Citizen Science in The Classroom: Monarch Migration

Using Journey North’s Monarch Project to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Citizen Science and Monarch Migration as a Teaching Tool Grades: K-12th Description: Journey North (JN) is a citizen science project for the observation and tracking of seasonal weather changes and phenology or life cycle changes in animals and plants. This website … Read more “Citizen Science in The Classroom: Monarch Migration”

Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Phytoplankton Monitoring Network

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”

Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Project Noah

Using Project Noah to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: K-12th Description: Project Noah is a digital platform that is designed to allow students, teachers, citizens and biologists to create a database that documents the biodiversity of plants, animals, insects, and much more across the planet. The data uploaded includes photos, geographic location, date, … Read more “Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Project Noah”

Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: CoCoRaHS

Using Citizen Science Weather Data Collection with CoCoRaHS to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: 2nd-6th Grades Description: The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is hosted by the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University. It is a network of citizen scientists and classrooms (K-12) that participate in a … Read more “Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: CoCoRaHS”

Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Lost Ladybug Project

Using the Lost Lady Bug Project Citizen Science Project to Meet Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: Primary through adult Description: Scientists are asking for help learning about the distribution of native and invasive ladybugs, their populations, and ranges. Classrooms and individuals may participate by joining this project to upload their sightings of … Read more “Citizen Science in the Classroom Series: Lost Ladybug Project”

Citizen Science goes to camp and into classrooms: Join us for a Virtual Citizen Science Field Trip!

This fall, students everywhere were treated to a citizen science virtual field trip organized by Discovery Education and the Girl Scouts of the USA. “Unleash Your Inner Scientist,” the title of virtual field trip,  featured SciStarter’s Founder, Darlene Cavalier, and was filmed on location at the 92-acre STEM Center of Excellence in Dallas, Texas. No … Read more “Citizen Science goes to camp and into classrooms: Join us for a Virtual Citizen Science Field Trip!”

Integrating Citizen Science Into Your Classroom or Organization

This is the first installment for a brand new series about citizen science in schools and classrooms. Teachers often hear the term citizen science, but it’s never really clear what it is and how it might integrate into their classrooms. Citizen science is methodical scientific research conducted in part (or sometimes entirely) by non-professional scientists. … Read more “Integrating Citizen Science Into Your Classroom or Organization”

A man and a woman sit on the ground, both looking at a phone, ostensibly at a photo that was just taken. Rectangular tubs, one with vegetation, nets and a field guide are on the ground. The man is pointing to something on the phone. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

MacroBlitz: Explore Freshwater Ecosystems and Contribute to Science by Tracking Macroinvertebrates

Freshwater macroinvertebrates. While not a household name, we’ve all experienced their impact. Ever swat a mosquito? Watched a dragonfly swoop by? Walked through a swarm of midges? Then you have seen a freshwater macroinvertebrate – albeit in its adult, terrestrial form.  Freshwater macroinvertebrates are organisms that live in freshwater (lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands) … Read more “MacroBlitz: Explore Freshwater Ecosystems and Contribute to Science by Tracking Macroinvertebrates”