I typically use iNaturalist as a platform and participate in projects that use it, like the NRPA's pollinator bioblitz, and we've also participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I work in a park and it's typically easier to incorporate citizen science into events for the general public. They can either participate directly through iNaturalist or eBird, or we provide observation forms and the option for participants to submit their observations for us to log into the appropriate cite. In programs, the kids don't typically have their own phones to take photos with or log observations so I do that part for them whenever we find new species we'd like to identify and log. We're also in the process of introducing citizen science hikes for families where we'll focus on a specific project each time and the adults in the family will be able to take photos of observations.

I have not had the opportunity to conduct a citizen scientists projects with my students yet. With the fact that I have students who must complete a science fair project, one of these options could be a doable option especially since distance learning is such a real option this year. I would like to give my students the option of one of the options for a class led science fair project. I have classes each year that need a lot of guidance and support. By having these options for a citizen science projects would allow me to be more helpful and be able to build their confidence. It would definitely allow me to build their confidence.

Has anyone used CS in an ecotour? We run canoe, kayak, and pontoon trips and I would LOVE to offer a version of these tours that incorporates CS. Through grant funding, we were able to purchase a YSI mutliprobe meter that provides water quality info (pH, salinity, temp, and dissolved oxygen) in situ. This is a great tool but I'd like to combine this with other CS projects for the 2 hour tour. Would appreciate any feedback if anyone here has participated or led an ecotour like this. thanks! :)

We've developed a citizen science walk at our nature center, with interactive stations that allow visitors to contriubte to data collection for 4 different citizen science projects (Pondwatch, Secchi Disk App, Weather, and our own time lapse project to track mangrove growth).  This is a fairly new offering for our center and so far I've had the opportunity to work with a group of homeschool students to gather data for these projects. The students were most engaged with the weather station as it had many interactive tasks that used tools new to the group. Students worked through the station together and We also have a biocube walk setup around our campus and encourage users to log their findings in the iNaturalist app using our center's biocube project. We just starting to incorporate these offerings and had planned to utilize them for our camps this summer - and then, well you know. I'm excited to use citizen science as a teaching tool that blends technology and time outdoors in a benefical way. I love introducing people to iNaturalist because it's a fantastic tool to learn about the natural world, you can participate anywhere, and it provides an option to stay engaged after visiting our center.

I haven't done any citizen-science project with students. Reading about the projects mentioned in this lesson, I'm excited to see that some are available for locations outside of North America. Also, they are relevant to my work with the students in the garden, as part of the gardening involves observations and recording data about local weather, blooming time, birds and insects.... The tools and resources they provide will be very useful for my planning of gardening activities.

Great Backyard Bird Count (which as someone noted below is a great, simple, short intro to citizen science), Project Feederwatch - both as a classroom and for students to do at home. For the latter, students experimented on the side with bird feeder styles (we built some in class), different types of birdseed, different locations, etc Nestwatch - we did as a community service project for local nature center. Students built/repaired and installed bird boxes on existing posts, and monitored throughout the season. We did classroom and onsite training - the latter was very important to make sure everyone knew where &  how to open each box as we had several varieties. The nature center let us store a backpack with the essentials (clipboard with data sheets & pens, dental mirror, etc. which was very handy. We split into 3 groups of 4 families. Each group had 5 or 6 nestboxes to check on (which including hiking to them meant 30-60 minutes/visit). The families in each group took turns so that each family only had to check every other week or two. Each student also picked a question to answer (do birds prefer the old or new boxes better? which birds choose the boxes in trees vs on posts? etc) various butterfly & milkweed ones - can't recall which ones in particular Lost Ladybug in conjunction with local children's garden. CSI (water monitoring in Finger Lakes region) NWS Skywarn (weather spotter program) Tips - always test them out yourself before introducing to your class!! Connecting to local entities/turning into a community service project is nice but can definitely be more work.

I haven't done any Citizen Science projects with my students.  While in NC, I was set to complete a mammal survey but was unable to attend a training on how to use the trailcams.  I would love to do more of these with my current students.  A large part of our curriculum deals with weather.  I think the programs dealing with ecology and climate change would be especially useful in our classroom as well as the CoCoRaHS.  If I could find one that enables students to work with rocks, minerals, and the rock cycle I would love to use that as well.

