I haven't used any citizen science projects with my students, but I am looking forward to incorporating some of these into my classroom in the future.  I think they will be a great way to get my students really immersed in the material!

Last school year I had my students complete the Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Celebrating Urban Birds activity.  On three separate days I took the class out to a small park near our school so that they could collect data.  There were a couple of challenges that arose.  First, students really did not see many birds, I think they found this pretty disappointing.  Second, students did not have much background knowledge of bird identification.  I certainly could have spent more time on helping students to identify the different species.

I haven't really used any citizen-science projects in the past.  I've signed up for project Feeder Watch for this year.  I had some GLOBE training a long time ago as a part of another program.... it might be something I would revisit. The CoCoRaHs program looked like it would be pretty fun for kids to keep track of precipitation and make a hail pad. Because they want the data in a particular time frame, I am not sure how to include all classes.

I have been conducting a Citizen Science Programme with students of grade 9-12 in association with Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre at BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society) in Rani, Guwahati ,Assam. We have been working with the local people in order to conserve the Vulture population of the White backed and Slender-billed vultures. Our students have been conducting Art for Conservation programme for the village kids and have been designing lots of Street Plays and performing the same to generate  awareness.Also, they have been learning and understanding the science behind captive breeding programmes.

For several years I had our students (grade 10-11) take part in a citizen science project of their choosing. This was often a winter or spring break project. Students overwhelmingly chose something that they could do from their computers. They often found something on Zooniverse where they were transcribing, identifying objects in a photo, or playing a game. Eyewire was always a favourite. They would need to spend a total of 5 hours on the project, where up to 2 would be spent learning about the project and figuring out how to do it. I wanted students to get a sense of the amount of different projects out there in the hopes that they would continue with one that sparked their interest. I also wanted them to be part of a larger scientific experience. Over the years doing the citizen science project with students I have tweaked small things such as doing the projects in a small group to reporting back to a larger group, to try to increase accountability to complete the project and to encourage deeper processing of what they were involved with. The science being done behind some of the citizen science projects can be a little hidden. We did have success in getting students to dig deeper by asking students to identify parts of the experimental design in the project they were participating in. Our group of students is really keen on doing science and even though they are part of the scientific process and contributing data it doesn’t always feel like it to them. I never heard any follow up as to if they had continued with one of the projects. They generally enjoyed the work although many reported being either frustrated with technical aspects or tended to get bored over time. I am hoping taking this course I will see some new ways of integrating citizen science into our program. I think having the science being something that students experience away from their computers would be ideal – observing physical phenomena.

In our Junior Naturalist After School Program. We have tried the Nature's Notebook Dogwood Project - we had great fun talking about phenology and going out and tracking the progress every time we met (every two weeks) but we never sent in the information - there was never enough time and that seemed an insurmountable task. I think if we had familiarized the students with the website and used it to illustrate what the plan was and how their collected material would be used by real scientists the last step would have been easier to accomplish. Because we only have an hour and half every two weeks I like to get them out into nature straightaway. So, even though I love the idea of these projects I feel like I have never really had the courage to submit results. Over the past couple of years, I have become increasingly interested in Moths and next week is National Moth Week https://nationalmothweek.org/.  I am going to try and set up a light and a sheet at my house on Saturday night and document the moths that visit. They suggest using Project Noah - which I have been playing with today. Their mobile app is being redesigned but I can easily upload from my computer. Project Noah also has connections to other projects, too many to list but check them out here. https://www.projectnoah.org/missions

I have not used any official citizen science projects with our guests. Personally, I have used Seek and iNaturalist and have done some research as far as incorporating Frog Watch. Since most of the guests we see are only there for a short time, and not extended, I would like to offer a Frog Watch program in the spring, or even Project FeederWatch. Essentially, it would be a 2 - 3 hour program with a classroom portion to discuss how the project works and how to ID amphibians, followed by a hike out to our creeks and vernal pools for some in person data collection together.

