Citizen Science
What is Citizen Science?
Citizen science projects engage volunteers and professionals in collaborative research to generate new scientific knowledge, Projects come in all shapes and sizes and cover a wide variety of topics. Project models include: data collection by volunteers, data classification by volunteers, and community based collaborative projects. Data classification projects take advantage of the Internet, are based on the concept of crowdsourcing and include volunteers in a wide variety of activities such as mapping the 3D structure of neurons, looking for galaxies, and even digitizing a ship’s logs from the 1800s!
WATCH: What is Citizen Science?
Download our Nature Nurture Journals for kids!
Activities
All Tangled Up: Create a food web to model an ecosystem.
Bird is the Word: Watch and ID birds in your neighborhood.
Cloud Clues: Name cloud characteristics in this outdoor, observational activity.
Out and About: Create your own field guide.
Season Seeking: Look for phenomenal phenology in your community.
Wetland Band: Learn frog calls in this citizen science practice activity.
Videos
Butterfly Diaries: SciGirls help scientists track the monarch butterfly population and raise caterpillars.
Feathered Friends: SciGirls investigate what makes a good bird habitat in an urban environment.
Flower Power: SciGirls track changes in flowers and plants as spring emerges after a long winter.
Frog Whisperers: Friends compare frog and toad calls in rural and urban sites to evaluate the population.
SkyGirls: SciGirls team up with NASA to identify clouds and verify satellite data.
Terrific Pacific: SoCal SciGirls help scientists collect data on the health of the Pacific Ocean.
Resources