Inspiring Investigations through Citizen Science

I researched a citizen-science project called Reef Check. This project does ecological surveys of the number and composition of marine species in different parts of the world's oceans. The data is available to anyone who requests it. Someone who has not participated in the program can access the data, including students. My students could use the project data to conduct an investigation about the health of the marine ecosystems over time or to determine how individual species of animals or algae populations are doing.

I accessed the Globe Program (https://datasearch.globe.gov/) database of climate data.  The database is open to anyone (including students) and has data access and visualization tools.  I queried the database for information about soil moisture in Massachusetts.  We have taken soil samples near our school to better understand what makes soil "healthy" or "unhealthy" and one of our observations was that "healthy" soil has more moisture.  I could see my students using this database to help understand many of the impacts of climate change in our state.

I use eBird every time I take my dog for a walk at our local park.  I also use it frequently in the winter months when observing birds at my bird feeder.  I think eBird will be a perfect project for my students to use since it is easy to navigate and downloads a species list that is common for the area being studied. Once they are comfortable using the app, I hope they will continue to use it outside of school.  Not only can the students contribute data to eBird, but they can easily access the database for their region. I would like to incorporate the database into my lessons.  For example, students can gather data on waterfowl that have been reported at Beaver Creek State Park in Northeast Ohio.  They can use this data to determine when each species first arrives to help understand waterfowl migration.  They can also monitor how there is an increase in waterfowl species diversity in early spring, but that the numbers will decrease as certain species move on to more northern regions to breed. I am excited to hopefully pique the interest of birding in my students and hope to develop their passion for observing the species in their community.

I searched the eBird site. If you have an account, you can add to the database. Data has been uploaded from all over the United States, and many countries. There is location, species, and date information included. I believe the data is available to anyone, but I had an account, but it was free. I have not participated in the collection of the data, only signed up for an account and I was able to access the data. I will have to investigate whether or not students are able to access the data. But in just a quick check, I was able to see all of the different birds in my county, and I could identify which ones are nonmigratory. Students could use this data to identify which birds might be found in our school yard at different times of the year.

I am looking at FeederWatch.  The program is designed to have students do bird counts at their winter feeding areas.  It was started in 2016 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  It is offered to Us & Canadian residents, for a cost of $18.00.  Although, they did offer grants for this program earlier in the year for schools.  Which we did sign up for! The database is accessible to anyone.  There are no restrictions.  Students can access the information. My students are going to use it to put more depth into their study of ornithology!  It will give them a focal point, a reason to start "inquiry" questions!  A desire to learn more once their interest is caught!  We have feeders placed outside of the front of our classroom.  Our classroom front is actually a series of sliding glass doors overlooking their gardens, a natural habit and the playground.  So the students will be able to observe in all types of weather and conditions.  From the Feeder Count we will see if they have any more inquiry questions and see where that takes us in the world of ornithology!

E-bird, because I've been collecting data for the last two years while visiting/living at my parents house. I do at least one checklist per day so I have a ton of data. Yes, as far as I am aware anyone has access to the data. They can use E-bird themselves to make an area at the school!

I looked at the eBird database that provided a graph of the number and species of birds observed from 1900 to present at a particular viewing location throughout the year. This database seems to be accessible to anyone as I have not viewed birds at this location and I was able to see all of the types of birds, and the best time of year to view them. I believe the students could use this database to help them determine what species of birds we would be viewing at the particular time of year we head out to record our bird sightings. Students could also use this database to answer several questions about migrations, migration paths and time of year for several species of birds.

I had never heard of the Lost Ladybug Project before and was curious to find what it's all about. We are losing our native ladybugs in North America, and the project aims to identify ladybugs and infer reasons why native ladybugs are becoming less common and how we can help restore their numbers. The database is easy to find on lostladybug.org in their LLP Data & Mapping tab. They have a variety of ways to view the data, including an exported list, summaries by species or county, and pie charts. Students might use this data to make connections about other observations about arthropods. By studying the habits of invasive species of ladybugs and how to identify them, we could better understand what's happening in a school garden, for example.

I like to look at the maps in Journey North.  This has data publicly available that students can easily access. Journey North has recorded sightings on maps of frogs, various bird species, monarchs, leaf out times and tulip blooming--all signs of spring.  The sightings have times associated with them.  Students could overlay this data with temperature data, sunrise times, sunset times, distance from the ocean, proximity to rivers, etc. to see what variables may be affecting the time these various spring harbingers appear.

I researched eBird. EBird is a citizen science database, used nationwide to track location, species, and abundance of birds. This database is accessible to anyone, including students and people not participating in the project. There is so much data that students could use it in a multitude of ways to conduct information. They could look at abundance of certain bird species throughout different months of the year, track trends in sightings over multiple years, look at the time of year when certain species start to migrate, they can even compare numbers found between different regions, states, countries, or habitat types.

