Requirement
4. Study a real site, with permission first
Required Often forgotten
Three sites are offered and any one of them satisfies the badge equally: a place of worship, school grounds, or a public building. Two things have to happen before the measuring starts. Somebody in authority has to agree, and you have to work out where most people arrive by bus or car, because those are the people 4(c) gets redesigned for.
Notes and warnings
Warning. THE FIRST WORDS OF THIS REQUIREMENT ARE A PERMISSION, AND IT IS NOT ALWAYS QUICK. You are proposing to stand on somebody's grounds with a measuring tape, measuring the driveway and the path to the main entrance, so the appropriate authority is a parish office, a principal, or a facilities manager, and a few of those will take it to a committee. CHOOSE THE SITE BY WHO ALREADY KNOWS YOU. Your own school or your own place of worship turns a cold request into a conversation, and all three offered sites are worth the same to the badge. START THIS REQUIREMENT EARLY FOR A SECOND REASON: 4(b) asks where water stands after rain, which you cannot see on a dry day, so the more weeks this requirement is open the better the chance of being there after a downpour. Note also the last clause of the opening: you must identify where most people arrive by bus or car, and those are the people 4(c) is redesigned for.
What this is made of
Where this step comes from
- Landscape Architecture Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-09-19), Requirement 4 · The requirement asks for permission from the appropriate authority, offers a place of worship, school grounds, or a public building, and asks you to identify where most people arrive by bus or car.