I have used the Project Budburst with my 6th graders, which I hope to help expand into the 9 other middle schools in our district.  Some suggestions I have for having students participate in this project are all about communicating with your school community about the project's goals and expectations:

• Prepare students for going outside in all types of weather. I do this by having students draw diagrams of types of clothing and supplies that will make their trips outside to observe the trees more successful and pleasant. Each student's diagram goes home to families with a letter explaining the project and when students will be going outside.
• Get your principal on board. Meet with your principal and explain what Science Practices and standards students will be addressing during this project. Be clear on how and when the data will be collected.
• Speak to school nurse to address any possible health concerns - I have had students with different health issues, which required a second adult to walk to the playground with our class to make our observations.
• Set students up for success, practice with the students inside the classroom, the tasks they will be doing when outside at the research site. I.e. measuring leaf size, sketching branches with leaves, identifying stages of bud burst
• Be explicit with behavioral expectations.

I have not implemented citizen science into the STREAM Lab, yet. I personally use iNaturalist to log observations of (mostly invertebrate) animals in my area. I think the Project Feederwatch would be the best fit for my students and classroom. I have a wall of large windows facing the playground, and I think that would be an excellent place to place feeders (after adding bird-strike prevention decals). Logging information will be something I will lead with my specials classes; however, I plan on inviting our classroom teachers to participate as well. We are fortunate to live close to the Gulf of Mexico on the upper Texas coast, so we have an excellent diversity of bird species year round.  While many of those birds don't visit feeders, I'm hoping we could attract migrants during the spring and fall.

If we define citizen science as the active participation of the general public in the process of observation (a subject either in the natural or material world), collecting and sharing data for utilization by professional scientists, then the citizen science project that I mostly used with our science high school students is eBird. Please note however that I am not a natural science teacher, but a technology teacher teaching the subject 'Introduction to Computational Thinking' to eight-grade students. For this reason I myself is a citizen scientist contributing my observations through projects like eBird, iNaturalist, Habitat Network which I used to map trees in the campus and visually define the local environment of the site (how I miss using the app of this project and looking forward to its return), at times participating in the annual Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) through the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, and collaborating with a corporate project Energy Development Corporation - BINHI to help conserve premium and endangered native tree species by hosting a number of species in the campus. Even though I have no direct influence to our learners to use a citizen science project in a classroom setting to help immerse the students in the scientific practices, I use my local knowledge of wild birds and trees in the campus grounds to get students outside (for awareness and to share the joy of identifying and observing wild birds and trees). There are times that I get to help and guide Grade 11 or 12 students whose research subject fall into ecology. One such student research is on diversity of avian population in the area (the students' video abstract can be viewed in this link: https://youtu.be/bNXBFXD_eNc).

I have not done any citizen-science projects with learners yet. We have a strong STEM-Ag program at my school and we also study Monarch butterflies (all stages) through harvesting , observing, and releasing. It would be a great opportunity for the learners at my school to learn about birds and how they affect pollination and crops. It would involve observing birds in our pollinator and school gardens, and then observing them in other locations to see what conclusions we can make: feeding patterns, what they eat, birds that are helpful/harmful to crops, etc.

I have not yet led any Citizen Science projects with my learners, however, I have run studies and projects within the local community at parks and natural areas, which could be viewed as a form of citizen science. Most recently, we have had our learners out in the field on a Milkweed & Monarch monitoring project. In groups, our learners locate and map out areas with milkweed present and then take note of any signs of Monarch activity (eggs, caterpillars, leaves that have been eaten, etc.) We are even hatching some of the Monarch eggs in a controlled environment and will release them as full grown adult. I feel this project can very much benefit global projects, such as Monarch Watch. We inspire our learners to ask questions about these animals as we have them observe the Monarch life cycle right in front of their eyes, thus creating more curiosity. When that curiosity is sparked there's a desire to help and become a part of something bigger. This sort of project would fall under such spotlights as Ecology & Insects.