I have used several Citizen science projects in our school and it has been a great experience for our students. Blue Thumb stream monitoring has been very good for both high school and middle school students.  The Globe Observer, from NASA, has been good for middle school students monitoring weather and trees.  The Globe Observer also has Mosquito Habitat mapper and Land Cover apps, I just have not had time to use these yet.  The CoCoRhHS rain gauge is on its way to my school now. Citizen Science materials have provided great opportunities to record, submit data and we have used this often to create graphs.  The Globe Observer is easy to use outside the classroom.  I use one IPad and let the students use that for the data input.  Then, of course, hand the IPad back to me.  Usually, I combine that with a five-minute walk to a small park with a jogging track.  At the park, we have investigated everything from grasses, birds, frogs, pulse rate, and for middle school- who is the fastest. This is also helpful for the- "Now if you will get this assignment completed soon we can go monitor clouds and hike to the park". I have great administration support.  If they are unable to control themselves, not very often, they can sit with the principle and complete homework or definitions.

We have not yet participated in citizen science programs but we have partnered with local farmers, a woodlot association, the David Suzuki Foundation, and partook in Energy Challenges as a means of conducting "real life inquiry". To date we have raised and released painted lady butterflies, established a large Learning Garden with GreenWheel Farms along with a mushroom bed with Fullerton Farms. The Ontario Woodlot Association has helped us acquire and plant 10 Butternut tree seedlings (endangered species) and we have reduced electrical consumption and waste (including food waste) in our classrooms through recycling, reduction, and composting. The next logical step is engaging in formal citizen science programs. Since we already have an established "Tree Restaurant" for bird/squirrel feeders, I think Project FeederWatch would be easiest foray into a new world of data collection and information sharing for young children. Today I joined Birds Canada and registered our class for the FeederWatch program which will include the Feeder Watch session in November 2020! To prepare for September, and as I progress through this course, I will consider how to lay the groundwork for November’s FeederWatch event by contemplating the following: 1) Consider how to focus student questions and observations on the birds we see in our school yard, during field trips, and around their own homes. Create an “I WONDER…” bulletin board in the Investigation Station section of the classroom. These are to be photographed, printed and laminated for posting in the Learning Garden and in the Wild Woods for reference. 2) Consider the observations and areas of interest raised by the students (behaviours, characteristics, nesting, etc). How can I support further inquiry into those areas of bird study. 3) Decide upon a location(s) for frequent bird observation. Prepare tools and materials for student inquiry including child-friendly and “adult” field guides, binoculars, clipboards, Bird journals for each student, writing tools, iPads for camera/video use and identification apps. 4) Consider developmentally appropriate data management and experimentations using the 4 stages of inquiry (Confirmation, Shared, Guided, Open). Prepare graph templates on large chart paper for class use and smaller chart paper that can be attached in student journals. Create reusable interactive “5 Senses Observation Flip Guides” to match the interactive “5 Senses Observation Chart” already posted in the classroom. Create a laminated “Magnifying Glass” observation illustration for repeated use and to model the use of their own photocopied journal-sized “magnifying glass” illustration papers. 5) Review the overall and specific curriculum expectations found within the “Demonstrations of Literacy and Mathematic Behaviours” and the “Problem-Solving & Innovation” frames of the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum. Create standard notes for pedagogical documentation to be used by myself and EAs/ECEs. Consider the expectations that can be covered and the means through which student progress (formative and cumulative) will be assessed.

This year my class participated in a citizen science project with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.  Every April, the Painted Lady butterflies migrate en masse through the city from the deserts of Arizona and Mexico to the Pacific Coast.  Everybody went outside for a designated period of time and counted the number of Painted Ladies they saw flying west and submitted it to the museum. It was a perfect first citizen science project for us.  This summer I'm hoping to become more familiar with eBird and set up a class account.  I'm planning to start with that next year and then, based on what my students are interested in, guide them toward different projects based on their own personal passions.

