Invite Ants to Your Picnic… for Science!

SciStarter. Science we can do together.Warming weather and longer days mean more time for citizen science! 🙂
Check out our editor’s list of fun and easy projects to do this month.
Cheers,
The SciStarter Team
Screenshot from Project Sidewalk's website.
Image credit: Project Sidewalk

Let’s create a path for everyone to enjoy the great outdoors this summer! Virtually explore city streets to find and label accessibility issues in three easy steps, right from the comfort of your home. Your observations will be used to improve city planning, build accessibility-aware mapping tools and train machine learning algorithms to automatically find accessibility issues.

Location: Global

Get Started!

Ants on a cupcake on a red and white checked picnic blanket.
Image credit: Canva

Are you planning a summer picnic? Help out scientists by inviting some ants! Set out six foods and document what the ants eat. Report on the environment of your ant picnic, the number of ants that come and upload a picture of your experiment.

Location: Global

Get Started!

A screenshot from the SquirrelMapper website. Photos of squirrels are overlaid with the text,
Image credit: SquirrelMapper.org

Today, most of the squirrels we see in North America are gray. But did you know two centuries ago most were black? Help scientists find an answer to how evolution could change these species so profoundly. Contribute squirrel observations, classify squirrels based on their color or play Find the Squirrel to see if you can spot the squirrel in 15 seconds or less.

Location: North America

Get Started!

A bee inside a big flower.
Image credit: Diana Măceşanu/Unsplash

How are ecosystems near you changing as summer begins? Help researchers study pollinators and native plants by uploading images as plants come up, bloom, turn to seed and more. Enjoy the summer sun and bloom while learning about the natural world and contributing to science.

Location: North America

Get Started!

A spider web covered in dew.
Image Credit: Kurt Bouda/Pixabay

Are spiders finding relief from the summer heat inside your house? Instead of dusting away spider webs, collect and send them to the Spidey Senser Lab. Metals in the air settle as dust in spider webs, which can give scientists insights into air quality! It’s a clever way to detect air quality differences across communities.

Location: Global

Get Started!

Discover more citizen science on the SciStarter calendar. Did you know your SciStarter dashboard helps you track your contributions to projects? Complete your profile to access free tools. Want even more citizen science? Check out SciStarter’s Project Finder! With citizen science projects spanning every field of research, task and age group, there’s something for everyone!

Categories: Uncategorized

About the Author

SciStarter Team

SciStarter Team

SciStarter connects you to thousands of searchable citizen science projects in need of your help. Use the Project Finder (SciStarter.org/Finder) to find a project to match your location, interests, and age level. Your free SciStarter account will help you earn credit for participating in projects across apps and websites (use the advanced search option at SciStarter.org/Finder to find Affiliate projects eligible for credit in your dashboard). Together, we can move the world forward!