Girl Scout Badge Explorer

at Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site

During a visit to the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site, Girl Scouts will be able to accomplish the following badge requirements. Please call 260.854.3790 to make your tour reservation.

As you arrive

What do you notice about the buildings and land around you?
Who would have lived here 100 years ago?

During your visit

What do you see?
Focus on an object in the room you are in. Have you seen something like this before? Where? How is it the same or different?
If you were a kid then, what would you do?
What is the coolest thing you see?
If you were an inventor then, what would you create?
Why do you think the historic site was preserved for people to visit?

After your visit

Talk with your family and/or troop about your visit. Share your top three things you found interesting, surprising, or cool.

1205 Pleasant Point, Rome City, IN 46784, USA

Take a trip to see us

Gene Stratton-Porter Historic Site is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tours of the historic buildings are available daily at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Grounds tour are
available seasonally at 12 p.m.. Reservations for groups required to guarantee availability.

  • Daisy

    Daisy Trail Adventure
    Step 3 –
    It’s time for the best part – your outdoor adventure! (utilize the trails in and around the site)

    Eco Learner
    Step 1 – Be prepared to protect nature before you go outdoors:
    Girl Scouts know it’s important to be prepared! When you go outdoors, take water and maybe a snack. Wear sunscreen and dress in layers. (That means you can take layers off if you are too hot, or add them if you are too cold.) Find out what kind of plants and wildlife you may see and how to treat them. Be
    prepared to not only keep yourself safe, but keep nature safe, too! (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Keep living things save when you walk in nature. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – When you toss a snack wrapper on a trail, how long do you think it will last out there? If you guessed hundreds of years, you are right! Not only is trash a mess, it’s also dangerous for plants and animals outdoors. Trash may damage plants and soil and cause health problems for creatures that eat it. Find out how you can make a difference. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Good Neighbor
    Step 2 – Discover your city or town:
    In your city or town, neighbors work together in lots of different places. These places help make sure everyone has what they need. How many different places can you think of? (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – See what makes your state special: There are 50 states in the United States. They’re all neighbors to one another, and each one is special in its own way. When you put them together, they make a big community – and your part of it. See what makes your state unique in this step. (Tour)

  • Brownie

    Brownie Trail Adventure
    Step 5
     Go on your outdoor adventure: Make your adventure an experience you’ll remember forever—add fun games, take videos, or keep a journal! (utilize the trails on and around the site)

    Eco Friend
    Steps 1 – Think of ways to help the outdoors:
    As a Girl Scout, you know it’s important to protect nature when you’re outdoors. If you remember to be respectful of the environment whenever you’re outside, you’ll be a friend to nature forever! (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Observe outdoor spaces: If you think of yourself as a guest in nature’s home, it’s easy to remember that objects in nature should stay where they are. When you visit a friend’s house, you wouldn’t pick up something you liked and take it home without permission. And everything in nature is there for a reason, too. In this step, you’ll buddy up with some friends and an adult, and go outside to a place where you can see things in nature like rocks, leaves, shells, and fallen branches. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Take care of wildlife: If you’re an animal lover, this will be fun for you! Caring for wildlife is very different from caring for pets, but they can still use your help. Find out how you can help wild animals in this step. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Practice being kind: It’s important to be kind everywhere you go, but especially in the outdoors. Practice your outdoor kindness skills in this step. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Bugs
    Step 4 – Explore bug homes:
    It isn’t just the bugs that are cool. The places they live are fun to explore, too! (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Take a bug field trip: The best place to view creepy critters is to go outside where they live! Take a trip to get up-close with your bug friends. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Outdoor Adventurer
    Step 2 –
     Explore nature: Nature is the hundreds of plants and insects you see when you hike a trail. It’s the puffy clouds in the sky. It’s the sound of frogs croaking. It’s the smell of flowers. It’s the way a worm feels slimy when you touch it. Nature is awesome. It’s surprising. Sometimes it’s even weird. Let’s explore it! (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Care for the outdoors: Find an outdoor space you love, and think about how to make it even better. Outdoor adventurers are champions of the world outside! (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Hiker
    Step 5 – Go on your hike!:
    You have your map, your backpack and your new hiking skills. You’re ready to go now! (Utilize the trails on and around the site)

    Math in Nature 1
    Step 1 –
    Track natural objects. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Graph natural objects. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – Make a spiderweb with symmetry. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Explore tessellations. (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – collect data about birds. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Math in Nature 2
    Step 1 –
    Explore temperature (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Measure the length of leaves (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – Graph your leaf data (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Math in Nature 3
    Step 1 –
    Calculate the age of a natural object (Outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Graph data about birds (Outdoor grounds exploration)

  • Junior

    Junior Trail Adventure:
    Step 5 – Go on your outdoor adventure: Make it a lifetime memory—add fun games to your adventure, take action videos, or keep a goal journal. (utilize the trails on and around the site)

    Animal Habitats
    Step 1 – Find out about wild animals: Wild animals may seem very different you’re your pets at home, but at one time, all animals were wild! (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Investigate an animal habitat: One habitat can contain lots of different animals-you might think of it as a city in the wild kingdom. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Help protect animal habitats: you can take steps to protect animals’ homes and prevent them from becoming endangered. (outdoor grounds exploration)

    Digital Photographer
    Step 2 – Take tons of photographs. (outdoor grounds & tour)
    Step 5 – Share your photos! (outdoor grounds & tour)