The main citizen science project that are of my 8th grade students participate in is Project FeederWatch.  It has involved a bit of creativity over the years because my classroom is on the third floor.  For the past few years I have implemented a game cam to record the visitors to our feeders and then I prepare the photos for students to view and record their observations.  We also used the game cam to participate in eMammal to study our urban wildlife.  Journey North also has provided several different projects that my students participate in every year (except last year) which include the Symbolic Monarch Migration, Red Emperor Tulip Study, and Phenology to track the seasons.  I also introduce my students to Zooniverse which has a wonderful collection of projects to fit individual interests.  

I have not used a citizen project yet.  The Project Feeder Watch seems very interesting to me but the others are extremely appealing also.  I work in an alternative school with small class sizes so I would like to see what interests my students most.  Possibly have different groups work on different projects.  I see opportunities for cross curriculum (math, engineering, and science).  I find that I get the most out of students when they are involved in deciding what they are researching.  This year, for example, I had a student that decided to investigate a device called The Plant Choir.  Essentially, the plants would have a different electrochemical pathway which gets converted to music.  There were so many questions that came up.  The first being was, "Is it really measuring the plant or is it simply completing a circuit?"  The students realized that if a metal was used music was not created.  We began further asking questioning, "Would the music change if the same type of plant was tested under various conditions?" The way this project began with one student was his interest in another student's project of how plants communicate with one another.  He was studying how mycelium bricks were an alternative building material.

I was part of a project that incorporated citizen science through the oceanography department at the UW.  Students collected water from different parts of the area and sent it in to be analyzed by the lab.  Then they received results and talked about the chemical compounds in the water, and how pollution was affecting water across Seattle.  One way that I think this project served the youth in the after school program was by making the project locally relevant.  Students collected water in their local community to understand what was happening in their own places.

I have used both eBird and Celebrate Urban Birds with my 8th grade students. I really liked how Celebrate Urban Birds limited the number of birds that students were trying to identify and also only required them to go out 3 times to complete the study. This fit well into the amount of time that we had for the project and the students were able to make great observations. I really liked using Celebrate Urban Birds during Covid when students were making observations on our virtual days in their backyards. It brought up a lot of great questions and conversations about the types of birds seen based on location (town, wooded, open space, etc.).

I think some of these citizen science projects are accessible to early childhood teachers to do as whole classroom projects.  Some could be done as young as 2 years old.  I particularly like ebird as it allows for collecting data on the birds that you naturally see in your space.  I have a friend that works at a forest preschool (outdoors all day) and he uses it to really help focus on math with his kids.  He likes to help them figure out what birds they are seeing by classifying their characteristics.  The kids really like as the birds are engaging.  Many of our classrooms have bird feeders as well so I think feederwatch might be somethign fun to explore.  Many also do butterfly units, and several even have butterfly gardens, so I'd like to introduce them to the Monarch larvae monitoring project.  I think several other of the invertebrate projects could be engaging too as our curriculum has a whole unit on insects.  All of these though would need to be whole class and guided by the teacher.  Data can be collected and displayed in simple graphs and as exploration storylines - pictures of the students during the process.

The introduction does a nice job of giving an overview of introducing the scientific method through inquiry and citizen-science. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) lists the steps (pp. 5) to carrying out an experiment of sorts to answer a research question based on what the "wonder" (pp. 11). Projects I would reconsider after reading this (as an introduction device to science research) would be to go out into the field and use their observations through a mindfulness exercise like closing their eyes and listening to the sounds around them. Record their observations as a map and keep a tally of the different noises they heard and infer what may be causing them. Students may be asked if they heard any bird noises. Did any sound familiar? If so, which do you think they were? Were there any noises that are new to you? We could discuss their data as a class and leave it with an "I Wonder" post-it that can be explored from there. From there students can be encouraged to do bird census surveys around the school and upload their data to a citizen-science database such as eBird.  They may be encouraged to track how natural phenomena such as weather conditions, time of day, etc., may be used to help explain the presence or absence of birds, or even bird behavior. From here, students may begin to create a research question they may be able to answer through previous literature, collected data and well-reasoned arguments..

