One of my goals for this year is to get each class involved
in a citizen science project. What is citizen science, you say? Citizen science
is when folks all over the world come together to help researchers collect
data, identify trends, or solve problems. The idea is that the more people
working on a project, the more likely the solution will be solved, sooner than
later. It also allows models to be much more accurate, as each person
contributing adds more points of data.
Our local Fish and Game harness the power of citizens like you
to study animals throughout Idaho- here is a link detailing some of the
projects, one of which includes our own mascot, the wolverine.
Some citizen science projects take the shape of games that
you can play to solve problems:
Two different games that relate to the diversity of life.
Playing around with RNA
Map how the brain works
Help develop cures for cancer
Others involve monitoring the natural world in your
community, and reporting on what you see:
Bird watching from your dinning room table
A bunch of different projects relating to birds
Have you seen a frog recently?
You can even use your smart phone to be a citizen scientist:
Identifying invasive species and where they are
Tweeting snow depths and location to create a map of snow coverage
Reporting water pollution with a click of a camera
Citizen science is a great way to be part of large projects,
and to contribute to the knowledge and health of our world.
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