Author: karen

Citizen Science in the Classroom: Quake-Catcher Network Quake-Catcher Network Citizen Science Project Meeting Common Core and Next Generation Teaching Standards Grades: K-12 Description: Quake-Catcher Network (QCN) is a citizen science project that uses internet and sensors (subsidized or free for K-12 classrooms) to connect schools and other entities to an earthquake monitoring network. It is hosted […]

Students Explore the Surface of Mars and Contribute to Citizen Science From Their Classroom Grades: 1st -12th Description: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is asking for help in processing data collected on Mars, in the form of pictures taken by the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Curiosity. On the “Be a Martian” home page […]

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, […]

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 […]

Tracking the Invasive Chinese Mitten Crab through the Chinese Mitten Crab Watch When you go outside on a cold and snowy day you put on a coat and mittens to keep you warm, but did you know that there’s a type of crab that actually wears mittens all year round?  It’s called the Chinese Mitten […]

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 […]

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. […]

When you consider the field of citizen science you probably think of it as something you do by collecting data, taking pictures, finding plants or animals, or uploading sightings. There’s a new form of citizen science emerging called a “thought experiment.” You may be familiar with thought experiments like that of “Schrödinger’s Cat” or Einstein’s […]