eBird (Citizen Science) December 19th, 2023 (Gorman Nature Center-Mansfield, OH), 2:30PM Dark-Eyed Junco White-Throated Sparrow Song Sparrow Does snow affect bird behavior or activity? Do birds communicate more or less during varying weather conditions? Do some types of birds not like each other? Challenges: Often when a lot of birds are in one area, it can be hard to make sure you document all that you hear and see. Also when registering birds, eBird only allows you to look up birds by their scientific name. This feature can be difficult for people who are just now learning the names. Learning Outcomes: If my students had access to this app, I would guide them in setting a goal or identifying at least one bird with the app and submitting a checklist. Gorman Nature Center, Mansfield, OH-12/19/23

I did Project Feeder Watch. My students loved trying to identify and count the birds at the feeder. A challenge that we faced was that our feeder is located at the end of a hiking path, so sometimes other classes or visitors would scare the birds away before we could identify and count them. By doing this with my class, students came up with a lot of wondering questions about the relationship between different birds. This caused us to try to be mindful of the interactions with the birds while we were observing them. This project helps students to care more about our planet and helps them to develop critically thinking skills.

I am a first grade teacher collaborating with another 1st grade class to participate in Project FeederWatch. The biggest challenge we face is seeing birds at our feeders consistently. Our school is located in a more urban area. Therefore, the amount of noise in our area I fear prevents the amount of birds we observe. This citizen science project has opened our students' eyes to the wildlife right outside their door. I often would hear discussion about zoo animals but now they discuss birds and their pleasure in documenting our observations of them outside. They begin to see how the living things and wildlife around them is impacted by themselves.

I participated in iNaturalist. I have participated in budburst, nest watch, and feederwatch in the past. All I think have great potential for learning about inquiry and developing hands on science practices and skills.  The challenges I ran into was the time required to do certain tasks, such as checking nest boxes, and timing that within the class time. Outcomes that may come from it are developing a study question and a description of possible ways to test it with what data they would hope to collect.

I did the bird feeder citizen-science project. I watched a bird feeder and recorded the number and type of birds that I observed over a period of time. I know a few species of local birds but I would need a guide for any species I did not recognize. The only challenge is that there were periods of time during my observation period where there were no birds on the feeder. For my students participating in this project, a learning outcome that I would expect would be for the students to come up with a question to investigate and be able to collect data that will help them answer the question.

We used Merlin to ID birds while engaging in a biodiversity walk around Walden Pond in Concord, MA.  Students were recording different plants and animals they observed, but utilized the Merlin Bird ID to identify species by their song.  We ran into some challenge with the app as it would not always detect, or accurately detect, songs that we could hear. That was frustrating for students, but I encouraged them to try to describe the sound in their notebooks.

I explored budburst app and the website. I recorded various species and their life stage though the app. This program would be very beneficial for students to engage in to gain a deeper understanding of phenology and devolop deeper appreciation for their local environment. Based on my limited experience with the app, students would become very familiar with local and invasive species around our education program. They would learn how scientists collect data, the life stages of plants, and how to determine coordinates using a map. This program would be a good base for inquiry based teaching where the students could develop their own studies about local wildlife.

I was super blessed to be able to participate in a citizen science experience at a dinosaur dig this summer. We were able to unearth some duck-billed hadrosaur bones and tendons. It was amazing! But one of the coolest parts was how much we felt like "real" scientists. We had to record our finding in the lab book, do sketches and measurements, make sure everything was labeled and recorded with the GPS. The timing of the dig makes it so that my students would not be able to participate in the same project, but the feeling of empowerment is what I would want to help replicate.

I use Inaturalist, seek, & ebird in class. I am looking forward to adding the other citizen science programs that I have discovered during this course!   The students have no difficulty with the apps.  Of course, there can be technical difficulties with connectability occasionally. It was so successful using what phones and tablets that the students could bring with them that the school has purchased tablets for more exploration!   We had lots of luck with identifying various types of sea shells with the iseek app.  The students loved it, especially when they discovered they could take pictures of each other and get a list of classifications other than humans.  It put us all in laughter for a while.   The learning outcomes that I expect is to have the students have a thirst for more .