I started researching eMammal because I wasn't familiar with that, but I found the data difficult to download, so I need to do a little more research to figure out how to get to the data. So I went to eBird. eBird allows you to look at data for different species, or to look up data by region. You can easily compare sightings of different species over a year and see when they are most common. You can see who logged in the data and the date. Anyone can enter data with an account and it is accessible to anyone. It's very easy to get to the data and you do not have to be a participant to get the data. There are multiple ways students could use this data. You could look to see what birds are in your area. Students could compare the last date that a bird was seen during migration, and compare it to years past- to see if there are changes in last seen dates. They could also compare to other parts of the country, or other countries where the bird might live.

I looked at Birdata, BirdLife Australia's database. The database is accessible to anyone, and the data can be used by those that haven not participated. Students can access the information. Students could use the data to view bird observations in a particular place over time.

I choose iNaturalist which allows citizen scientists to log sightings of organisms. The database is accessible to anyone including students; so even if you haven't participated in the project you can use the data. The data is initially presented in graph form and shows sightings monthly for the current year and also data going back several years. Sex and life stage are also tracked. Students can click on points on the graph to show listings of the data. Students could compare data from multiple years to investigate questions like "Is there a shift in when songbirds are returning to Massachusetts in the springtime?".

I took some time to explore The Billion Oyster Project.  The goal of this project is to return 1 billion oysters to the Hudson River by 2030.  The Harbor School on Governor’s Island is running the program, and it is a great way to encourage citizen science in the metropolitan area.   The database and data is available to anyone with an account, and, if you are in the area and would like to participate with your class, you can train as a citizen scientist and begin monitoring a station.  Scientists continue to do work with the data, and they are publishing their results for people to examine and explore.   I think the the most inviting piece of this project is that students will feel empowered by seeing high school students initiating such a bold goal and process.  Students may become enthusiastic about participating in the program, and they may also begin considering an element of an eco-system near their own communities that might need to be replenished.  The story of the oyster is fascinating.  How can an organism whose function it is to clean and filter water be replaced after so many years, and how does it positively impact the environment surround it?

I am not currently teaching but when I do the database I will be using is Monarch Watch because there are schools in my community that have created Monarch butterfly projects already and the population of Monarch butterflies are quite large. The elementary projects already in progress have shared their data with the community already and I would like to perpetuate the counting further. If  I had students they could choose a variety of factors to determine the effects on the monarch population. Factors such as the types of plants, the type of predators, the weather and various others factors.

iNaturalist will be used because it allows students to observe plants, animals, and insects. Group members can take each of the for-mentioned and more.  Students will not only conduct observations but collect, report, and graph data.

I chose to research Project Budburst. This program allows students, teachers, classes, and families track plant and animal life cycles and help researchers better learn how humans affect the environment. The data is accessible to anyone who signs up for a free account. The data is easily accessible and looks like it is very relatable and understandable for all. Anyone can use the data for further exploration and personal projects, which is especially why I like this program. My students can use the data for their own investigation and research. My students can use the data to gain a better understanding of the natural world within their community. We are located in downtown San Francisco, where it can be hard to notice the environment with all of the traffic, people, noise, and buildings. Using the data from Project Budburst can first help my students understand what to look for before we go out and explore ourselves.

I chose to research eBird.  I love that it is a free resource that anybody can use.  If you just want to look at data you do not need to create an account.  If you want to collect data you do need to make an account, but still free!  Students could conduct many research questions using this site.  For instance, if they really liked a rare bird, they could see how often it is seen in our area.  Migration paths and times are always fun to research as well.

Our school started a monarch tagging program 3 years ago utilizing our prairie restoration garden.  This was done through Monarch Watch.  We started by initially counting how many monarch butterflies were seen over the course of a month, and how many milkweed plants we could count along with catapillars.  This was so that we had a baseline, and led directly to collecting data on types of plants vs butterflies, moths, can caterpillars.  We did have to ask the nighbors to quit collecting catapillars during our research.  We sent the tag information along with counts to Monarch Watch. Currently the data has been shared with Monarch Watch, the local naturalists, a group that helps maintain a prairie near our school, the teacher garden comittee, admin, and different students as they go through the grades. This next year we are organizing to start investigating ways to support specific species of insect life.  The data indicates that we are doing well with monarchs and admiral butterflies, as well as a wide ranger of bees and wasps.  They have completed the initial research on proposed modifications in the garden to try and encourage rusty patch bumble bees and karner blue butterfly.  Part of the investigation will involve the impact on other species.  My hope is that the students will present to the school board and county commissioners next year as part of seeking funding.

Which citizen-science project did your research? Provide a brief background. eBird, a global citizen science project that gathers data about the quantity and distribution of bird species on Earth. Is the database accessible to anyone? Could someone who has not participated in the project use the data? Can students access the information? This database is accessible to everyone that has internet access. Even if you do not have an account you can use the data. Students can use the information without the need to create an account, it is easily accessible and user-friendly. How might your students use this citizen-science project data to conduct an investigation? It would help to answer a research-focused hypothesis. Perhaps to extend their knowledge of their local area to create a hypothesis. As well to compare species, regions and time.

I researched the eBird site. It tracks citizen science sitings of birds to track where they are seen. There are many ways this data is sorted. Anyone has access to the eBird site, although to enter data, one must have an account. I could see students use this especially around bird migration. With data sets from around the world, eBird can show us where birds go and what distances they travel.