I have only used bioblitzes as an informal educator. They were great fun, and participants reported they learned from the "expert" that was part of their observation team. One of my colleagues was planning on doing the Globe Observer: Mosquito Habitat Mapper. She was going to have our county vector control educational staff come in to explain the various mosquito borne diseases that occurred in our region, and how to identify those mosquitoes. The event was also going to provide directions and materials to make a catcher for setup at home. Once mosquitoes were caught, observations could be uploaded to the website. This would be a great family project, especially since the Phoenix, AZ area is seeing more mosquitoes carrying disease. Several questions could be asked: Why is the region seeing more mosquitoes carrying different diseases? Which mosquitoes will I find around my house? Our library also had a CoCoRaHS precipitation gauge installed outside. We had a couple of volunteers who helped take readings, but unfortunately we didn't get a lot of interest from the community to participate. The library staff is making the necessary data entries.  I have been personally been providing observation information to the Great Pollinator Project, and thing would be a good group project, especially if there is a time to plant, and grow sunflowers. I am certainly learning about my new environment; from the dry, and hot desert to the wet, and cool Pacific Northwest. For either a formal or informal education setting, I would make sure there are a variety of flowering plants to observe over the time it takes the sunflowers to bloom. From my own experience, a variety of plants would provide a good range of different pollinators to observe.

I have participated in Budburst Buddies with my kindergarten students. We select a tree to observe in the schoolyard and observe it four times throughout the school year. The students record their observations in their journals and then I enter the data online. I only see the students once per week so for me the 4 times per school year is very manageable. If I was a classroom teacher, I would have the students observe more often.   My advice would be to start small and do what you can without stretching yourself. Choose a project based on your current science curriculum and student interests so it easy "fits in" to your schedule. My students are too young to input their own data but I input it on the smart board so they can be part of the process.

I have not participated in any citizen-science with learners.  In thinking about the population I work with, I think that finding the student's interest is most important as well as what is reasonable to investigate in the time that I work with them.  I'm reflecting back to my work during remote learning and one thing I did with one student was to track the weather using a calendar to record sun, rain, wind, snow, etc.  I think that extending this to report our findings and to possibly include other students with this could be an exciting first step.  My other exposure to kids is as the recess monitor.  Many of the kids approach me when they find something from nature whether it is a track, or animal, or plant of interest.  I will continue to monitor this level of inquiry and see if I can steer their interest or collaborate with a classroom teacher to further investigation.  The citizen-science spotlights include many specific programs which I intend to look into further to boost my own resources.

Using citizen science a great way to engage students and adults.  When students conduct citizen science projects, they gain personal knowledge of organisms and/or  natural areas where they live.  This experience can create life long bonds and build stewardships values with the students.  In working as an educational specialist/naturalist at a park district for a number of years, I used NestWatch, Project FeederWatch and the Frog Survey.  I enlisted volunteers to assist with these projects.  These CS projects have specific protocols and reporting procedures that can easily be learned and used.  In addition, each project can be easily adapted to the classroom to allow students to conduct the work with little teacher guidance.  I primarily, worked with young adults and adults with these three CS programs. College students and adults seeking community service hours as conservation stewards often volunteered. Sometimes, parents participated  with their children. High School students were required to dedicate time through community service as well.   Volunteers were asked to learn the protocol of each program and then sign up for time or assignment to conduct the work.     The park district had a bluebird trail.  Volunteers were needed to check and monitor the nest boxes annually during the nesting cycle.  Volunteers adopted boxes and checked them regularly during the nesting cycle.  NestWatch provided instructions and many learning opportunities along with a reporting format.  The data collected through NestWatch helped inform park stewardship management, it was also reported on a database accessible to researchers plus, the data was valuable for work reporting in general.  Project FeederWatch became an activity that elevate the importance of feeders at park nature centers.  Many nature centers have feeders for visitors to view.  Project FeederWatch provides a protocol to collect metrics about the birds using the feeders.  Project FeederWatch  involves STEM.  Students can evaluate the birds that regularly visit the feeders, count and graph their numbers and their presence.  FeederWatch provides opportunities  for students to explore and experiment. Additionally FeederWatch maintains records annually which helps researchers track changes and trends in bird populations over time.  Frog Survey was a survey done in the spring through the state department of natural resources.  Volunteers learned the songs of local frogs and visited specific areas and reporting on the species calling and rated their numbers based of the volume of the choruses.  This information was reported to the state department of natural resource which provided an annual report for the entire state.    Our local watershed council provides a learning opportunity twice a year for students to monitor streams within the watershed.  This program is called Stream leaders.  I worked with high school students monitoring a stream for a number of years.  They visited the stream in the spring and the fall.  The students collected physical, chemical and biological data at the site.  The data were reported to the local watershed.  For the teacher, this was her favorite activity.   Through Audubon, I have participated in the Christmas Bird Count for a number of years.  It is a historical CS program which was started in 1899.  The data collected through the CBC has informed bird conservation for years.  Audubon also has another program called Climate Watch which looks at target species and their presence in a area in the winter and spring.  Participation in these CS project enriches and informs student lives. They  are  doing active science and contributing to conservation while learning.

