Normally, I would only send an explanation to the email list. However, this one is rather intense. Also, I thought it would be confusing if I didn’t share it with everyone. Let’s get into it.
Badges
On the first release, there were 14 SCX badges. I wanted to add a DIY to help anyone who wanted to follow their own path in making a Science Center. However, at the time of the initial release, there wasn’t much online to cover that. There’s a bit more now so that one was added, making our total 15.
In keeping with limiting any badge to 15 steps, three of them had to be broken up. SCX: Detective and SCX: Senses couldn’t be broken into other science areas, so they have become SCX: Detective I / SCX: Detective II and SCX: Senses I / SCX: Senses II. Earth was so large it had been broken into three – SCX: Earth, SCX: Environment, and SCX: Weather.
And this was the easy part.
SCX Not Yet Included
Coding / apps have not been included in SCX: Build. I want to do this as a separate badge program. I don’t have the knowledge to do this one yet.
Television Shows
Except for the SCX: Detective badge programs, I tried to keep television shows out of the badges. There are so many that can be used that it would be best for you to add your own choices into the badge programs.
You can look into Mythbusters for many ideas for exhibits and how to set up experiments on a larger scale.
Steve Spangler has a badge program separately within the Enrichment Project, but you can find him on TikTok, YouTube, etc. He’s made almost 2,000 television appearances, including winning two Emmys. On YouTube, in addition to The Spangler Effect, also check out his Spangler Science TV, Sick Science, and The Ellen Show. He emphasizes making science an experience and if you “make it to the dinner table,” you’ve won! Check out his short video at stevespangler.com for the “Best Day Ever.”
NOTE: Spangler is now working with Kesler Science, so check them out as well!
Life After People could be the basis of urban exploration in an abandoned area. Seeing how nature reclaims the planet can be great for observation and discussion.
Supplements
The original supplements released with the 14 SCX badges numbered 92. At this point, the supplements for the updated badges come to 383. That is not counting the seven pages of listed supplements I want to create for these badges. I ran out of time.
To make it easier to navigate the supplements, I have broken them up into supplements that work with all of the SCX badges and those that are specific to each badge program. There are subheads so you can easily see the two sets.
Sites to Explore
I don’t think I pointed out originally that the majority of the URLs were general sites with a few specific to an SCX badge program. Even worse, more than fifty percent of the URLs were defunct when I checked them. I knew the government (.gov) sites would all need updating as the URLs change every time we get a new president.
Like the supplements, I tried to make it easier by breaking these into three groups.
- All SCX badges — covers two or more badge programs
- General URLs — support materials for scientific information
- SCX badge-specific — specific sites for exhibits, ideas, and more
NOTE: Some of the sites require you sign up and / or pay for them. Use the pay ones for ideas.
To help you get an overview of the changes, there are two attachments you can check out.
- Supps_Releases > comparison of the supplements in the two releases
- SCX Fun Sheets_Actual_2022 > actual supplements (non-badge) that will be released
As a result of all these updates, I am changing the schedule for releases as follows.
- 11-Oct SCX_Animals
- 13-Oct SCX_Build
- 18-Oct SCX_Color
- 20-Oct SCX_Detective I
- 25-Oct SCX_Detective II
- 27-Oct SCX_Earth
- 1-Nov SCX_Environment
- 3-Nov SCX_Experiment
- 8-Nov SCX_Games
- 10-Nov SCX_Human
- 15-Nov SCX_Light
- 22-Nov SCX_Movement
- 29-Nov SCX_Nature
- 6-Dec SCX_Senses I
- 8-Dec SCX_Senses II
- 13-Dec SCX_Technology
- 15-Dec SCX_Water
- 20-Dec SCX_Weather
- 22-Dec SCX_DIY
You’ll notice there’s space at the end of November and December in case something happens that I need to make further adjustments. I don’t think I will as all of the pieces are pretty set, but life is constantly changing!
Remember releases are tracked on Trello.
https://trello.com/b/JUoJAlVV/enrichment-projectworking
Other Adjustments to Our Normal Schedule
Usually, at the end of the year, I like to send out a bunch of updates showing where we are now with the number of badges, supplements, lists per category, etc. I will not be doing it this year.
Reason 1: Girl Scouts Badge Set
I have only one set left to update and release. The Girl Scouts badge set has 14 badges. I’m pretty sure this number will not be going up. Updating all the aforementioned lists only to do it again a couple months later seems insane, so I’ll focus on updating everything after this set comes out.
Reason 2: Girl Scout Supplements
From the initial releases, there were almost 200 supplements of just “found” material. I was collecting these during the 100th Anniversary, so there was a lot. Most of it is no longer available online. Some of these need replaced. I’m sure there will be a lot more than I realize as I get into the updates.
At this time, most, if not all, of the non-found supplements will not be updated. For example, I want to take the “samplers” I typed up of old badges (back to 1912) and break them apart into separate badge programs with all pieces included. So if something was referenced within a book that went with a badge program, I want to make sure it is complete. I also wanted to clean up the badge images themselves so they could become color sheets or patterns.
Did you know that girls can earn old badges / insignia if they have the requirements?
In addition, before Girl Scouts decided to allow girls to (temporarily) make their own badges, I collected a lot of the old requirements for Council Own badges. In case you haven’t heard of these, these badges were created and supported by individual councils instead of GSUSA. This allowed councils to highlight their area to their girls and encourage them to explore. Sometimes, it was keeping up with trends as it takes GSUSA a long time to make / update materials. Council Owns are as much of Girl Scouts as official materials. For this reason, I want to make supplements of these as well.
These badge programs and Council Owns would work great for events, meetings, Science Centers, and more!
Remember . . .
If you find information on a site you want to return to, you can bookmark it or you can PDF the page. The Internet Archive does archive sites if you have the original URL via the Wayback Machine. In the last year, it has archived this site 106 times.
Also, do not count on your memory to remember all the ideas and possibilities you explore as you work on the badges. I keep notes to myself so I don’t forget what I additionally want to add to the Enrichment Project. This is also true of ideas for a party, event, or meeting. I use the voice recorder on my phone a lot when I don’t have anything nearby to write out my ideas.
Further Updates
I will not be sending any additional updates out in 2022 to the blog. If you want to know about what’s happening behind the scenes, feel free to join the email list. Currently, I send out an update every month (or so) depending on how much time the badges I’m working on take from my personal life.