I have used iNaturalist on many occasions. I like that it gives you options of what it could be, and once you choose someone either confirms the ID or says it it something else. This is great because it provides a direct connection to someone else doing science, or at least an expert in the field. The problem is that students need to be 14 or older to create an account with iNaturalist, and my students are 7th grade. I have used the seek app with them, but not yet connected to any CS project. Hoping to do that this year.

I used the app eBird to identify some birds at a local pond.  I enjoyed using the app and adding some rare birds to our location. I found the app relatively easy to use, but I have a somewhat extensive background in identifying different animals.  I think students would figure out how to use this app without any problem. I think the best option would be to partner them up, or they may spend a lot of time trying to identify different birds. This app would be a fantastic app to use during the migration in the spring and fall, but students would definitely need an identification guide with them when we used the app. I think this would be a really good way to put students in a position to do something most of them probably wouldn't spend time doing on their own.

I'd actually like to share about a citizen-science project in which I participated the last couple of years. It's a study of urban coyote diets via analyzing coyote scat. Volunteers first go through a short training session on how to identify coyote scat and where it might be found. Then we learn how to collect samples, label them, and store them before bringing them to the urban wildlife researcher. They then use equipment that will help separate and identify whatever it was that the coyotes had eaten. Some of the more challenging parts of this were 1. having to get up early to find the freshest scat samples, 2. finding scat, and 3. storing samples that can be a little smelly. I found that my dog is actually great at finding coyote scat, so that challenge was more easily overcome. I expect anyone who uses this project with kids would find that kids can quickly overcome initial squeamishness and learn to appreciate the wildlife in their own backyards, so to speak. I also would hope kids could get a better understanding of the scientific process and work that goes into establishing a volunteer base and collecting data. But I also expect students to find out how fun projects like this can be. Every time I log my volunteer hours for this project, I reflect on how grateful I am to be able to call what is essentially taking a walk "hard-earned volunteer time."

I used eBird and Merlin. I have no used either app before but it seemed very user friendly. Although, it did ask about downloading bird packs even though I thought I had downloaded them already? So I think  technology can be a bit of a challenge sometimes.  Unfortunately, I had forgotten my binoculars so could only get a good glimpse at birds that hung out close to me. I can also ID a few birds so my challenge to myself was to forget what I know and try to just observe and find all the details I could before identifying. I hope students would be able to improve their observation skills, critical thinking skills and focus on taking the time to get the bird ID right.

I used eBird and Merlin.  I loaded the apps on my phone and went out to ID birds and submit my sightings.  I was a bit intimidated by this since there was one bird ID I was not 100% on.  I wasn't quite sure what to do with that.  I am looking forward to getting more familiar with using Merlin for ID to alleviate that issue.  I think that doing this with students will allow them to become better at making observations as they learn more bird ID techniques.  They will also be better at using technology as a tool for scientific research and can learn to make charts and graphs of their data.  They can also learn lots about bird behavior, bird colors and body parts, why certain birds have the characteristics that they do, what birds travel in flocks and why, what birds are solitary or in pairs, where birds usually nest and other bird facts.

1) E-bird 2) What data to record along with the bird sitting, like how many, what time of day, and possibly it any unusual weather. 3) Are these bird common, uncommon: migrants or residents; why the changes?

I chose to collect data using eBird. I didn't experience any challenges because I've used this (and other citizen science portals) frequently in the past. One thing that's worth mentioning is that with any of these projects that rely on data, I always feel like I want to record everything but knowing that when I see very little observations, it's still worth recording because no data is better than wrong  data. If the students participated in this projects then they would learn about bird identification and sounds, how to estimate flock numbers, where the species can be found, which species are solitary and which can be found in groups, which species can be seen in that time of year, and how fun it is to do science.

I have used Birdata, a bird survey citizen science project, with students. The challenges I experienced were mostly to do with recording the survey. This is because we went out as a class but could only enter one survey on the Birdata app. This meant students recording their bird sightings on a printed survey sheet, then when we went back to the classroom, entering the data collected into the app using the classroom screen so all students could see it. It did not quite have the same impact I imagine it would have had if all the students could enter their data themselves. Perhaps we can try students doing the surveys in smaller groups and entering it themselves next time, now that they have had some experience. Students learnt bird ID, scientific survey methods, observation skills, data collection, team work, data entry.