These are all wonderful ideas. I'm so happy there are ones that a Canadian can participate in! My family has been a big observer of feeder watch and enjoys frequently popping in on the live birds cams to see "who" is out and about. IT's a wonderful idea to use it as a citizen science project and one that can be done virtually.

I have not completed a citizen science project, but this gives me great ideas!  We used a courtyard area to have the students plant a garden of plants native to Long Island to attract our own pollinators.  The plants are thriving, and we have our own milkweed bugs,  butterflies, bees, caterpillars, ladybugs and more.  All our K-2 students have nature journals and along with our STREAM teachers, we can contribute to at least two or three citizen science projects.  The children will have a deeper connection in their science world.

I have run birding hikes using eBird and Merlin, and stewardship volunteer trainings using iMapInvasives. iMapInvasives is an awesome program, but needs to be supplemented with species identification training or iNaturalist/Seek in order to record observations. I suggest a classroom/office space training on the app or program itself, coupled with in-the-field component where they can actually test out and use the app. This program can either be done in one half-day, or over two days (with the classroom app training as optional). While I am an informal educator, this could easily be adapted into the classroom.

Since I am not consistently with my students (usually only single visits), it is sometimes hard to get them involved in citizen science. We provide resources to different citizen science projects to the teachers to encourage their participation. I would love to find ways to get kids involved for at least the short time I see them. If I can get them to be enthusiastic during their time with me, maybe they will continue participating in the project on their own.

I have participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count years ago.  It looks like e-Bird has amazing resources for personal and/or educational opportunities for my students.  I would like to investigate e-Bird in more detail and also I am very interested in Project Bird Feeder.  Our school has a garden that we could easily install bird feeders for types of birds in our area, and start am amazing project to pique student interest.

I have used Project Feeder Watch, Budburst, CoCoRaHS and Lost Ladybug with learners, as well as many others. My biggest suggestion is to make sure you know your ecosystem before choosing a project. For example I am still kinda new to AZ and had listed Lost Ladybug project as an option for our citizen science project last year for our K-3rd graders. I was still learning about our ecosystem and when things begin to bloom, become active, etc. They chose LLP as the one to participate in, however ladybugs don't start showing up in  AZ late spring, so it was not a good option for the school year. I do CoCoRaHS with my family and the teens in our program however, this is probably not one younger students would enjoy if you live in an arid state, because they won't be logging much data since it doesn't rain much. I think when choosing the project it is important to find one that will be engaging and get the kids excited about participating in citizen science, so knowing your ecosystem and students interests will be very helpful.

A few years back I participated in the Urban Birds Citizen Science Project with a group of second graders. My school is located in the Bronx, NY in a neighborhood with mostly playgrounds and very little green park space. The students and I walked to a nearby playground/park to do weekly observations of what types of birds were in the neighborhood and how many could be seen at certain periods of time. The students learned a lot while collecting the data and gained an appreciation for pigeons, sparrows, and starlings. They were seeing these birds everyday but made no connections until we participated in the study. My advice to anyone who wants to participate in any kind of citizen science activities is to plan ahead.  Keep in mind what you expect students to learn from the experience. Know where you will go and what is in the immediate area, anticipate problems in general as well as what you think students might find challenging.  Be prepared with materials, permission slips, clipboards etc.  Finally, build in time for students to share, reflect, react. This activity can lead to others.

