How People Make Things is an exhibition that helps families talk together and learn about the making of everyday objects. The goal of the project was to create a learning environment that mediates difficult manufacturing concepts for parents, and scaffolds the development of family conversations about the processes of making both inside and outside the museum. A visit to the exhibition would be deemed successful if visitors demonstrated changes in what they knew and how they talked about objects and manufacturing processes. A model of change describing how families might build such an
Through Wildlife Watch, participants gain first hand experience with plants and animals in their natural environment. The Wildlife Watch website features downloadable "watch" lists by state, and the capability for visitors to share wildlife sightings, photos and stories online. Wildlife Watch is an introductory citizen science program that is perfect for families, photographers, kids, outdoor enthusiasts and anyone who wants a deeper connection with world around them.
Vital Signs a community-based education program that links middle school students, citizen scientists, and scientists in the collection and analysis of environmental data related to invasive species. Vital Signs leverages technology to enable students to practice scientific inquiry, collect rigorous and consistent data, share the data and knowledge they have collected, and to serve as a distributed data collection network for the scientific community.
Gardeners visit this site and report what varieties perform well - and not so well - in their gardens. Other gardeners visit to view the variety ratings and read the reviews to decide which might work well for them. The VVfG citizen science project also provides an opportunity for researchers to involve knowledgeable, motivated citizens in meaningful scientific research. Research on the performance of vegetable varieties is often limited to commercial production in part, because visiting thousands of home gardens to collect data would be an overwhelming task.
Predicting the spread of non-native organisms in the oceans is difficult. Usually there is not enough data on the introduced species over a large enough geographic scale and for a long enough time to develop and test mathematical models. Collecting adequate data takes many people working together to identify a particular species and accurately record information. This project seeks to demonstrate that a large group of people working together can collect enough scientifically valid data for predicting the spread of recently introduced non-native crab species. This project is designed to accomplish two goals. Firstly, it aims to train and validate the efforts of citizen scientists to collect data. Secondly, the data will be used to develop an invasion probability model for two crab species, European green crab (Carcinus maenas), and Asian shore crab (Hemigrapsus sanguineus).
BirdSleuth is an inquiry-based science curriculum that engages kids in scientific study and real data collection through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's citizen science projects. Each BirdSleuth module encourages students do what “real” scientists do: ask questions, collect data, look for patterns and evidence, test ideas, draw conclusions, and share results. Each module scaffolds one or more citizen science projects, and includes lesson plans, student journals, a reference guide, and a resource kit containing such tools as Focus Cards, CD-ROMs or DVDs, books, and full-color posters.
The South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement involves volunteers of all ages in hands on habitat-restoration along the coast of SC. Volunteers also monitor reef development and water quality, entering data online. Volunteers can work with marine scientists on related aspects of the project (e.g. sampling fish and invertebrates using created habitats).
Volunteer "Species Stewards" adopt one or more species of native prairie or savanna plants. On semi-monthly or more frequent visits, stewards log locations, bloom dates, and seed ripening dates, and collect seed to be used to restore additional prairie on old field sites. Additional opportunities for individual or group seed collection and sowing are provided. Buckthorn-busting is also available.
Monarchs in the Classroom provides a wide variety of materials and professional development opportunities for teachers, naturalists and citizens throughout the US. Two groups of behind the scenes people work together in a unique partnership to make this program successful: classroom teachers and scientists committed to sharing their expertise with the broader community. All of our programs reflect this partnership, combining real science with techniques that work for teachers, students and citizens, and promoting practices in which children learn science in ways that reflect the inquiry methods used by scientists to understand the natural world.
OPIHI (Our Project in Hawaii’s Intertidal) is a school-based monitoring program of Hawaii’s rocky intertidal where students improve their scientific skills while gathering data in an area that has not been well studied in Hawaii. While taking part in OPIHI, students learn about topics in marine ecology and conservation, species identification, and sampling techniques. Most importantly, students build their confidence and interest in science. We hope this place-based learning connects students to their local environments and natural resources and encourages wise stewardship.
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University of HawaiiReefcheck HawaiiJoanna Philippoff
California NatureMapping is starting up through individual Centers that are trained and supported by the National NatureMapping Program. The goals are the same to link natural resource agencies with citizens and schools through biodiversity data collection and analyses. Currently, K-12 students are the main focus for NatureMapping training and local research projects. These projects include inventorying and monitoring wildlife through the Fresno County Schools and bioblitzes and tracking in the Bay area.
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Karen DvornichRiekes Center for Human EnhancementScout Island Education Center