After reading a few posts from others, I chose to access iNaturalist and was very impressed! This is something my students and I can definitely use to explore more this spring, and is something they can do at home as well. I think this will be a resource they can use to explore various interest areas they have (specific animals and plants) and also develop questions that can drive future research. iNaturalist allows us to pinpoint in on a certain area of a map or to select certain species and access data about how frequently they are seen and in what numbers. I learned something new on the third animal I investigated...great blue herons, a favorite to spot at our house, are largely North American birds. The data is accessible to anyone. I do not have an account with iNaturalist and I can see the data. My students could as well. I can also sign up for an account (and might just do so!) so that I can contribute to the wildlife sightings. I think I would use this website to allow students to investigate the animal and plant life in our local area in order to develop an "I Wonder" board, followed by some time outside of school identifying plants and animals that we can see in the prairie, marsh, and wooded areas in our community, ultimately developing a research question that the students can turn into a hypothesis for the statewide science fair. They could either use the data they can find on iNaturalist or the data they collect.  I considered investigating the native plant and animal life of Iowa this past fall, and with all the resources I am finding in this class, I am glad I saved that unit for this coming year!

I selected eBird because we live in an area with so many birds. eBird is an online database where you can upload your bird findings anywhere in the world. This gives scientists information about types of birds, where they are found, and possibly migration patterns. For this website, you do have to create an account. It would be a little tricky for younger students to create their own account and log in, so I could either make an account for each of them or just make a class account and give them all the login information. Since we are studying birds and their habitats, this could be really useful to track the birds that students have observed in nature.

I immediately thought about iNaturalist because data is available to anyone online.  If you log in you can contribute data, but anyone can see data.  Within iNaturalist are different 'projects'.  Some projects are centered on specific kinds of animals in a certain area.  My students and I might look at the biodiversity within a specific sub group in our state.  For instance, we could look at the amount of different kinds of amphibians found in Missouri, as well as be able to make a pie chart of the percentages of the kinds found out of the total.

I selected Project Budburst. This background was provided on the website: "Budburst citizen scientists work together with research scientists, educators, and horticulturists  to answer specific, timely, and critical ecological research questions by making careful observations of the timing of plant life cycle events, also called phenophases. These life events differ depending upon the type of plant, but usually include leafing, flowering, and fruiting phases of plants as well as leaf color and senescence." (09/19/20; cut from: https://budburst.org/aboutus) the data base is available to anyone, including those who have not participated in the project. My students adopted a Bigleaf Maple tress located on the school grounds to observe for the school year. The question they sought to answer was:  How do trees respond to seasonal and climatic changes in their environment: temperature, length of day, and amount of moisture. Log books were kept to record observations.

Ebird did the data research.  We can use this data to see how many Ospreys occur in North Carolina and at what times of year.  This gives us clues to migration patterns, and if we look at states like Florida, we can also compare numbers of Ospreys in summer and winter in NC with numbers of Ospreys in summer and winter in FL.  Anyone can use the eBird data, including students.  I think that students can start with birds in their own backyard or community and then use this data to explore how those same birds behave in other parts of the country.

Which citizen-science project did your research? Provide a brief background.  I chose to use the https://www.cocorahs.org site because we will be putting up our first rain gauge at the school where I teach.  Plus, it is a data collection tool that elementary and high school students can use.  For those schools needing a low-cost tool to collect data, this is it. This is a citizen-science project with a global span. Is the database accessible to anyone? Could someone who has not participated in the project use the data? Can students access the information? There are many avenues of data information.  It seems to me that anyone can access the data. How might your students use this citizen-science project data to conduct an investigation? I will be using this web project to help students both, do and use graphs.  Plus, since it is a high school it is helpful to have "not boring" data collections. For example, "Use a graph to show the average rainfall, compared to the rainfall of Hurrican Dorian.  Follow this by finding out how much damage to transport systems occured.  Or how rapid do you predict the recovery of tropical forests?"

I researched ebird from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. ebird's whole purpose is for anyone to be able to share their birding observations at any location in the world. The database is accessible to anyone who creates a free account. It is usable by anyone who has not participated in the project, but they would need to familiarize themselves a bit with the different ways data is expressed in ebird. Students can access information through an account. For my 4th grade students they would need some support with this. Ebird would be a useful way to explore data particular to our region, or to specific hot spots near our school. We could also look at migratory bird data over time to better understand patterns. If a student were interested in a particular bird in our regions, they could also use that as a focal point for data research.

I started exploring Project BudBurst earlier in this class so continued here. PBB is a phenology based observation tool. Participants choose a plant and can either do one time or lifecycle reports including species, location, date, and stage. The database is accessible to anyone  even if they've never submitted data. Students of all ages could easily access the data since there's no log-in required. Students could use in a number of ways - each student could select a species to focus on and compare timing of lifecycle changes. Or all students could focus on a single widespread species and observe at different locations (e.g. near their house).

