Cartography Merit Badge?

[shawn-mcwilliams]

I don't know why it isn't out already... Shouldn't map making be part of the things taught in Boy Scouts? Map reading is taught, but what if someone wants to adventure into uncharted land? The Cartography merit badge could teach them all of the things needed in a map and how to figure out the scale and all. What does everyone think?

[RWSmith]

Yeah; it's called Google Earth.

P.S. Sorry for the friendly sarcasm, right off the bat... Welcome to the board.

[Cowboy]

With GPS and satelites, cartography is pretty much a dead art. As is a good share of orienteering. I think that the reliance on technology is bad, especially for Scouts. We can only do so much in regards to the "lost arts" and try to keep the boys interested in the program by using current technology.

[Quailman]

Demonstrate how a compass works and how to orient a map. Explain what map symbols mean.

Granted, this is not exactly cartography, but how to read a map is part of the requirements now. As Cowboy said, cartography is pretty much a dead art.

[shawn-mcwilliams]

I guess... If there is going to be a GPS Merit Badge, balance it out with its origin. I got back from camp a few days ago and it just sparked in my mind.

Edit: And thanks for the welcome.

[kwildman]

there was supposed to be GIS merit badge being developed. I saw an early draft but havent heard anything since then. Then they came out with the geocaching merit badge which includes really dumbed down GPS info in it.

I hope they continue the GIS merit badge as it encompasses GPS technology, databases, spatial relationships, and cartography.

Funny for a dead art...it seems to be paying the bills these days as there is a very large cartography component to what I do. Also, do you not think that cartography was used in developing google earth? Which by the way is pretty lame compared to what i can do w/ my software.

[smtroop168]

I think your dream of a GIS MB is gone.

For Cartography, adding it to Orienteering or GPS is your best bet so write up your proposal and send it up the chain.

Remember for any new MB, the initial thought should be "Will scouts think this is a cool thing to do?" Lets look at the last 5 new ones. Scuba - Cool; Inventing - Cool; Geocaching - Cool; Scouting Heritage - Not as Cool but interesting to learn about your troop's history and interview old guys about "Back in the Day" stories; Robotics - will be Cool

[kwildman]

cartography has nothing to do with orienteering.

Searching the internet there were alot of announcements about the GPS/GIS merit badge about a year ago. Looks like it got dumped for geocaching. Kind of fits with the BSAs recent dumbing down of the program which can be seen in the new scout book.

[smtroop168]

cartography has nothing to do with orienteering.

Seems to me that there is a relationship between the two...but what to I know??? I think I used some of that there Cartography to help my scouts to 1st Class requirement 2

Cartography (in Greek chartis = map and graphein = write) is the study and practice of making maps (also can be called mapping). Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.

The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:[citation needed]

Set the map's agenda and select traits of the object to be mapped. This is the concern of map editing. Traits may be physical, such as roads or land masses, or may be abstract, such as toponyms or political boundaries.
Represent the terrain of the mapped object on flat media. This is the concern of map projections.
Eliminate characteristics of the mapped object that are not relevant to the map's purpose. This is the concern of generalization.
Reduce the complexity of the characteristics that will be mapped. This is also the concern of generalization.
Orchestrate the elements of the map to best convey its message to its audience. This is the concern of map design.


ORIENTEERING MB REQUIREMENT #4
Do the following:
Explain how a topographic map shows terrain features. Point out and name five terrain features on a map and in the field.
Point out and name 10 symbols on a topographic map.
Explain the meaning of declination. Tell why you must consider declination when using map and compass together.
Show a topographic map with magnetic north-south lines.
Show how to measure distances using an orienteering compass.
Show how to orient a map using a compass.


FIRST CLASS REQ #2Using a map and 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.)

[kwildman]

that is kind of like saying that Art and Painting are the same merit badge. Or that Law and Citizenship are the same...

Cartography contains elements of science and art. How to create a useable map, symbologies, data representations, spherical projections, coordinate systems, scale, etc.

Orienteering is how to read a map for navigation. Useful skill but it only requires understanding of the finished product and we typically only teach from a USGS topo. Sure there is some minor overlap but not in the big picture.

[smtroop168]

that is kind of like saying that Art and Painting are the same merit badge. Or that Law and Citizenship are the same...

Cartography contains elements of science and art. How to create a useable map, symbologies, data representations, spherical projections, coordinate systems, scale, etc.

Orienteering is how to read a map for navigation. Useful skill but it only requires understanding of the finished product and we typically only teach from a USGS topo. Sure there is some minor overlap but not in the big picture.

The big picture is that the odds of getting a Cartography MB approved are about zero and if you think the skill is needed then attaching it to an existing one is your best bet.

There are lots of MBs that could be combined. Look what happened when they tried to merge Music and Bugling.

[FrankJ]

A lot of B-P's games involve sketching or drawing a map. Not to the same degree as a cartographer but enough t one to get one's point across. He was also into sketching.

[smtroop168]

A lot of B-P's games involve sketching or drawing a map. Not to the same degree as a cartographer but enough t one to get one's point across. He was also into sketching.

So we can add Cartography to the Scouting Heritage MB too.

#7. Reproduce the equipment for an old-time Scouting game such as those played at Brownsea Island. You may find one on your own (with your counselor’s approval), or pick one from the Scouting Heritage merit badge pamphlet. Teach and play the game with other Scouts.

Or Pathfinding

#7. Submit a map not necessarily drawn by himself upon which he personally has indicated as much as possible of the above information.

