Blog: Citizen Science Projects, People, and Perspectives
By Kristin Butler, Oct 05, 2017
Tiffany Poon dives with sharks. In fact, it’s one the biggest highlights of her diving year. “As soon as the first one appears, usually in spring, I’ll be at La Jolla Cove spending as much time as possible with them,” Poon says. “Sometimes they’re shy and keep their distance, but often they’ll come by close … Read more “From Tide-pooling to Shark Diving, Citizen Science with Ocean Sanctuaries”
Categories: Citizen Science, Education, Ocean & Water, Other
By Guest Contributor, Mar 28, 2017
Who really benefits from citizen science? How can citizen science support STEM education? How do we bring citizen science to new audiences? How can we leverage new technologies to expand student participation in citizen science projects? These were some of the questions we set out to discuss at the Citizen Science Meet-up at SXSWedu. SXSWedu … Read more “Upbeat, collaborative, and focused: Educators at SXSWedu reflect on the value and future of citizen science in education.”
Categories: Citizen Science News, Education, Events, Guest Contributor, Science Education Standards
By Eva Lewandowski, Dec 03, 2016
When most people think about citizen scientists, they tend to think of them as data collectors, volunteering their time to report wildlife sightings, gather microbe samples, or transcribe old weather reports. It’s true that data collection is the primary task of most citizen scientists, but many volunteers take their participation a step further by designing … Read more “Citizen Scientists, Citizen Educators”
Categories: Citizen Science, Education
By Guest Contributor, Nov 17, 2016
By Lea Shell Middle school students are presented with a bucket of what, at first glance, looks like dirt. They pull handfuls onto their lab bench and carefully begin to sift. “I found a shark tooth!” one student exclaims, prompting the other students to peer more intently at their own piles. Before long, they see … Read more “Why it’s OK to fail: empowering students to discover”
Categories: Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), EarthSchool, Education, Guest Contributor, Science Practices
By Guest Contributor, Sep 29, 2016
In his second post, guest contributor Ben Graves shares his advice for identifying a citizen science project for the classroom. Ben Graves is a fellow with the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, which supports a small cohort of early-career teachers across the United States with intensive professional development. He teaches AP Environmental Science and freshman environmental … Read more “Finding The First Project For Your Classroom”
Categories: Citizen Science, Education
By Eva Lewandowski, Sep 08, 2016
As students head back to school, more and more teachers are using citizen science in their classrooms to give students authentic science experiences. Below, our editors highlight some of the many excellent citizen science projects that work well in classrooms. You can find even more with the SciStarter Global Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team
Categories: Citizen Science, Education, Newsletter
By Carolyn Graybeal, Sep 01, 2016
Going out of your way to attract mosquitoes seems like the last thing anyone would want to do, but that is exactly what the national Invasive Mosquito Project is hoping volunteers will do in the name of public health. Managed through the United States Department of Agriculture, the Invasive Mosquito Project aims to track the spread of … Read more “Enlisting youth citizen scientists to combat Zika”
Categories: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Biology, Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Ecology & Environment, Education, Insects, Nature & Outdoors, Planning and carrying out investigations, Project Profile, Science Practices
By Joe Diaz, Sep 17, 2013
SciStarter has a whole round-up of tree-related projects for you this season. Branch out into citizen science! Walking around my neighborhood the other day, I was casually observing the local flora when I was struck by the redness of one particular set of leaves. While the tree pictured is not the exact one I spied … Read more “Why do some tree leaves turn red?”
Categories: Education, Guest Contributor, Nature & Outdoors, Science Education Standards
By Carolyn Graybeal, Jan 14, 2013
Do you just “get” numbers? Or have they always left you a little baffled? Now you can test this observation and quantify your number sense. Number sense is our “gut knowledge” of numbers’ magnitude, their relationships, and even basic arithmetic. Number sense is thought to be innate, potently present as early as infancy. But while … Read more “Know your numbers”
Categories: Education
By Darlene Cavalier, Dec 13, 2012
Earlier today, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosted “E.O. Wilson’s Global Town Hall,” with biologist Edward Osborne Wilson, University Research Professor Emeritus at Harvard. In anticipation of this exciting event, the museum revamped its Citizen Science Center and added new features. “I am especially pleased that we now offer a SciStarter kiosk in … Read more “Announcing the SciStarter kiosk interface for schools, museums and public areas.”
Categories: Citizen Science, Education
