This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
I was only in the Girl Scouts for a few years, but I really like the idea of merit badges: you do a task, master a skill, learn something new, and you get a physical token of your achievement to display on a sash. I wish I was still earning badges for things like getting through a dinner party without getting food on my shirt, mailing a card across the country and timing it so it arrives exactly on my friend’s birthday, or making excellent grilled cheese, but we adults are supposed to do these things sans reward.
Let’s change that. I have some science merit badges for you, which you can display to show your mastery and understanding of a few key science concepts: those that the general public still needs to be persuaded on sometimes.
And these are just to get us started. What should be in the next batch? Something about chemophobia? Sharks? GMOs? Contraception? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll make 3 more based on what people want the most.
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And if you like these, check out my water conservation badges.