April 16th, 2016 will mark the first official Citizen Science Day in the United States. Throughout April and May there will be many events to celebrate and get people like you involved in awesome science projects. We're celebrating at Share it! Science News with a giveaway from one of our favorite citizen science projects, Project BudBurst. (Giveaway runs from April 12th-April 18th 2016, details below)
What exactly is citizen science?
Citizen science is when scientists collaborate with the general
public in collecting data and making observations. There are a myriad
of projects available from field work to online activities that
broaden the abilities of professional scientists by using the
collective power of the public. Citizen science is an excellent way
to connect kids to authentic science in the classroom, through
after-school programs, or camps.
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Citizen science has been a popular
topic here on Share it! Science News. We've featured many different
projects that are fun and easy to participate in. We especially like
Project BudBurst because it is a project anyone
can do, and there are many resources available for students and teachers. You
can also get younger kids started with their BudBurst Buddies
program. Project BudBurst collects plant
phenology data. While this might sound complicated, it's not!
Phenology is the study of cycles and seasonal phenomena. When you
participate in Project BudBurst you observe plants in your area for
seasonal changes, such as budding, bud burst and flowering, then
report your observations online.
We've been fortunate to team up with
Project BudBurst twice now for giveaways, and are excited to have you
get involved this year. For more information about the program, check
out our post: "Project BudBurst: Easy, Authentic Plant Science"
If you are interested in other citizen
science opportunities visit these posts:
- "The Great Backyard Bird Count and other Winter Citizen Science Projects"
- "Penguin Watch and Other Ways YOU Can Be a Scientist"
- "Over 70 of the Best Science Web Resources" (Scroll down to the citizen science section!)
- "Science Teacher's Toolbox: Testing Water Quality" (Check out the World Water Monitoring Challenge)
- "Insect Investigations: Summertime Citizen Science"
- "Science Teaching Toolbox: Girl Power! Getting (and keeping) Girls Interested in Science" (Scroll down to the "Authentic Experiences" section)
- "Pathways to Science: NASA S'COOL and Project BudBurst"
- (Discover Magazine) Find an event near you
- (SciStarter) Find an event near you
- How can kids participate in Citizen Science?
- CitizenScience.org
- Citizen Science Day FAQ's
- Project BudBurst
Enter to win a Learning Pack from Project BudBurst! These are materials that would benefit any classroom or home citizen science project! 4 different winners will each win: 2 notepads, a Project BudBurst calendar, Season Spotter bookmark, scientist trading cards, plant profile trading cards and a tape measure for field work. This giveaway runs from April 12th-Midnight EST April 18th. You can enter in a variety of different ways in the Rafflecopter box below. Winners will be notified by e-mail and included in this post once the giveaway concludes. Good luck and have fun being a scientist!
Since I am a homeschool mom,this would be a great win to have a plant svience project with the co-op group.
ReplyDeleteThis would be an excellent homeschool project! You can easily do it with multiple ages and levels. Definitely check out the lesson plans that Project BudBurst has on their site for lots of great ideas. You can find them here: http://budburst.org/educators
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