Scouts BSA can earn the Aviation, Electronics, Engineering, Weather, Space Exploration and American Heritage merit badges.
American Heritage Girls Pioneers and Patriots can earn the Aviation, Communications, US Military Heroes, and Meteorology badges.
General Information
- All requirements are completed within the workshop with no outside requirements. When the class is over, the badge is complete!
- Class time varies based on the badge. Please review each badge workshop for exact times.
- Pricing varies per badge.
- All supplies, including workbooks and blue cards are provided by LSFM.
- Merit badge workshops are open to all Scouts BSA ages 11-17.
- Class fees for scouts includes admission to the exhibits.
- All youth must be escorted to the classroom by an adult and signed in. Parents can choose to drop-off scouts or purchase a $15 admission ticket to tour the museum exhibits during the class time.
- Full day classes include a 30 minute lunch break. Scouts must bring their own lunch. Water and soda are available in the gift shop. BSA Aviation MB has no lunch break.
Members save $5 on badge workshops! No discount code needed, just login to your member account to register. Become a member today!
Scouts BSA Merit Badge Workshops
Aviation Merit Badge
This three hour workshop provides a hand-on learning experience including fundamentals of flight, aircraft design, and piloting. Scouts prepare a flight plan, map their flight, and conduct a pre-flight inspection in our Mooney Hangar with the Ovation small aircraft. Then fly the route in the flight simulators in real time over accurate landscape to land at Scholes Airport in Galveston. After a classroom preview, use the exhibits in the Flight Academy to demonstrate your knowledge of flight dynamics and tour the collection of air-worthy Warbirds.
Price: $35 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1a-e, 2bd, 3b, 4c, and 5. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
June 21, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm (Wednesday)
July 5, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm (Wednesday)
August 4, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm (Friday)
Electronics Merit Badge
People skilled in electronics are vital to the aviation industry. Learn the nuts and bolts of electronic devices and how to build and repair them safely. Experiment with electronic components as you build circuits with different basic functions to see how they work, and learn how the same functions are done in microscopic chips in binary code.
Price: $45 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1, 2ab, 3abc, 4bc, 5ab, 6. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
June 20 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Tuesday)
July 6, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Thursday)
August 2, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Wednesday)
Engineering Merit Badge
Get your hands on engineering! After exploring multiple types of engineering, learn how the Wright Brothers were master engineers solving multiple problems to invent powered aircraft. Study the properties of materials by performing heat conductivity and energy transfer experiments, disassemble an engine down to the piston to see how the components make it work, and talk to an engineer to learn about the career opportunities for you.
Price: $45 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1, 2, 3, 4a-e, 5a, 6de, 7, 8, 9. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
June, 19, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Monday)
July 5, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Wednesday)
August 3, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Thursday)
Space Exploration Merit Badge
Use our growing collection of space artifacts – including an original Space Shuttle Trainer flight simulator, the Crew Compartment Trainer, a Mars rover prototype, and an exploratory Mars humanoid rover – to study past NASA missions, especially the Shuttle Transfer System, and astronauts. Design and build a model off-Earth planetary base, image how we can explore the unknown parts of our solar system, and build a model or a historic NASA rocket. This is a two-day class; both day are required for completion.
Price: $60 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1, 2, 3*, 4a-d, 5ac, 6a, 7a-d, 8. Because LSFM is in restricted air space, we cannot launch model rockets. To complete requirement 3, we will do the alternate of building a scale model of a NASA rocket system. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
June 19-20, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Monday and Tuesday)
July 6-7, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Thursday and Friday)
July 31 – August 1, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Monday and Tuesday)
Weather Merit Badge
For local recreational flyers to international commercial carrier pilots, the weather is a challenge, must be understood, and always respected. Learn how to be safe in severe weather, why weather patterns can affect flight dynamics, how different types of weather are formed and how it’s tracked to keep air travel moving. By knowing all the basics, you’ll be able to make your own forecast.