    Flowers
    Step 1 – Uncover the science of one flower: Scientists called botanists track the history of different kinds of flowers. Become a botanist and figure out how, when, and where one flower was first bred or found. Learn about when it blooms and what it looks like. (Gene’s garden exploration)
    Step 2 – Look under the petals: Flowers aren’t just pretty. They may look like they aren’t doing a lot, but they’re actually quite busy!  (Gene’s garden exploration)
    Step 3 – Find out how flowers help people: Not only do flowers have a lot going on inside of them, but they do a lot for people. (Gene’s garden exploration)

    Gardener
    Step 1 – Visit a garden: The best way to get inspired about gardening is to explore and enjoy a well-cared-for garden. Take a tour of one of the gardens below to start learning about how gardens are planted, how to take care of them, and the right way to pick flowers when they’ve blossomed. (Gene’s Gardens exploration)
    Step 2 – Explore garden design: The first gardens on record were planted in Persia 4,000 years ago. Humans have long known that well-designed gardens can have magical effects-they can make people feel cheerful, thoughtful, or inspired. (Gene’s Gardens exploration)
    Step 3 – Learn how to choose garden plants (Gene’s Gardens exploration)
    Step 4 – Experiment with seeds (Gene’s Gardens exploration)

    Math in Nature 1
    Step 1 – Identify symmetry in nature (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 2 – Explore bilateral symmetry in nature (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – Create nature-inspired art with circular symmetry (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Find fractals in nature  (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Search for the Fibonacci sequence (outdoor grounds exploration)

    Math in Nature 2
    Steps 3 – Explore the circumference of trees (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Search for shadows (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Find the area and perimeter of plants (outdoor grounds exploration)

  • Cadette

    Cadette Trail Adventure
    Step 5 – Go on your outdoor adventure: You’ve planned and trained—now you’re ready for your outdoor adventure! Make it memorable by keeping an adventure journal, shooting videos of your experience, or trying a new activity along a trail. (utilize the trails on and around the site)

    Animal Helpers
    Step 5 – Look at how animals might help us in the future (outdoor grounds exploration)

    Night Owl
    Step 1 – Take a field trip to explore the night: Find information about life after dark. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Explore nature at night: From Planets to constellations, from moon flower to evening primrose, from bats to owls to anacondas, some parts of the natural world come alive-or only appear-at night. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Trees
    Steps 1 – Try some tree fun: What better way to get glad about trees than to spend some time with them? Head outside and enjoy the bounty, shade, and delicious fun of trees. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Explore the connection between people and trees: Food, inspiration, and oxygen aren’t the only ways trees benefit people. Fuel, medicine, and shelter are also crucial to the tree-people connection-crucial, and anything but simple. Naturalists know all the moving parts surrounding their subjects, so here’s where you get the whole context of the tree relationship. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

  • Senior

    Adventurer
    Step 1 – Enhance your adventure: Choose your adventure activity and find a location that will offer possibilities for a trip of at least two nights. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 4 – Plan your service to the great outdoors: Combine the natural environment and service to tother into your adventure or help other GS before or after your trip. (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 5 – Capture the adventure: Time to set out! Choose a way to capture the amazing days. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

    Paddling
    Step 4 – Go on a short paddling adventure: It’s a thrilling moment when you first pull away from land and set out on the water. (Utilize Sylvan Lake)

    Eco Explorer
    Step 2 – Explore biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of plant and animal species in an area. It’s a delicate balance of living things that all work together. When species become extinct—or new species are introduced—it can create problems in the environment. Take a trip to explore biodiversity in this step (outdoor grounds exploration)
    Step 3 – (outdoor grounds exploration) Investigate a global ecosystem issue: As you learned in Step 2 of this badge, biodiversity refers to the variety of plant and animal species in an area. An ecosystem includes plant and animal life, but also refers to nonliving factors such as climate, soil, and water. Dive into an issue that affects the global ecosystem in this step.
    Step 4 – Plan a trip to explore and work on an issue: Now that you’ve talked to an expert and explored some environmental issues, think of one issue you’d like to explore further. Plan a trip to investigate your issue in person and come up with a hands-on way to make a difference. Your trip or series of visits could take place at the local level or farther away—whichever works best for you and your family. (Outdoor grounds exploration)

  • Ambassador

    Water
    Step 1 – Have fun reflecting on your relationship with water: Reflect on what water means to you, where it drops into your life, and what possibilities and challenges you see reflected on tis sparkling surface. (Utilize Sylvan Lake & Hemingway Wetlands)
    Step 3 – Find out about water issues: Humans have always been a dependent on water. Civilizations were build around rivers. When it’s dry, humans often created artificial bodies of water-reservoirs, harbors, and waterways. (Utilize Sylvan Lake & Hemingway Wetlands)
    Step 4 – Explore water solutions: There are myriad water issues, to be sure. But since civilization depends on water, humans have always used their innovation and ingenuity to find, treat, gather, filter, conserve, and protect this precious resource. (Utilize Sylvan Lake & Hemingway Wetlands)

    Photography
    Step 1 – Explore the power of photography (Tour)
    Step 2 – Focus on composition – shoot five landscapes (Grounds)
    Step 3 – focus on light – shoot five portraits or still lifes (Tour & Visitors Center)

Download the Badge Explorer guide