Category: Education

We have an exciting announcement! Beginning in October of this year, SciStarter is partnering with Dr. Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher’s research team to begin publishing monthly book reviews of books focusing on citizen science. Dr. Mehlenbacher’s team at the University of Waterloo includes both undergraduate and graduate students. Housed in the English Department, the team’s research focuses on, among […]

Created in 1958 as the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) within the National Science Foundation, BSCS Science Learning is now an independent 501(c)(3) with over 60 years of research and educational training, focusing on science learning. Their mission is to transform science education “so that all students have an opportunity to learn science for their […]

Tomorrow, on Saturday, July 21, Moth Week will commence! Running until Sunday, July 29, Moth Week is a way for people of all ages all around the world to come together to celebrate the beauty, life cycles, and habitats of moths. These self-described “Moth-ers” are in fact citizen scientists, as one of the key missions […]

By Egle Marija Ramanauskaite, Citizen Science Coordinator at EyesOnALZ December 21st, 2017, just might enter the history books as the first day a citizen science trophy was ever awarded to a school. The trophy, bestowed to 250 students for contributing to Alzheimer’s research, is now proudly displayed next to sports trophies & special achievement awards at a […]

Tiffany Poon dives with sharks. In fact, it’s one the biggest highlights of her diving year. “As soon as the first one appears, usually in spring, I’ll be at La Jolla Cove spending as much time as possible with them,” Poon says. “Sometimes they’re shy and keep their distance, but often they’ll come by close […]

Who really benefits from citizen science? How can citizen science support STEM education?  How do we bring citizen science to new audiences? How can we leverage new technologies to expand student participation in citizen science projects? These were some of the questions we set out to discuss at the Citizen Science Meet-up at SXSWedu. SXSWedu […]

When most people think about citizen scientists, they tend to think of them as data collectors, volunteering their time to report wildlife sightings, gather microbe samples, or transcribe old weather reports. It’s true that data collection is the primary task of most citizen scientists, but many volunteers take their participation a step further by designing […]

By Lea Shell Middle school students are presented with a bucket of what, at first glance, looks like dirt. They pull handfuls onto their lab bench and carefully begin to sift. “I found a shark tooth!” one student exclaims,  prompting the other students to peer more intently at their own piles. Before long, they see […]

In his second post, guest contributor Ben Graves shares his advice for identifying a citizen science project for the classroom. Ben Graves is a fellow with the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation, which supports a small cohort of early-career teachers across the United States with intensive professional development. He teaches AP Environmental Science and freshman environmental […]

As students head back to school, more and more teachers are using citizen science in their classrooms to give students authentic science experiences. Below, our editors highlight some of the many excellent citizen science projects that work well in classrooms. You can find even more with the SciStarter Global Project Finder. Cheers! The SciStarter Team