Which citizen-science project did your research? Provide a brief background. I did my research with Project Budburst. a national network of citizen scientists monitoring plants as the seasons change. When participating in BudBurst we watch for the key life events of a plant during the growing season. These events differ depending upon the type of plant but usually including leafing, flowering, and fruiting events. The study of these events is called phenology. Is the database accessible to anyone? Could someone who has not participated in the project use the data? Can students access the information? Budburst data is available for anyone to download and use.  A budburst account is not required for data downloads. Students can access the data. How might your students use this citizen-science project data to conduct an investigation? With the pandemic going on and our school system deciding to continue online only instruction through at least February 1, 2021 using Groups would be a way to have students participate in a class project even though we are all at home. We could add to the data as well as research the data on BudBurst to create a meaningful class project.

I am using the CoCoRaHS citizen science project for this discussion. The site, https://www.cocorahs.org has data available for anyone to use whether you are participating in the project or not. The Arizona library I worked at had a rain gauge which we monitored and entered daily precipitation entries. CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network.  CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow).   By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We are now in all fifty states. The data can be obtained at the top of the sites webpage, and has a lot of uses, especially with questions related to climate change. Users can get daily precipitation measurement readings in the U.S., Canada, and the Bahamas. The data can be drilled down to a single gauge by date or a date range. I found the graphs below, Average Monthly Climate Data, especially interesting. The graph is both a line and a bar graph that gives me a quick view of categorizing rainfall amounts by month, and also showing a line graph of average temperature over time. Students could use this chart to get a summary of their area, and even compare the conditions of another large metro area. Data from gauges closer to their location could be plotted and compared. Depending on the location, data may be available as far back as 2010.

I usually turn to the iNaturalist database for any information I need, as they have data on every kingdom! iNaturalist data is accessible to anyone, even if you don't have an account. I think it would be a lot of fun to study data trends between different species, or even broader than that. For example, we can explore the relationship between the observations of pollinators and flowering plants, or something more specific like the observations of Monarchs versus milkweed plants. I think a large database like iNaturalist would provide the widest opportunities for students with any interests!

eBird has always been intriguing to me and it was lovely to spend a bit of time becoming familiar with all the various options. I found the website user friendly and the data "approachable" and well laid out. It appears as though anyone with an account can access the information with ease. All the species information was compiled in an easy to find format and the photographs are a phenomenal advantage. The addition of maps and bar charts helps with visualization and understanding of the data and it's processing.

I researched Journey North which is one of the largest citizen science programs in North America.  This program tracks Monarch Butterflies, as well as birds, animals, and plant data. From what I can see, it looks like the database is accessible to anyone.  I have not participated in the project for tracking Monarchs, but the lower school students at my school study them and have a weigh station in our garden.  What I love about this resource is that it tracks the butterflies from January releasing a new "newsletter" each week to tell the story of the migration.  There are interactive maps that show the migration in correlation to time and you can also look at the data using individual sighting. Either way, you can clearly see the journey of the monarchs north from Winter to summer. I think using this as a way to share the story with our students is wonderful and also to get them excited about tagging their own monarchs- I know they tag the ones that they bring inside, but beyond that, we don't have any exciting tagging parties that I know of... Monarch tagging and knowledge is not one that I know much of, but I would be interested in seeing how many of the teachers in lower school would be interested in using this resource more as a way to correlate the story of the Monarch to the data/map.

I could use iNaturalist to determine if the number of birds or insects are dependent on the temperature range during winter? Does a warmer winter effect the number of insects in the summer? This could clear up some of the general thoughts that people attribute to new species coming to their area. The specific citizen science project I could also have the students participate in is the Bird Sleuth project from Cornell Lab. There is a ton of data to collect that can specific to the student’s backyard.

I chose CoCoRaHS because I had tracked the weather with a student while working virtually this past school year.  I think that it offers opportunities to follow the weather, to advance in number recognition and to possibly collaborate with other students from our school.  CoCoRaHS is a citizen-science organization which just celebrated its 22nd anniversary. It started in Colorado after a significant rain event fell on one side of Fort Collins, and this caused flash flooding which killed 5 people.  The Colorado Office of Community Management offered a grant to try to get students and families to track the weather to more accurately represent precipitation during the summer months.  Three students from three separate high schools were among the initial group to work to record precipitation.  Over the years, it has grown to include all 50 states. What I found interesting is that anyone can choose a state and even a county and look at data from the present day or historically for as long as it has been measured in that state. You do not have to have an account to see the data, yet the sky is the limit for the questions a person could ask to observe weather patterns and events over the past 22 years. With this level of information, it seems that inquiry could include comparisons of different counties in Maine, or more regional comparisons.  I am envisioning some way to create an interactive 'puzzle' which would be mounted somewhere on our playground to help learn the 16 counties of Maine.  My hope is that we can get a weather station mounted somewhere near our playground so that the incoming students can observe the precipitation, record and report their findings.  I am also thinking of ways to represent different types of graphs also mounted somewhere on the playground (perhaps in the woods along a trail) which would allow some outside applications of representing data for younger students.  Some of the challenges will include making sure that it is consistently checked and working with other teachers to explore the data and ask the questions.

