There was an article in USA Today’s newspaper about citizen scientists that prompted this post. The article described Project BudBurst, a national field study that tracks the dates that 60 plant species leaf and flower this spring and summer. The purpose of the project is to involve citizens in collecting important climate change data on questions related to to the timing of leafing and flowering in various regions of the U.S.

The notion of involving citizens in scientific activity is not new. Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology is one of the leaders in this field, and has for years involved citizens and students in schools in a variety of projects including Project FeederWatch, the Great Backyard BirdCount, Pigeon Watch, Urban Birds, eBird, and others. Other organization, such as the National Audubon Soceity, have citizen science projects involving people in making observations of the natural world.

Observing a hummingbird in the Colorado Rockies

The emergence of the idea of citizen science in one sense is a reminder that many years ago, most science was done by amateurs. In today’s world, the Internet has expanded the “activities” of citizen scientists so that people are observing and recording data in a variety of fields including astronomy and medicine.

The concept of citizen scientist has direct applicability to science teaching. Unfortunately, very little attention is placed on involving students in projects in which they collect real data, share and interpret the data, and use the results to take action on important questions.

In the Global Thinking Project, teachers in Georgia (USA) and Russia involved their students in three years of citizen science activity. Three hundred students lived in each others’ homes for two three-week periods, participated in environmental research activities in American and Russian communities, and lived in the context of each others culture. Students were helped by their teachers to construct ideas about environmental topics outlined in the curriculum of the Global Thinking Project.

Students and teachers were involved in two episodes of problem identification, data collection and analysis at five sites in each country, and two international Global Environmental Summits in Moscow and Atlanta. The students activity is described as that of a citizen scientist—one who combines the process of science with public policy decision making.

GTP citizen scientist teacher Galina Manke (Science Head,School 710, Moscow & Russian Director of the GTP) and one of her students during field work in Moscow

Citizen science, whether inside or outside of schools, humanizes science. It involves people in being involved in nature by being careful observers, and realizing how all things in the environment are connected. It is a powerful model for transforming school science.

There are many resources that you can use to extend your understanding of citizen science. Here are a few.

Citizen Science Resources:

The Citizen Scientist: Society for Amateur Scientists
Citizen Science (Wikipedia)
Citizen Science at Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Citizen Scientist Weblog
Citizen Science Network
Global Thinking Project
GLOBE

USA and Russian students presenting air pollution data they had collected to students and teachers in Pushchino, Russia