Ozone and Wildflower Production

Students can become citizen scientists. Citizen scientists are volunteers, not necessarily scientists, who gather data from observations. The ‘cutleaf coneflower ozone-biomonitoring protocol... See More

Students can become citizen scientists. Citizen scientists are volunteers, not necessarily scientists, who gather data from observations. The ‘cutleaf coneflower ozone-biomonitoring protocol’, provided in this article, is part of a project which uses citizen scientist to actively gather data from plants growing in the Great Smokey Mountains. This article describes a 5E learning activity where students’ participants gain understanding of the impacts of ground-level ozone on both plants and human health. This activity is designed for middle school students and could serve as a model for a similar application closer to a reader’s actual location.

Let's Get our Students Involved- Now!

This fabulous article fully explains citizen-science research efforts which are taking place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park between researcher and middle school students. By havi... See More

This fabulous article fully explains citizen-science research efforts which are taking place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park between researcher and middle school students. By having students monitor two types of wildflowers throughout their growing season, they are able to assist scientists in determining the impact that ground level ozone is having on these plants. This article not only does a wonderful job of explaining how the students conduct this research, but it also provides a comprehensive 5 E lesson plan, complete with diagrams, rubrics, and detailed models, that would enable any middle or high school student to be involved in such research.