubes of exterior, paintable caulking One quart of exterior water-based primer Two quarts of exterior black or gray water-based paint Paintbrushes 3. Run a bead of caulk onto the contact surfaces of the interior frame and spacer blocks. All surfaces that are in contact with each other should be caulked before screwing them together. The caulking acts as a gasket, sealing out water. WHAT YOU LL DO 1. Cut out all the bat house boards. 4. Screw the interior frame and spacer blocks in place. Drill 1 2 vent holes. In cold climates, you need only three or four vent holes. Stain the interior of the bat house, including the plywood, frame and spacer blocks. Allow the stain to dry.

8 5. Caulk and screw the back panel to the frame and spacer blocks. Be sure to drill pilot holes to avoid splitting. build-a-bathouse/ 6. Caulk and screw the roof on. A drop of caulking in each screw pilot hole will help waterproof the bat house and keep the inside dry. 7. Paint the exterior with primer, then apply two coats of paint. Use black paint for colder climates and gray paint for warmer climates. Attach the bat house to a building or other structure. Face it south or east, about 10 to 12 off the ground.