Exploration Award Requirements 

To qualify for this award, Venturers must, to the satisfaction of their company and advisor:

Section 1 - Discovery

• Complete any two (2) of the following in this section:

1. Visit a place of interest involving an overnight stay and at least a total of twenty-four (24) kilometers walking; OR sixty-four (64) kilometers cycling; OR one hundred and ninety-four kilometers by car, train, or bus; OR at an equivalent level by means of your own choosing.

2. Participate in the planning and organizing of an overnight of the Company's choosing to a Venturer Company at least eighty (80) kilometers away from your headquarters. Participate in the organization and execution of a joint activity with the Venturer Company visited.

3. Over a winter, spring, summer or autumn season, practice an outdoor hobby (no sports), e.g. photography, sketching, bird watching, leaf collecting, and make a report or visual presentation of at least fifteen (15) minutes to the Company describing the hobby.

Section 2 - Challenge

• Working in small groups or as a Company, complete any two (2) of the following:

1. Plan, organize and participate in an overnight hiking, canoeing, or cycling camping expedition to explore and map a trail, stream, etc., On return, present your findings to the Company.

2. Plan, organize and participate in an overnight camping expedition utilizing lightweight or a minimum of equipment to a point of interest chosen by the Company. Use transportation available to the Company. On return, present your learning's to the Company.

3. Build and furnish an igloo or winter shelter and live in and around the shelter for twenty-four (24) hours. Hike, snowshoe or ski at least 1.6km each way into an area in which the igloo or shelter is to be located, carrying or sledding all necessary equipment. On return, present your learning's to the Company.

Section 3 - Skills & Knowledge

• Complete one (1) of the two:

1. Select a campsite, pitch and erect a tent and stow gear. Select and set up a food presentation area; plan, cook and serve a camp meal; gather and chop or saw wood if appropriate; remain in this location over two (2) nights; leave a clean campsite. Upon return, describe to others how you were environmentally friendly.

2. Assemble, describe and display winter and summer survival kits and explain their use. Develop the skill of identifying and gathering edible roots and berries, and constructing winter and summer shelters with a minimum number of tools. Describe and explain what to do if lost in the wilderness.

• Complete any one (1) of the following:

1. Name the main parts of a hand and felling axe, explain the care of axes and how to replace an axe handle. Name the parts and care of a hunting knife or pocket knife. Demonstrate ability in the uses of axes and knives in the construction of a natural shelter.

2. Construct a home or camp weather station consisting of a reliable thermometer correctly mounted away from the direct sun; a homemade rain gauge, a homemade anemometer, or wind gauge. Take daily observation of cloud formations, precipitation, temperature and wind for sixty (60) days.

3. Demonstrate the tying and practical and use of ten (10) knots, bends, lashings or whippings by making a model of a simple camp tower or bridge.

• Complete any one (1) of the following:

1. Be able to describe and identify ten (10) birds, their eggs and nesting habits. Birds selected should be native to your own province or region.

2. Be able to identify ten (10) animals (excluding domestic animals), the size of their litters and the means of feeding their young. Animals selected should be native to your own province or region.

3. Be able to describe and identify ten (10) species of trees and their bark, leaves and fruit (where applicable) in your own province or region, and commercial usage, if any.

Section 4 - Conservation

• Investigate a make a presentation to the Company on any two (2)of the following subjects. The presentation must be of at least ten (10) minutes duration and can be illustrated by any means of your choosing. A group of Venturers can investigate and make a joint presentation; However, it would then have to be of at least twenty (20) minutes duration and should be illustrated.

1. Animal conservation or plant conservation

2. Air conservation

3. Water or sea conservation

4. Soil conservation

5. Mineral conservation

6. Ecology

7. Governmental conservation measures

8. Volunteer conservation groups

9. What any industry or company is doing about conservation

10. A subject of your own choosing which deals with any aspect of conservation or ecology.