Requirement
5. Study the movement: choose one of four
Required Often forgotten
Four routes that are nothing like the same size, from an evening with a film to a whole book to two and a half centuries of timeline. Two of the four need approval BEFORE you start, and in both cases the approval is on your choice rather than on the work.
Notes and warnings
Warning. TWO OF THESE FOUR NEED PERMISSION BEFORE YOU START, AND THE FOUR ARE NOT THE SAME SIZE. The film in 5(c) needs your counselor AND your parent or guardian to approve and permit it in advance, and the biography in 5(d) needs your counselor to approve the book before you read it. In both cases the approval is on the CHOICE rather than on the work, so it cannot be granted afterwards: an unapproved book costs you the reading and an unapproved film costs you the evening. On size, the film is the quickest route by a wide margin, the biography is a whole book, and the timeline in 5(a) covers from the 1770s to the present, which is two and a half centuries and is the route people underestimate. The exhibit in 5(b) is research plus making something.
What this is made of
Where this step comes from
- American Labor Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-15), Requirement 5