Boy Scouts

We offer the Coastal Empire Council BSA Barrier Island Patch Program and Oceanography Merit Badge Program for Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, Webelos, and Boy Scouts. Visit the science center, work toward your patch or badge, and discover the diversity of life that inhabits the Georgia coast!

Barrier Island Patch Program

The Barrier Island Patch Program is a two hour hands-on program that includes a guided beach walk to identify shells, crabs, sea worms, soft corals, the wrack line, ghost crab burrows, and learn about tides, how sand dunes are formed, and the importance of the beach and marsh ecosystems. A Coastal Georgia Gallery tour and touch tank presentation focuses on live marine animals that inhabit our waters. A sand sifting activity in the intertidal zone will reveal small creatures that form the base of the food chain. Scouts will pull a 15-foot seine net in the surf (with the help of adults) to catch and observe local fish, crabs, and other marine life.

Oceanography Merit Badge Program

The Oceanography Merit Badge is a two hour program taught in the classroom, on the beach, and from the pier that includes using oceanographic equipment such as Secchi disks to measure visibility, sounding weights to measure depth, a hydrometer and refractometer to measure salinity, and thermometers to measure the water and air temperatures. Inside the classroom, scouts will focus on the four main areas of oceanography in order to complete some of the merit badge requirements.

To schedule a program call us toll-free at 866-557-9172