*The citizen-science project that I chose to research is e-Bird.  Since I am investigating the Northern Mockingbird, I wanted to learn more about this singer.  Using e-Bird, I found where the Northern Mockingbird was observed 22,503 times with 197 photos and 5 audio clips for West Virginia when I chose "all years." This photo was on e-Bird.  Credit given to Davette Sealer, Jane Lew, WV, US (3/4/2017) "The difference isn’t always obvious, but songs are usually more complex and carry a clear pattern.  Calls, on the other hand, tend to be shorter and simpler—often just one syllable long."  Source:  https://www.audubon.org/news/a-beginners-guide-common-bird-sounds-and-what-they-mean I was able to look at the number of observations in the various counties in West Virginia, and discovered that Wood County where I live was ranked 5th in submitting information to e-Bird.  It listed the observers by county and the number of species they identified. *Anyone can access the data on e-Bird, and students could use the data with guidance.  With the amount of information, I would provide a web quest that would guide students to the data that I want them to gather. *I will use e-Bird to help students study the species of birds found on our playground.  This website would be useful after some initial lessons introducing bird watching.  Fourth graders can definitely use e-Bird with assistance.

• Project Budburst: It involves everyone from children to scientists, can experience all stages of an organism(s); it has several projects that anyone can do with others or individually.
• Anyone can access the database, felt the site is very user friendly (my 6-year-old daughter figured it out), you do not have to have any kind of subscription, fee, or account creation required which makes it nice for anyone to access the data.
• Younger students could partner or work collaboratively to select an organism to learn about and then teach the other students in class about their organism (would take some teacher guidance to ensure students do not pick the same organisms). Older students could use it more to see more of a data analysis style setting to where they pick a certain month or season timeframe they search and select 2-3 organisms and compare the results over a 3, 5, 10 year periods and see if there are any trends in how many of the organism observations there are. This project would also just help students in general with the ID of observations.

Doing this later than earlier had a benefit of reading other posts. I am very interested in doing more with Monarchs. We have been involved in the tagging and looking into that data-- with the teacher acct. (Younger students under 13 can not register for any of the sites to input data.) This is a good sum from MV site... "data collected through the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) have provided valuable insight for monarch conservation habitat and population targets, including how many milkweed plants are needed to produce one migratory monarch. MLMP research (Nail et al., 2015) suggests the answer is 29 milkweeds! Other community science programs like Journey North and the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper are painting a picture of where and when monarchs and milkweeds are found on the landscape. How do these programs extend beyond monarchs? Monarchs are the draw, but humans are innately curious creatures. We cannot help but ask more questions or take note of the other things we see in our milkweed patch. Participating in monarch community science projects provides an opportunity to make observations, further connections in nature, and introduce volunteers to conservation work that benefits entire ecosystems." Such a clearing house of info on that site-- It was ok-- for user friendly-- i would have to really work with students to explore site for answers. Manipulating data on several sites-- I found out that where I liv does not have much data and it is not to interesting for students YET! I feel that maybe we can change that by making a data set for our area after we plant our pollinator and milkweed garden this year.

I looked at EBird and learned a lot! Everyone can access it from the "Explore" tab, and it is really easy to look at the distribution of a specific species or see which birds were sighted in your area. The data is definitely usable, they actually produce a weekly bar chart for each species. I don't see a way to download raw data, but it might be possible if I contact the admins. I don't have students, but I can definitely create a program on bird migrations and include some data exploration before heading out on a trail to observe birds and see if what we find matches the data. We can also revisit the data after the hike (and upload our sightings) to see if anything stands out.

I researched Project Bud Burst, which is phenology and the study of the timing of life phases of all organisms.  I like how the video used the description "plant storytelling." The following paragraph in the site are questions our students are always curious about. "How does a bear know when it's time to hibernate? Why do April showers bring May flowers? Plants and animals don't have calendars or watches, but many of them take cues from the changing seasons. Changes in weather with the seasons, such as temperature and precipitation, signal many organisms to enter new phases of their lives. For example, buds form on plants as temperatures warm in the spring. As temperatures cool in the fall, deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves and become dormant." The database is accessible to anyone, and anyone can access the information, even without participation.  Students can access the information.  The younger children would have their teachers guide them and access it in small groups or whole class.  The site is very organized and easy to access. For my students I would use this project to conduct an investigation on our milkweed and when it blooms,  when we discover our milkweed bugs, and our observations of butterflies.

I went through SciStarter and looked for CS projects that dealt with topics of Weather and Climate, since that is one major topic of exploration my sixth graders will be researching this year.  I chose the Identify the Cloud project which asks students to identify unique clouds, either by using pictures already loaded onto the site or taking pictures of their own, loading them in, and then either identifying the cloud or waiting for others to identify the type. Unfortunately, I could not get the project site to load; it kept timing out.  I did send a message to the project and am waiting for a response.  As long as one has a SciStarter account, the project should be available to everyone.  I could see my students using this project as a way to start identifying clouds by site as well as a way to tie clouds and weather together.  Since I couldn't really get into the project to intensively research, I can't make a more thorough determination of how my students would conduct an investigation.  Hopefully, the link will work soon, so I can do this.  I really want to tie a cs project into my weather and climate unit.