Price: $45 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9b, 10, 11. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
June 22, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Thursday)
July 7, 9:30 am – 2:30 pm (Friday)
American Heritage Merit Badge
Our collection of warbirds represents the heritage of the American people that fought to protect the rights outlined in the Constitution. Meet veterans that fought for those rights and hear their stories, discuss how history is depicted in music of wartime eras, learn about local historic places and the events that happened there, and investigate the meaning of the Declaration of Independence and its importance to you and your family.
Price: $60 per Scout. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: Completed in class: 1, 2ac, 3abc, 4ab, 5c, and 6. Requirement 3 will need some family discussion before the class. Instructions will be emailed.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops
Make it a week of Summer Workshops!
| Mon, June 19 | Tues, June 20 | Wed, June 21 | Thurs, June 22 | Fri, June 23 |
| Space Exploration Engineering | Space Exploration (cont.) Electronics | Aviation | Weather | |
| Mon, July 3 | Tues, July 4 | Wed, July 5 | Thurs, July 6 | Fri, July 7 |
| Aviation Engineering | Space Exploration Electronics | Space Exploration (cont.) Weather | ||
| Mon, July 31 | Tues, August 1 | Wed, August 2 | Thurs, August 3 | Fri, August 4 |
| Space Exploration | Space Exploration (cont.) | Electronics | Engineering | Aviation |
American Heritage Girls Patriot and Pioneer Badge Workshops
Aviation Badge
This interactive workshop provides the opportunity to explore various aspects of aviation including the science and mechanics of flight, the basic process for becoming a pilot, what it’s like to work in the aviation industry, and the process for preparing and planning for flight. A hands-on preflight walk-around and flight simulator experience, Q & A session with an aviation professional, as well as time in the museum exploring the exhibits give a unique hands-on experience to solidify the knowledge learned in the classroom.
Price: $45 per youth. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1-7, 9, 10, & 12. Full completion of badge, no outside work required.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Summer Workshops – registration open soon
US Military Heroes Badge
Learning how are military work to serve and protect the nation is an important part of being a good citizen of this country they defend. This workshop will educate participants on several topics including: the vital role that our military heroes play, how to prepare and apply for a military academy, and what the Selective Service act is. Girls will also participate in a Q & A session with a female military veteran, learn about strategy through game play, and participate in thanking our military with handmade cards.
Price: $45 per youth. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1-4, 6, 7, & 10.
The following portion of requirement 5 will need to be done outside of the workshop: “Teach younger girls the importance of these days and join with them in serving veterans or participating in a Veterans Day tribute.”
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Meteorology Badge
From planning what to wear to preparing for emergencies to learning how our habits can affect the environment around us, the science of weather plays an important role in our lives. This workshop is designed to give an overview of weather and climate, the effects of pollution, major weather events and how to navigate them, and how weather services keep us informed and safe. Hands on activities include building a thermometer and a barometer.
Price: $45 per youth. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1-5, 7, 9, & 10. A prerequisite of monitoring weather forecasts for seven days is required in order to fully complete the badge.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Communications Technology Badge
Communication is an important aspect of our everyday lives, and the way that we achieve communication has evolved tremendously. In this badge workshop, participants will explore important functions of communication in our society, discover how technology has changed the way that we communicate, and gain a understanding of how some of that technology works through hands on activities like building a radio receiver.
Price: $45 per youth. ($15 parent museum admission available)
Requirements fulfilled: 1-5, 8-10.
The reading portion of requirement 9 will need to be done as a prerequisite to the workshop to fully complete the badge.
Date / Time: Click on the date/time below to register.
Troop Workshops
If you have a group of more than 20 scouts or AHG’s that are interested in taking a badge workshop together, send an email to scouts@lonestarflight.org to arrange a date.
We Also Offer Scout Overnights
It’s LITERALLY a night at the museum…under the wings of history! It’s a night filled with aviation exploration including plane tours, preflight inspection of a real plane, testing your pilot skills and the science of what it takes to fly.
Scouts BSA and AHG’s can earn the Aviation badge during an Overnight.