Presentation for the Science Teachers Association of Victoria conference at La Trobe University on 28th November 2014.

1. Citizen Science for Schools
Britt Gow, Hawkesdale P12 College
Friday 28th November, 2014

2. Science and Maths teacher
Hawkesdale P12 College
SW Victoria
Technoscience blog since 2008
Twitter @brittgow
brittgow@gmail.com

4. “Science is the foundation of our future and it’s very
important that we remember that.” ~ Megan Clark, CEO
of CSIRO and recipient of the Order of Australia this year.

6. Today’s learner’s are:
• Multi-taskers
• Digitally literate
• Mobile and connected 24/7
• Experiential and Social
• Visual / spatial learners with
• Fast response times & short attention spans

7. • The Power to Engage
• Students use technology already
• It's not going to go away...it will only grow
• Professional development
• Employers want their workers to use internet tools

8. Aim: To engage students and allow them to
contribute to the collection of data for scientific
research and enhance their understanding of
science concepts.

9. Citizen Science
• “Scientific research, conducted in whole or in part,
by amateur or nonprofessional scientists, often by
crowd-sourcing or crowd-funding.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science
• “The systematic collection and analysis of data;
development of technology; testing of phenomena
and the dissemination of these activities by
researchers primarily on an avocational basis.”
http://www.ala.org.au/get-involved/citizen-science/

10. • https://www.zooniverse.org/
• Projects include Space, Nature, Climate and
Biology.
– How do stars form?
– Planet Four
– Cyclone Centre
– Old Weather
– Go wild in the Serengeti!

11. Galaxy Zoo
• http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
• A Zooniverse project to
classify galaxies according to
their shape

12. University of S.A. –
Barbara Hardy Institute
• http://www.unisa.edu.au/Research/Barbara-
Hardy-Institute/Research-1/Citizen-Science/
• Great Koala Count
• Be a Beachcomber
• Operation Magpie
• Operation Spider
• Operation Possum

13. “The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the
Environment (GLOBE) program is a worldwide hands-on,
primary and secondary school-based science and
education program. GLOBE's vision promotes and
supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate
on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and
the Earth system working in close partnership with NASA,
NOAA and NSF Earth System Science Projects (ESSP’s) in
study and research about the dynamics of Earth's
environment.” https://www.globe.gov/

14. GLOBE Science Projects
http://www.globe.gov/explore-science

15. World Moon Project
http://www.worldmoonproject.org/

16. Citizen Science Apps
• OzAtlas “Atlas of Living Australia”
• Ecolinc “Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic
Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide”
• ClimateWatch
• Leafsnap
• Project Noah

17. Atlas of Living Australia
This is a field guide with
distribution maps,
information about
biology and habitat as
well as the ability to
upload your own
sightings, which adds to
the database.
http://www.ala.org.au/

18. Museum Victoria’s Field Guide to
Victorian Fauna
This is a field guide
with distribution maps
and information about
biology and habitat.
You cannot upload
your own images as
yet.
http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/
mv-field-guide-app/

19. Ecolinc – Biodiversity of the Western
Volcanic Plains Flora and Fauna Field
Guide
This is a field guide
with distribution maps,
information about
biology and habitat as
well as the ability to
upload your own
sightings, which adds
to the database.

20. Climate Watch
Climate Watch is an initiative
of the EarthWatch Institute,
developed in conjunction with
the Bureau of Meteorology
and the University of
Melbourne, that enables
users to watch their favourite
animals or plants and record
the changes online.
http://www.climatewatch.org.au/

21. Leaf Snap
• Leaf Snap is an app for
Apple and Android
devices that allows users
to identify and upload
images of leaves – it is
designed for USA, but
students can use the app
to collect images of our
native flora too.
http://leafsnap.com/

22. Project Noah
Most suitable for primary
and junior secondary
students, this app is
designed to ‘spot’ wildlife,
complete ‘missions’ and
collect ‘badges’. Allows
automatic sharing to
Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.projectnoah.org/