In the classroom, I have used Penguin Watch from zooniverse.org with my students. The kids really like working with the photos, but sometimes it seems as if there are not enough photos to go around for all of my students (so we wait a week or two and try again!). Field trips (remember when we used to do those?) to a local TNC site was a great place to use iNaturalist, but I hear that Seek (app) might be more kid friendly and attempts to gamify nature watching by offering monthly challenges.   I am hoping this class will help me figure out how to start some long term project with my students. There is so little baseline data in existence about what birds or bugs (both are in the news with their declining numbers lately) are found on our campus or in the downtown area in general where my high school is. Perhaps this is to be done through iNaturalist and/or ebird.  

Last summer with the help of a friend from a local zoo, we raised Monarch caterpillars.  She showed us how to find caterpillars on milkweed and care for them until their metamorphosis.  She also taught us to identify different varieties of milkweed and help her plant a new pollinator garden on her property.  I wish I would have known more about citizen science projects then, so we could have tagged our Monarchs to help with research. One of the reasons I chose to take this class was to learn more about citizen science because I think it’s the right next step for science in our homeschool.  We’re currently watching and learning about ants in our ant farm (thanks to my daughter’s wonderings about ants), so I think the School of Ants project might be a good first step into citizen science for us.  I’m also looking at Project Squirrel since we already do quite a bit of squirrel watching due to the high number of oak trees and squirrels on our property.

I have used GLOBE Clouds with students during the meteorology unit.  I am hoping to get involved with CoCoRahs next year once we get a stream gauge in a good spot on campus.  I really enjoy eBird and Feeder Watch and propose it to my students as a way to work on observation skills. I think the best way to get involved in projects is to do those that apply to the content you are teaching to give students a practical application of the scientific study.

I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to citizen science, and I try to incorporate it throughout the school year with my students. My school has a biodiversity project on iNaturalist where we keep track of plants and animals we see on our campus. We have also submitted data to the Southwest Monarch Study and Journey North, and we have tagged some monarch butterflies for release. A few of my students have submitted observations to the Great Sunflower Project (pollinator counting). With my after school club, we have participated in Project FeederWatch, Project NestWatch, and we have submitted observations through eBird. We are also part of the CoCoRaHS network, and we have a rain gauge installed in our school garden. One platform that I've only used a bit with my students is Zooniverse. I would love to do more with having students pick a project that interests them, do some work with it, and then reflect on what they learned about it. COVID has made it a bit more challenging to do some of these citizen science projects, but I'm looking forward to doing more next year.   I've found it's challenging to get students doing more of the work on different projects. Quite often, I end up being the one submitting the data because of restrictions for students being able to create their own accounts. You have to be careful which projects you pick depending on the grade level of the students. That's where SciStarter is so helpful because you can filter by age group. I find it is also helpful to have some kind of data sheet students can fill out so that they still get to practice collecting the data even if they're not the ones submitting it online. I only post one submission for the whole group, but everyone gets to collect data. Some projects (like FeederWatch) give you a data sheet to use, which is nice. Sometimes, I have students create their own data sheet because this gives them practice in deciding what information is important to collect. It also helps to explore projects on your own and test them out before doing them with the kids.

I have done Stream Discovery with my students. We visited our location in the fall and the spring and reported our results to the database. We were also able to contribute to some smaller studies to check on additional water quality each week in the spring. I have also used GLOBE Clouds. Kids love to look at clouds and are really good at it. It was cool to get an email saying that our observation matched up with a satellite. I will be starting CoCoRaHS monitoring this fall along with GLOBE atmosphere protocols. My biology students will be participating in crayfish monitoring project through IL SeaGrant in iNaturalist. I have introduced many of my students to eBird.

I myself am an eBird user.  The only citizen science program I ever tried to attempt with a class my first year of teaching AP Environmental Science was to have students document sightings of butterflies and moths using the Butterflies and Moths of North America website.  Being a NY school we start later in the year September and once school gets rolling butterflies and moths become a little more difficult to find and photograph.  Also verifying that students did the assignment was a little difficult.  I stopped doing it after that year.  After starting to be an iNaturalist user and the greater proliferation of smart phones I am interested in taking a stab at it once again.  I am here to learn more about integrating it into classroom!