I researched Butterflies and Moths of North America, BOMONA, hosted by The Butterfly and Moth Network. It collects and provides access to data from Panama to Canada. It says that the quality of the data is provided by collaborating lepidopterists. In its words: "The BAMONA project aims to serve as a one-stop database of butterfly and moth data that scientists can use to form or to address research questions. While it is a collaborative effort between individuals with varying levels of knowledge and experience with Lepidoptera, contributors share a common goal of assembling high-quality data on butterfly and moth distribution." You have to collect your own data and establish your own database or fill out a request form on the site to acquire information. So, no, someone who has not signed up or participated in acquiring information can't use the data. The information the students can access would be the types of butterflies and moths in their area and information about them - what to look for. We do a field study and have a butterfly garden so we could create our own database and the students could use the site's identification expertise. 

I looked into CoCoRaHS for a citizen science project, as a 4-H educator we have strong ties to the agricultural industry.  This year was an interesting one for our farmers, as New York was in a stage 2 drought and continues to be abnormally dry.  Many of our older teens are interested in helping their parents to continue farming and weather is very important.  I think that using CoCoRaHS, which is available for anyone to use their data would be a great way for youth to get involved in learning more about weather and the impacts it will have on their crops.

I explored NestWatch which is a Citizen Science (CS) project through the Cornell Lab.  NestWatch is a nest monitoring project that allows participants to report data about bird nests throughout the county.   The website is very informative, easy to use and has several educational resources.  Participants can learn about birdhouses, nest and egg identification and much more.  Anyone can create an account where participants can map and record nest observations.   By monitoring nests, participants can collect data about birds nesting at schools or certain sites.  Students can learn about birds that use birdhouses (nest boxes) and can properly place boxes at sites to monitor.  The information tracks trends and the reproductive successes of birds through the country.   NestWatch also hosts publications and research related to nest monitoring.  NestWatch publishes an annual report that summarizes the data received.  The report has regionally specific results.  Students can analyze  trends with the top species reported in their region. The website is accessible to anyone to explore.  There are no requirements to use the data in the annual report or access the research and learning resources. There are many different ways that students can use NestWatch to conduct investigations.  Students can look at trends in the reproductive successes of birds from their region and explore why some birds are successful and others are declining.  This CS project is very exciting and has so many applications.  Data can be used in conjunction with other CS projects like eBird and NestCams.

I explored Project Bud Burst.  It provides activities for citizen science for individuals as well as simpler options for families. The database is accessible to anyone- new participants are welcome and students can easily access information. I liked the Phenology project described.  I completed a workshop on climate change earlier in the summer and I would like to incorporate some of the concepts on global warming and climate change to assess their impact on the timing of falling leaves from silver maple trees in our schoolyard.  This would involve multiple years of data collection to see the impact.

I recently got involved with CoCoRahs which allows community scientists to measure precipitation in their own backyard, school grounds, or organization grounds. The database is easily accessible by anyone and you don't have to submit data in order to use the data. There are many ways this data can be used. One lesson plan I created recently involved students looking at rainfall data over the last 10 yrs for Tucson, AZ to determine the best month for land managers to spray pesticides on invasive bufflegrass, which can only be sprayed when it greens up. They would pull the rainfall data for the last 10 yrs and calculate the averages for each month of the year over the last 10 yrs to narrow down what month historically receives the most rainfall. Their data should lead them to choosing a month during the monsoon season (July-October).

I took a look at Journey North. We have been discussing a native plant garden at our school and thought that this might be something to incorporate. I was looking at the journey maps. By their description they engage "citizen scientists from across North America in tracking migration and seasonal change to foster scientific understanding, environmental awareness and the land ethic". I was able to quickly access the maps that show the data, location and how the butterflies move. I think anyone would be able to look at the data and use it to make predictions. There are options to look at various years and make comparisons. Students would be able to start to draw questions about the patterns that they notice. Students would be able to use this data to create a project and possibly help create and help plan our native plant garden or other projects.

• I looked at Project BudBurst - data on plant phenology
• The database is accessible to anyone, including people who have not participated in the project and students.
• My students can use this data to investigate how the timing of key events in plant life have changed (or not) over the years, whether different plants are affected differently,....

Mission Monarch is the project I decided to look into.  This project has participants locate and verify the presence of a milkweed plant. Next, participants identify the species and confirm whether or not there is the presence of monarchs. This is done through observations and examining the leaves for eggs, caterpillars or chrysalis. Next participants record their observations and the final step is submitting the data through the Mission Monarch website. The data is available on their website but is not very well organized or easy to analyze. The data can be viewed on a map and with a list. The data has not been put into any graphs. This may make it difficult for younger children to look at and make sense of the information. The data on the map could be used to determine the presence of monarch butterflies in certain areas and their abundance. The only thing I don't think this accounts for is the number of participants in the study. There may be a higher number of participants around the great lakes which makes it seems like there are more monarchs there but it could mean the organization got the word out about participation there but not on Long Island.

