The Benefits of Citizen Scientists

Students, a parent, and a teacher become ‘citizen environmental scientists’ by working for a national park to do a survey of different aspects of a trail during the summer months, once a wee... See More

Students, a parent, and a teacher become ‘citizen environmental scientists’ by working for a national park to do a survey of different aspects of a trail during the summer months, once a week. They learned about the diverse flora, diverse fauna, stream ecology and the importance of good record keeping. This project was conducted every summer with new students. The article also describes similar activities available at different locations in the nation. The resources in this article are excellent. More importantly students engaged in these activities may choose to make this a career choice but even if they don’t they become adults who are more aware of the environment.

Citizen Science project overview

Citizen science projects immerse students in authentic data collecting that is used to expand scientists knowledge and data collection. The author describes a biologic taxa inventory that sh... See More

Citizen science projects immerse students in authentic data collecting that is used to expand scientists knowledge and data collection. The author describes a biologic taxa inventory that she used to successfully engags her students during the summer. This article provides a general overview of the definition of citizen science and some of the possible projects that teachers could use with their classes. It falls short, however, of giving detailed protocols regarding the project described. More information regarding classroom management, particularly for research that occurs in the summer, would assist teachers who are interested in citizen science projects.