I have not used any citizen-science projects in the past but I would very much like to start. Reading about all of the many citizen science opportunities available kind of makes me want to do more than I probably should! I definitely would like to investigate weather through CoCoRaHS or one of the other weather projects. I can see how this could be done easily from the classroom, and how it could possibly be compared to another classroom in another part of the country. I can see using tools and data with visual observations, and learning patterns and how to predict weather using the data we collect. I like the FeederWatch project to spot and identify birds, but I wonder if we would be able to dedicate the time necessary without it becoming a distraction for the other parts of our learning. As a (former, hopefully future) beekeeper, I am also interested in MLMP through a school pollinator/milkweed garden. This would also give us the opportunity to observe the lifecycle of a monarch. Finally, Budburst holds the same fascination for me to plants as some of the other projects do to animal life. Particularly, for me, how plants change through the year in central Florida compared to the more defined and extreme differences of plants through the seasons in Ohio.

With my position I try as much as possible to link youth to Cornell University and the research happening.  I have had youth in Rensselaer County participate in citizen science projects such as helping monitor the black cutworm and armyworm as part of our NYS IPM insect trapping network with Agronomist, Aaron Gabriel. I have a teen working on The Effects of a Nitrogen Strip on a Field with the NMSP team at Cornell University, headed by Professor Quirine Ketterings He has been cleaning harvest yield data from the past  4 years this last winter in order to find an area that is classified as a stable low yield area. This spring he will plant corn on those fields and implement the nitrogen strip so that it helps the stable low yield areas while not losing any productivity of the stable high yield areas and reduce waste and runoff by applying it in this fashion. He will gather results throughout the growing season and harvest. iNaturalist- we have set up an account to work with our Environmental Center (Dyken Pond) so that youth and adults can track their findings while out exploring and ask questions along the way. We have tracked 9spotted lady bugs in the past with the Lost Lady Bug Project. Collected soil for Susan Hoskins, for the Institute for Resource Information Sciences, Soil and Crop Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science. Most of these projects are a one time opportunity that was suggested through the Cooperative Extension System.  I am excited to learn more about the ongoing programs available.

The main CS projects (all have had field components to them) I've used have been:

• "CoastalWatch" created by our local WWF NGO in Hong Kong to measure coastal biodiversity and marine waste in a Grade 9 interdisciplinary geo-science project for the last 5 years.
• "iNaturalist" as an introduction during our annual 'GreenWeek' and environmental club/Roots & Shoots club events (for students in Grades 4 -> 12) to consider urban biodiversity and ask questions about biodiversity abundance, seasonality, habitats, etc.
• a community mapping project (just used Google MyMaps for plotting and sharing the data spatially) that identified various needs of community stakeholders through interviews and observations, analyzed the plotted data, considered potential solutions, and presented them to district council members (all done in one full day) - this was done with students in Grades 6 - 8.
• "CoralWatch" measuring the health of corals during a snorkelling activity (as part of a larger geography field trip) in a particular bay that was impacted by agricultural run-off, human recreational activities, nearby mangroves, etc., using a colour chart, and comparing it with previous data from the same area to study coral health change over time (with Grade 12 students).

Suggestions/advice (quick short list, there is lots more):

• always do a recce trip with the teachers to determine feasibility of the project in that field location (especially if you plan on using any tech like smartphones, etc.)
• break the methodology down to clear instructions and give roles to students doing data collection in groups
• depending on time, you could rotate roles so students can experience learning related to the various data collection roles
• practice the methods/data collection with students (even a mock set-up in the classroom is fine) before doing the real thing

I have not completed any citizen science projects with students. Over the last few years, we have completed Journey North which tracks the migration of Monarchs and logged their return from winter migration sites.  However, this was more for information purposes rather than students playing an active role in investigations. I am interested in  completing soil sampling around our school by specifically looking at insects as a indicator of healthy soils and  also air quality concerning the idling cars in our carpool lane. I think the most important  aspect is to have a community partner to help  understand which data is needed to be collected and  how it will be used. Students need to  know that their work is impactful and can make a difference in their community.  Real world application and student interest,  are to me, the most important factors when choosing a project to participate in.