I spent some time looking througj SciStarter, as I wanted to explore other projects, but I didn't an option to sort by projects with datasets. Popped into a few projects but no obvious dataset to utilize so I chose iNaturalist. It's def my fav for a few reasons, mostly because this project has such a large scope - you can look at data from land to sky! iNat is free and easily accessible if you create an account, though I believe you have to be 13yo to create your own account. Still, this tool would be easy for a family, or classroom, account so I don't think that age restriction is a huge deal. Truly there are so many ways you could use iNat's huge dataset to conduct investigations: - Range reduction/expansion: How are invasive species moving throughout your county, state, region? Combine that with weather data to investigate patterns - Space use, preffered habitat: Determine preferred habitat type of X species - where are species located (ground, tree, etc) in observation photos? -Temporal: Are migrating species spending more time in breeding/non-breeding locations? -Exploring the concept of 0 in data collection: In your neighborhood, state, etc are we missing data and if so, why?

https://www.cocorahs.org/ I've always been interested in weather observations and patterns, so I chose to look to CoCoRaHS, which is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. I knew that citizen scientists can submit precipitation data, but it was interesting to see that we can also submit thunder data. Data is available to anyone through the website, by location and selectable time periods, through data tables and map data points. With only a rain gauge, it would be easy to check precipitation every day and graph that data on a line graph for comparison throughout the year. We could also submit the data through CoCoRaHS and compare data to other locations. Thunder reports are by morning, afternoon, evening, and night, so this would be simple tally mark data, and a great, simple data collection project to use as an introduction to citizen science. We could use this data to see what time of the year receives the most rain, and possibly if there is a time of the day when rain is more likely.

I've used the iNaturalist database as it has so many species of wild organisms under one 'roof', and is a global database actively used in my region.  It has become more popular due to the global City Nature Challenge (every April) and the knock-on Hong Kong Inter School City Nature Challenge (every November).  With more than 44 million observations of almost 300,000 species (and counting!), it is an active database with great functionality to explore trends over seasons/time, categories of species, specific species, their threatened status and more, in their 'filter' search.  Anyone, yes students too, can access the information that is shown spatially, with side tabs for additional observation data, but to download the data, you would need to sign-in (it's free).  There is also a teacher's guide, video tutorials and more for further guidance, plus a forum for questions and discussions.  Anyone can create a specific project (let's say if you are a teacher doing a lesson with a class) just for your biodiversity observation needs, and the observations made will be added to your project for easier analysis, but also to the overall iNaturalist database for all to see/use as well.

• investigations could include temporal trends and spatial patterns of particular species, or correlations between dependent species across trophic levels if studying food webs, etc.
• a fun thing to explore is the topic of "What's missing?" in various locations that have 'holes' in the data and consider why?  These are often discussions that lead to factors about accessible research, human population density, technology, infrastructure, climate, etc., rather than the initial erroneous thought 'because nothing is there!'
• consider interdisciplinary investigations that use iNat data and layer it about human habitation patterns using GoogleMaps or OpenStreetMaps, or even Google Earth with 3D (if looking at bird sightings), or natural features like lakes, mountains, etc.
• eventually students can make recommendations about actions to be taken for species conservation or human development projects and engage with multiple stakeholders for tangible outcomes (e.g. discussions with district councillors, NGOs, etc.)

I  chose the Budburst  database. This database helps people identify the plants in their area. It has information about  300 different plant species. The information is accessible to anyone and is student friendly. You can search for plants by name, plant family/group, and state with out participating in the project. What is also great about this site is that they encourage observations of all plants even those not in their database. I could see students using this database to help identify neighborhood plants, trees, and shrubs in a plant study. The information in the database can give a wealth of information for numerous plant related activities.

I chose to research The Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP).  I chose this project, because I thought it would interesting to look at the distribution of milkweed and the abundance of breeding monarchs.  The data was very accessible and yes, I believe anyone could use this Citizen Science based data.  The data was presented in a way I believe my 6th grade students could access and compare the data.  The data was very comprehensive.  Students could use and compare data from different states, different years and different times of the same year.  Students could conduct their own investigation.  They could pose a question using Estimating the Monarch Survival over the years, develop a hypothesis and then make some interesting conclusions. They could then use the data from Estimating the Monarch Survival to create their own graph to show any trends.   There are so many ways to use this data; I believe its endless.  

I researched emammel, https://emammal.si.edu/. This is  a data management system and archive for camera trap research projects. You would need to have camera traps in order to participate in any of their projects. (I do know that some local  museums will lend these to schools - we are lucky enough at our school to have a set of 4.) This is a collection of camera trap projects and  you are able to establish your own  project for your school. I will say that the website took a while to understand and navigate. It would take time to figure out how to use this platform. I focussed in on NCSU Camera Trapping to look at their data. They have set up camera traps all over the local region in places such as greenways, golf courses, cemeteries and local parks. There was a variety of urban settings covered by 39 cameras. The data could be sorted by individual places (cameras were obviously moved as the project has been ongoing since 2015). The data was able to be manipulated into pie charts, bar graphs and tables. I like this as a table can be presented and students can then graph the data. There was also  a way through emammal to view the actual photos from individual projects. I think  students would need guidance to navigate into the individual projects but after mastering, they could easily research data. They would be able to focus on either a specific project, area, mammal and then add to the overarching research by creating their own project.