[kwildman]

i wouldnt advocate a stand alone cartography merit badge but the GIS merit badge was what the geocaching should have been. My arguement is that it was a dumb move to nuke an educational merit badge that encompassed GPS, Surveying, Cartography, Computers, etc. and turn it into a something that promotes a kids game/hobby. But the way the BSA is heading they will combine the electronics merit and the computers merit badge into a video gaming merit badge to go with the new belt loop they are offering cubbies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system

[smtroop168]

972-580-2000

You may still have a shot at GIS since the MB pamphlet and badge are not out yet.

[kwildman]

geoCASHing is here to stay. They rushed that out so that they could sell the Geomate's at the scout stores. It was also offered at a lot of summer camps.

[smtroop168]

geoCASHing is here to stay. They rushed that out so that they could sell the Geomate's at the scout stores. It was also offered at a lot of summer camps.

No different than ScubaCashing and InventingCashing. New MBs are expensive to implement and need sponsors

[kwildman]

geoCASHing is here to stay. They rushed that out so that they could sell the Geomate's at the scout stores. It was also offered at a lot of summer camps.

No different than ScubaCashing and InventingCashing. New MBs are expensive to implement and need sponsors

The difference is that the Scout Store isnt selling scuba tanks...yet.

[justdave]

This topic hasn't been touched in a while, but I ran across it in a Google search...

I just spent the last week trying to update a map of a scout camp whose only existing maps were all hand-drawn or painted, and none of them were very accurate. The amount of work involved (and some of the things that are nice to know along the way) struck me as something that would be good merit badge material, and was surprised to find out there wasn't one.

To address the comments here... "With GPS and satelites, cartography is pretty much a dead art." I beg to differ. That tells you where you are, but that's only useful if you have a map showing that location to put the dot on where the GPS says you are. Sure, everyone goes online for maps these days (heck, the one I just did is browseable online - I did it all in OpenStreetMap (which can be loaded in GPSes), but someone still has to make those online maps, and they have to be continually updated, because things change all the time (new roads are made, unused roads are destroyed to save upkeep costs, old roads are re-done to provide better traffic flow, or removed to make room for new constuction). With the advent of GPS-assisted navigation, things like road signs and permissible traffic flows have to be kept up-to-date in addition to just putting names on the roads.

In my case, most of the roads and trails weren't visible in a satellite photo because there was pretty good tree cover in the camp, and most of the existing roads had never been entered on any public maps (and the private ones previously made by the camp were pretty inaccurate - only gave you a general idea and were missing a lot of the trails). Among the things I had to do was walking roads and trails with a GPS recording the path I walked, uploading those GPS tracks to a computer, overlaying them on the existing map data, and drawing the roads and trails onto the map with the mapping tools based on the GPS tracks. Properly designating types of roads, how many lanes on them, what direction traffic was allowed to go, and plotting locations of program areas and service buildings were all among the things to do. One thing that could be done from the satellite photos was tracing the outline of the lakes on camp, since the water was obviously visible.

Besides attempting to make or update an online map, a merit badge should probably include learning some history of map making, and perhaps even making a classic map just to see how it used to be done. It's kinda fun stuff, and there are people out there that do it full-time, so it is a valid occupation to aim for still. Keeping all those GPS-assisted in-car navigation systems up-to-date is actually a lot of work.

Anyway, that's my 2¢.

[wagionvigil]

This topic hasn't been touched in a while, but I ran across it in a Google search...

I just spent the last week trying to update a map of a scout camp whose only existing maps were all hand-drawn or painted, and none of them were very accurate. The amount of work involved (and some of the things that are nice to know along the way) struck me as something that would be good merit badge material, and was surprised to find out there wasn't one.

To address the comments here... "With GPS and satelites, cartography is pretty much a dead art." I beg to differ. That tells you where you are, but that's only useful if you have a map showing that location to put the dot on where the GPS says you are. Sure, everyone goes online for maps these days (heck, the one I just did is browseable online - I did it all in OpenStreetMap (which can be loaded in GPSes), but someone still has to make those online maps, and they have to be continually updated, because things change all the time (new roads are made, unused roads are destroyed to save upkeep costs, old roads are re-done to provide better traffic flow, or removed to make room for new constuction). With the advent of GPS-assisted navigation, things like road signs and permissible traffic flows have to be kept up-to-date in addition to just putting names on the roads.

In my case, most of the roads and trails weren't visible in a satellite photo because there was pretty good tree cover in the camp, and most of the existing roads had never been entered on any public maps (and the private ones previously made by the camp were pretty inaccurate - only gave you a general idea and were missing a lot of the trails). Among the things I had to do was walking roads and trails with a GPS recording the path I walked, uploading those GPS tracks to a computer, overlaying them on the existing map data, and drawing the roads and trails onto the map with the mapping tools based on the GPS tracks. Properly designating types of roads, how many lanes on them, what direction traffic was allowed to go, and plotting locations of program areas and service buildings were all among the things to do. One thing that could be done from the satellite photos was tracing the outline of the lakes on camp, since the water was obviously visible.

Besides attempting to make or update an online map, a merit badge should probably include learning some history of map making, and perhaps even making a classic map just to see how it used to be done. It's kinda fun stuff, and there are people out there that do it full-time, so it is a valid occupation to aim for still. Keeping all those GPS-assisted in-car navigation systems up-to-date is actually a lot of work.

Anyway, that's my 2¢.

We did complete maps a few years back. Some things we included are where all the water lines are and the shut offs also we have buried most of the electric lines so we mapped all of those. We had a power company do an aerial survey for us which detailed the property.
It is a load of work