ej

Project: I was most curious about CoCoRahs, but that required ordering a rain gauge, so will have to wait til one arrives... Meanwhile, I did BudBurst which was pretty straightforward. You do need to register to enter data, but then can start doing so immediately. You could actually print off blank report sheets and start collecting data before registering. Registration was quick and it was easy to start entering data from just reading through the basic 1-2-3 overview, though the “Get Started” overview was much more thorough. Challenges: A big challenge I often face with online learning opportunities (which includes many citizen science projects) is finding ones that do not require smartphones or tablets due to regularly having a fair number of participants who don't have or use them and/or working in tight time frames where dealing with tech can eat up a considerable amount of limited time. BudBurst had reasonable balance between high & low tech options. Participants note the species, location, and phenological phase of one or more particular plant. On one end, they could use a smartphone, photograph & upload a plant photo, and enter and submit the data immediately. On the other end BudBurst provides printable report sheets for gathering the same data which one could merely use for their own personal observations and data analysis. And there are many options in between - skip the photo altogether; take photo with a regular camera and upload; collect data on paper (using their forms or creating your own) and upload later. In any case, they can then access their personal data or the BudBurst database to analyze data, identify trends, etc. One other potential challenge - having looked over much of the website, I only noticed photos of plants in full flower, but not photos/illustrations of the plants in their different phases which could be limiting in terms of definitively identifying it before it reaches a clearly identifiable stage (depending on time, ages, and resources). Learning outcomes: At a very basic level, BudBurst resources could be used to teach participants observation skills including how to recognize general and species specific phenophases. Participants could also collect and report phenophase data, use observation or collected data to compare phenophase data by species, location, season, year, habitat, or some growing conditions and analyze potential similarities/differences. Particpants could cross reference with other available data (e.g. weather and compare to weather+phenological phases of different years. Participants could develop theories and further analyze data or design experiments to determine conditions that might affect phenophase timing.

In general, modeling with your own enthusiasm and curiosity and not getting in the way of theirs. Ideally providing exposure and opportunities to observe, possibly pointing out some things of potential interest (anything from “Look at that!” to open-ended questions), asking guiding/exploratory questions, and providing time for reflection. Like a few others, I often work with groups in limited time spans and goal oriented programming which doesn't lend itself to these approaches, but you can sometimes still sneak a few things in - e.g. take advantage of downtime (walking to next location, breaks, etc by giving a "to think about" question or brainstorm with a partner/in small groups on unknown this-or-thats related to something we just saw. If meeting more than once, you can send them off with similar “homework” but possibly on a larger scale, such as: “Well, we sure saw a lot of crows this week! I wonder if they're being as active other places too? Maybe we can all keep our eyes & ears alert for crows this week and share what we saw/heard at the start of our next meeting” (or draw pictures of things, or take some data, or write a journal reflection, etc.

tractor? (v. distant, constant) distant cars (occasional) bullfrog? (v. distant, occasional) leaves rustling leaves rustling leaves rustling                                                                                                                                                             cars insect                                                                                                               driving hitting                                                                                                                       past screen                                                                                                                          (slowing cicadas                                                                                          X                                                                                                        at  trilling toads                                                                                                                          stick                                                    curve) falling leaf skittering along stone walkway I often do a very similar project to the Lemons with oranges or pinecones (actually usually spruce cones) for nature studies. Like the Lemon one, try to get very similar looking ones and have some extras, but I only give vague instructions once they receive it - "look at your cone carefully" for a few minutes. Usually only a few students are able to find theirs - often ones with a distinctive mark but usually a few that were just more carefully observed. This immediately creates a desire for the rest of the students to look at their cone more carefully and we discuss/brainstorm ways before redistributing for a second look (randomly, not trying to give them their original cone back). This is sometimes part of a larger nature studies program that includes plant identification, taxonomy, nature sketching, etc and we return to the concept different ways: using for observational skills to draw more accurately, using to compare/contrast  features often used in identification guides, etc.

Position youth as people who do science - engaging students in decision-making and trouble-shooting processes! Frame the work globally & locally - looking for interconnections/crossover which is easy for something like butterfly migration or groups like  lab of O that monitor nationally or beyond. But this is still possible with anything: doing water monitoring? - see if there's citizen science or community groups working on water quality downstream, visit their website or contact. Monitoring bats in central PA? Look up other bat monitoring groups in NM or NZ! What species of bats are they seeing, what are environmental/habitat/disease issues they're facing, what monitoring issues have they run into? Embrace the unexpected - discuss process vs product. If product/results aren't what you expected/robust/usable, have students review the process - what could be changed if the project were done again? Design solutions!      However,  don't invite the unexpected - be sure to have the groundwork in place to proceed. I'm embarrassed to admit the first time I did the Great Backyard Bird Count (with my own kids who were very excited about it after visiting friends with a very active feeder), we got a feeder but I kept forgetting to get bird seed. And when I did remember I forgot the local Agway closed at 5. And then there was a snowstorm. And so forth. I finally got some the day before the 4 day start counted. We got the feeder filled and hung the 1st morning. And....not a single bird all four days. It can take them several weeks to discover  a new feeder. Oops!

Where Does the Rain Go? I most often work with homeschool or community groups in a fairly rural area. This was  a mixed age group that only met once/week, so the activities were demonstrated at the building & property where we meet but then students applied to their own houses & properties. This project was part of a larger interdisciplinary unit (geography, literature, science, nature studies) that includes mapping and watersheds using Holling C. Holling's Paddle-to-the -Sea as a literary tie in. The focus of this portion is on surface water flow with the 'Big Question' of “if a raindrop lands on your house, where will it end up?” We did this in the spring when we were likely to actually see surface water flowing ;) Week 1: we predict & map (and if raining actually observe) the flow of water that lands on the roof (which has some dormers, a lower porch, etc) to the ground. Students repeat for their own house. Week 2: same for where to the water from different sections of roof go once it hits the ground (puddle or flow elsewhere?) We follow potential paths for flowing water to the roadside ditch out front and the stream out back. Students repeat at home. HW includes paying attention on the drive home to where the ditch goes and whether they go over any bridges that might be the same stream as the one out back. Week 3: adventure day! We wade down the stream (over many fallen branches!) to the nearest bridge. We switch to actual road maps/satellite views to follow the stream to Cayuga Lake. Students repeat at home (to nearest lake or major river). Week 4: Using maps & atlases, we continue following the route of our raindrops from their local watershed to the Atlantic Ocean. Students compile their map series (rooftop, property, local watershed, Atlantic watershed). Classtime is structured inquiry: the Question is posed and a procedure outlined. The HW can fall between structured and guided inquiry. Some students just copy the procedures as we did in class, others amend or add other procedures – many start exploring (literally & with maps) on their own before we do in class. And there have been creative experiments with pingpong balls thrown/water hosed onto roofs/into ditches etc to confirm flow predictions if rain is scarce... Scientific practices: Asking questions & defining problems, developing & using models (maps), planning and carrying out investigations, analyzing and interpreting observational data, constructing explanations and communicating information (maps)