I research Project Feederwatch. It is a Citizen Scientist project where people count birds in their backyard over the winter, from November - April. Participants are sent a research kit that includes a bird id calendar, but they have to supply the feeder and birdseed. It's used, as the video noted, to study winter bird abundance, and provides "information about bird population biology that cannot be detected by any other available method." Participants can see information such as historic maps, the top birds in their region, bird summaries, and trend graphs. I think this would be a fun winter project to practice bird identification and speculate about what might be causing changes in bird population over time, as well as away to explore the interconnectedness of life.

I researched the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project.  This citizen science project monitors monarch population density and fosters monarch habitat and conservation.  Participants in this study record the location, date, time frame, number of milkweed plants observed, and the number of eggs and larva on each plant. The database is accessible, it's free, and is available without creating a login.  Anyone can use this data and students would be able to access the information as well.  Younger children would need assistance from an adult while older children would be able to search and utilize the data independently. There are so many search features with this site.  I tried accessing the data for Iowa.  I selected the state, chose the year 2020, and specified a specific location in Ames (Ada Hayden).  From there I could view all years 2011-2019 that data was collected from this site.  They did not have 2020 data available yet.  From there I could view a bar graph that measured Monarch density in that area.  The data was collected every seven days.  I was able to view how many eggs and larva were observed and could see the weeks that the density was higher than others. We have a butterfly garden at our school with many milkweed plants.  My students and I could participate in this citizen science project to learn about the monarch population around our school.  We could then compare our data to areas surrounding our town in Iowa and even other states.

I looked for a project that students could work with on their own outside of school.  Project Budburst has projects that families can do on their own and did not seem to require a fee to use the site.  Since a fee is not required, anyone would be able to use the site.  I work with older high school students which should mean that they would not have difficulties navigating that site.  As with all the sites that I have visited, there are messages and policies in place to protect visitors to that site that are younger than 13. There is a section to upload data.  There is also an extensive database that is easily accessible with information about plants.  The database on Project Budburst would be helpful to students in identifying plants they see in their natural surroundings.

I researched project eMammal, it's described as a cyber-tool, a data management system and archive (at the Smithsonian) for camera trap research projects, it is a collection of projects under one roof so to speak. The database is actually accessible to anyone, and you don't have to have participated in the project itself, which is nice, so yes, students could access the data/information, allows you sort by region which is also helpful. I chose a project within the database in Virginia, evaluating factors that promote colonization of developed areas by predators and the ecological implications of that. I think students could certainly use this any of the projects data easily, some charts are available as well, there is a wealth of well organized information. I feel it could also spark local questions and thoughts for cz projects here.

The citizen-science project I researched was Monarch Watch. Monarch Watch is all about monarch conservation and education. They use tagging data, which are little stickers that anyone can use to place on monarchs, to track their migration which gives scientists an understanding of how their population is doing. As well, they encourage people to make "Monarch Waystations" by making milkweed seeds (monarch caterpillar's only food source) available to schools and non-profit educational centres for free. The data they have on their website is available to everyone without a login. The tagging recoveries of the monarch butterflies are presented in a spreadsheet format so you can see what the tag number was, where and when it was found (including the specific geographic coordinates), and the names and notes of the person who submitted the tagging data. Students can definitely access the data, even if they have not participated before. One way students can use the data to conduct an investigation is to compare monarch populations over the last several years to see if there is an overall trend in population increase or decrease. Students can also compare where the monarchs are found, and determine if there is a trend in where most of the monarchs are being found. The data of this citizen-science project lends itself well to graphs.

I browsed through the citizen science site- Journey North. Data is collected from a large variety of species as well as documenting natural phenomena. The data base is open without a log in, but that is an option as well. The data is in tables, some entries include photos, and does not include a search bar for the table- no graphs.Links to species info,teaching tips and a plethora of articles, live web cams and videos for students makes this an interesting site. I think students would enjoy is seeing the sightings data represented on a map of the USA but I do miss the charts and a clearer interpretation of the submitted data. I think as for a student investigation, questions could be proposed and information gleaned from the "Facts" section under any particular species. Also the tables do give the state,city name as well as latitude and longitude. I think older students could scan the data tables for trends, and create their own charts, on a variety of interests at Journey North.

I chose the Lost Ladybug Project. The goal of this project is to figure out the species distribution across the world for ladybugs so other insect populations can be kept in check. I tried to do a data export of the LLP data but it didn't appear to work. However, summaries were available by species and country and you could also graph data using a pie chart. For lower level grade, this data would be ideal. There were also maps of the United States that showed drop points for 4 different species. Students could use this data to try to figure out habitat requirements of different species, they could make a pie charts, and they could also conduct bar graphs showing the summary of different species as well as a summary of country presence.

I researched Project BudBurst. It collects data regarding phenology of plants. You record the date, location, plant, and the phenophase that the plant is in. The database is accessible to anyone; you don't have to participate in the project to use the data. I did create a login and password. I'm not sure if you can access the data without it. Students can compare the date of the phenophase of a type of plant over several years to see if the timing of flowering is changing over time.