Nova awards use a slightly more scientific approach while exposing Scouts to new material. These awards cover the four main STEM areas, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Scouts will learn a lot and should have a lot of fun while earning these awards.
Science
- Let It Grow! - Explore where your food comes from and how agriculture affects your life each day.
- Mendel's Minions - Explore how genetic information affects your life every day.
- Shoot! - Explore how science affects your life each day.
- Splash! - Explore how water affects your life every day.
Technology
- Hello, World - Explore the world of coding or computer programming.
- Start Your Engines! - Explore how technology affects your life each day.
Engineering
- Next Big Thing - Explores the world of product design, which involves balancing time, cost, and quality to create something new
- Up and Away - Explores the world of fluid dynamics, and how it affects your everyday life.
- Whoosh! - Explore how engineering affects your life each day.
Math
- Designed to Crunch - Explore how math affects your life each day.
Earning Nova Awards
A registered Nova counselor needs to work with the Scout to ensure all requirements are met. Once earned, the Nova counselor will record the advancement using Advancement Report, form 34403, which can be given to the Scout. This form should be provided to the troop's advancement chair to be recorded.
If this is the Scout's first Nova award in any program, they should be awarded with the Scouts BSA Nova patch, which has a red border as shown above. Subsequent Nova awards are recognized with a Pi device (the pin), which should be pinned to a point on the patch. This means if a Scout has earned the Nova patch in any other program, continue to use that patch and keep adding Pi devices.
Supernova Awards
Ready to take your STEM adventures to the next level? Want to wear a medal to your formal events? Then the Supernova awards are for you! These awards are designed to be more challenging and more rewarding than the Nova awards. The medals that are awarded are rarely seen and are amazing to wear.
Learn more about the Supernova awards and the award progression.
Nova Awards by Merit Badge
Nova awards require the completion of a merit badge. So, if there's a Scout that's working on one of the following merit badges, then they already have a head start on earning a related Nova award! However, keep track of which merit badges are used for each Nova award because they can't be used for more than one.
The following merit badges are used for the Nova awards. On the merit badge's page is a list of related awards that involve the merit badge.