I participated in the Nature's Notebook Citizen Science project. It took me some time to learn what was expected and learn how to use the online tool and the mobile app. I imagine students will be quicker at learning this than I was, but it does require some time to learn and I will need to incorporate that in if I do this project with students. The project asks participants to decide which plants and animals they want to observe upfront. I suspect students will encounter organisms as they begin their observations and I wonder if it is okay to add on to the list as they find interesting specimens. That's what happened to me -- I found a spring peeper by surprise and a bunch of caterpillars that I wasn't tasked with observing. Students will certainly refine their observation skills and get an appreciation for nature. The observations students make will surely bring up many questions. Students will then be able to work on designing testable questions.

I have used the app Seek, which was taught to us in one of the workshops.  The biggest challenge was simply taking the time to explore and use the app.  Each time I made an ID I learned something new about how to look for interesting things in the woods.  It is a wonderful feature that they also include the kingdom and family names alongside the species names.  I ended up focusing on fungi.  I began asking questions:  why are these species in this part of the forest?  What makes some mushrooms grow together while others grow alone.  How doe multiple species seem to cluster or congregate in some areas but not in others? I expect that my students will love the process that opens up from putting a name to a mystery.  Once they see and identify one mushroom or slug or plant, the questions will begin and the transition to “I wonder” will be underway.  Enabling students to utilize this technology together in small groups is a challenge I foresee, but it is surmountable.  I find that when providing students with an opportunity to focus their attention with a piece of technology, they rise to the occasion and use their devices respectfully.  Thanks for introducing me to this program.

I have not done a citizen-science project and I am not currently teaching because I am taking care of an elderly parent. When I do a CS project I would like to do the monarch one because students are able to easily conduct an experiment by writing questions, conducting the experiment and analyzing the data obtained. Monarch populations fluctuate greatly each year so finding enough butterflies may be problematic. Science does not guarantee anything and when results are not what students expected the students often feel frustrated which is new to them. Students often expect everything to work out fine and when it does not then a student's reaction can be an issue.

I chose to do eBird, I have also participated in Hoosier Riverwatch in the past.  I did not have any challenges with eBird except for the fact that I wanted to keep counting birds after I was done!  For Hoosier Riverwatch, it is hard to find a safe accessible place to test the Wabash River and hard to carry all of the materials down steep slopes to reach it.  For eBird, the learning curve for identifying birds would be steep.  It would take some practice from the students to ID birds.  I think overall students would realize just how many birds there are when they are truly looking!  I dislike that many of the citizen science projects (like Feeder Watch) you have to buy memberships for.

I dicided to connectd with Feeder Watch since we have multiple bird feeders at my home, live right next to a forested park, and have additional feeders here at the school. The most challenging part for me was finding the time to simply sit and observe.  Over a period of 3 days I also discovered that the birds are more active at different times of the day. An additional challenge was the noise level associated with the school.  Both of these challenges will be something I have to consider if I engage in these types of activities with students. My goal for learning outcomes would incllude a social goal as well as a scientific.  Having the students track the data - especially over time - would lend itself to the science aspect.  Having students connect to their local environment and discover that even a relatively unknown individual can change the world would be the social aspect.  Changing our school yard changes the neighborhood which in turn changes our town, our county, our state, our country and eventually the world.

I did the FeederWatch citizen-science project. Overall, I felt that it was successful and a great learning experience. The challenges were that some days there were hardly any birds and other days there were so many it was quite distracting. I could see students getting engaged in this but how to work it into the schedule when the birds are not on a schedule could be tricky. Learning outcomes would be inquiry, chart making, data collection and predictions.

I tried to do the Bat Detective project as my daughter saw a bat outside our house this morning and I thought it would be a fun project to do at home together as a family...but I couldn't get through to a specific link for this project, so I did the Cedar Creek: Eyes on the Wild project instead. This project appealed to me as Minnesota is just north of us and I think my students would be able to see many of the same animals in our area. Participants view pictures captured by trail cams of animals and record which species and how many were visible. Most of what I saw was bison and deer, which we can also see locally. This would be a fun project to do with my middle school students to focus on data collection, which is an area we can improve based on their most recent science fair participation. I would have liked to do a screen-free project and pursue these in the future, but due to the weather this time of year in our area, there are not as many projects available. These are definitely some resources I can share with students that can hopefully promote investigation and curiosity for future science fair projects.