Hunting for Bugs at BioBlitz

They found paper wasps, cactus flies and fruit flies. They saw dragonflies and butterflies zooming about. And when they peered into bushes like hackberry and creosote they saw ants, termites and ground beetles living underneath. They even found beetles in an old soda can. … Read more

Categories: Citizen Science

It’s Time to Count the Stars

Wow! Take a look at the map on the Great World Wide Star Count website. The fall campaign started yesterday and already there are oodles of citizen scientists from around the world posting their data. Citizen scientists from China, Australia, India, Kuwait, Egypt, South Africa, the European Union, Canada, United States, and Mexico have gotten involved so far. They are all looking at how bright the stars are overhead to help us get a better understanding of how streetlights, porch lights, car headlights and other nighttime lights affect how we see the stars in the sky. … Read more

Categories: Astronomy & Space, Citizen Science

Citizen Science: the Animated Movie

There should be more animated movies about citizen science, don’t you think? Thankfully, the people at a weather-focused citizen science project called the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow project (known by the funny acronym CoCoRaHS) have made this video! It tells the story of how the project started and explains how people all over the country are getting involved. Watch and find out how you can become a CoCoRaHS volunteer too! … Read more

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather

NIH Lab Challenge: Submit your best citizen science experiments!

  Here’s your chance to help bring citizen science to the classroom — and win a little recognition in the process! The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is asking people to send in their best experiments for kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms. After you submit your experiments, a panel of classroom teachers, students, scientists, and NIH … Read more “NIH Lab Challenge: Submit your best citizen science experiments!”

Categories: Science Education Standards, Science Policy