Category: Ocean & Water

Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Phytoplankton Monitoring Network

By Karen McDonald, Mar 06, 2014

Citizen Science in the Classroom and the Phytoplankton Monitoring Network     NOAA National Ocean Service Phytoplankton Monitoring Network Citizen Science Project to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: 1st-12th (*see notes below about elementary grades) Description: The Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) is hosted through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). … Read more “Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Phytoplankton Monitoring Network”

Categories: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Citizen Science, Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Developing and using models, Engaging in argument from evidence, Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, Ocean & Water, Planning and carrying out investigations, Science Practices, Using mathematics and computational thinking

Your Radionuclides and You: Citizen Scientists Can Help Monitor Fukushima Radioactivity

By Lily Bui, Feb 25, 2014

The story of a nuclear disaster and what can do you as a citizen scientist to help assess the residual aftermath. [In the news – KQED Science recently spoke to project organizer Ken Buessler about the radiation in our ocean.] Three years ago on March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami shook Japan. The … Read more “Your Radionuclides and You: Citizen Scientists Can Help Monitor Fukushima Radioactivity”

Categories: Citizen Science, In the News, Ocean & Water

Spec-tacular Science: Use Public Lab’s DIY Spectrometer to find out what stuff is made of!

By Arvind Suresh, Feb 19, 2014

Public Lab’s DIY spectrometry kit makes it possible for citizen scientists to do their own spectrometric analysis at home. Come to your senses! SciStarter has curated a list of citizen science projects for all five senses.   Spectrometry. Listen to yourself say it out loud. Admit it. It sounds cool just to say “spectrometry.”(Whoa you … Read more “Spec-tacular Science: Use Public Lab’s DIY Spectrometer to find out what stuff is made of!”

Categories: Apps, Biology, Chemistry, Citizen Science, Computers & Technology, Ecology & Environment, Ocean & Water

The RIFFLE Effect: Public Lab’s New Pilot Water Monitoring Sensor Tool

By Lily Bui, Feb 05, 2014

Public Lab announces RIFFLE, a new pilot program and open sensor tool to monitor water quality of Mystic River in Massachusetts. By definition, a riffle is a “short, relatively shallow and coarse-bedded length of stream over which the stream flows at higher velocity and higher turbulence than it normally does in comparison to a pool.” Similarly, Public … Read more “The RIFFLE Effect: Public Lab’s New Pilot Water Monitoring Sensor Tool”

Categories: Citizen Science, Ocean & Water, Science Policy

Surveying Seabirds of the Puget Sound this Holiday Season.

By Melinda T. Hough, Dec 25, 2013

If you’re looking for more projects for the holiday season, we’ve got 12 Days of Citizen Science for you! “On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” birds! Partridges, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, golden rings (pheasants), geese and swans inhabit this festival folk classic celebrating food and merriment. Seabirds, … Read more “Surveying Seabirds of the Puget Sound this Holiday Season.”

Categories: Animals, Birds, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Monitoring the Spread of the Invasive Chinese Mitten Crab with the Smithsonian

By Karen McDonald,

Tracking the Invasive Chinese Mitten Crab through the Chinese Mitten Crab Watch When you go outside on a cold and snowy day you put on a coat and mittens to keep you warm, but did you know that there’s a type of crab that actually wears mittens all year round?  It’s called the Chinese Mitten … Read more “Monitoring the Spread of the Invasive Chinese Mitten Crab with the Smithsonian”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Winter Weather: Citizen Science Projects to Make You Feel Warm and Fuzzy Inside

By Jenna Lang, Dec 02, 2013

Baby, it’s cold outside! To mark the first day of winter on December 21st, the SciStarter team put together this list of wintery Citizen Science projects. We bet you’ll feel warm and fuzzy inside when you participate. Counting Weddell Seals in Antarctica Even if your local winter weather does not include ice and snow, you … Read more “Winter Weather: Citizen Science Projects to Make You Feel Warm and Fuzzy Inside”

Categories: Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Newsletter, Ocean & Water

The Snapper, the Groper and the Emperor – Donate Your Skeletons

By Ian Vorster, Oct 17, 2013

Drag your bones toward more Halloween-themed citizen science.  The snapper, the groper and the emperor—these are not synonyms for that nasty blind date you landed last month, nor do they form the lineup for a cast of Halloween characters. These are fish. In particular they are demersal species, which refers to a type of fish … Read more “The Snapper, the Groper and the Emperor – Donate Your Skeletons”

Categories: Animals, Citizen Science, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water

Just Add Water: Why Water Monitoring is Important

By Lily Bui, Sep 18, 2013

Today is World Water Monitoring Day! Participate by ordering a test kit and submitting sample data through December of this year. Also, check out the ocean of other water citizen science projects on SciStarter. Here at SciStarter, we spend a lot of time supporting citizen science, but we also happen to be citizen scientists ourselves. In the … Read more “Just Add Water: Why Water Monitoring is Important”

Categories: Chemistry, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, In the News, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water, Science Education Standards

A Picture Saves 1,000 Streams – Water Quality Monitoring on Your Smartphone

By Melinda T. Hough, Sep 09, 2013

This post is part of this week’s featured projects about water quality monitoring. Take a look! Despite over 70% of the Earth’s surface being covered in water, one in nine people do not have access to an improved water source.(1) Contaminated water kills more people than all wars, crimes and terrorism combined yet more people … Read more “A Picture Saves 1,000 Streams – Water Quality Monitoring on Your Smartphone”

Categories: Apps, Citizen Science, Climate & Weather, Ecology & Environment, Nature & Outdoors, Ocean & Water