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Citizen Science- It’s Not Just for Science Teachers
This document discusses citizen science, which involves members of the public collaborating with scientists on research projects. It provides examples of current citizen science projects including eMammal, where participants set up camera traps to photograph local wildlife. Muddy Microbes involves collecting and identifying microbes in soil samples. Shark Teeth Fossils has participants analyzing fossils found at a quarry. The document outlines benefits for students, educators, and scientists of participating in citizen science. These include contributing to real research, increasing STEM interest, and expanding the scope of data collection. Steps for becoming a citizen scientist include finding a project of interest and learning required tools and methods.
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Citizen Science- It’s Not Just for Science Teachers
- 1. What is CitizenScience? Tell us what you think here: http://padlet.com/jhumphries3/citizenscience
- 2. Citizen Science According tothe Oxford Dictionary: The collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public, typically as part of a collaborative project with professional scientists.
- 3. Student Benefits fromParticipation ✓ Contribute to Authentic Research ✓ Increase Engagement ✓ Motivate Precision ✓ Stimulate Interest in STEM ✓ Expand Wonder & Curiosity
- 4. Educator Benefits fromParticipation ✓ Teaching Relevance ✓ Broadening Personal Impact ✓ Lifelong Learning ✓ Source of Inspiration
- 5. Scientist Benefits fromParticipation ✓ Volume of Data is Increased ✓ Source of Data is Broadened ✓ Cost of Data Collection is Decreased ✓ Interest in Research is Elevated ✓ Education about Research is Expanded
- 6. How can YOUbecome a Citizen Scientist? Essential Question:
- 7. Step 1: Practiceby studying your natural surroundings, then find something that interests YOU!
- 8. Step 2: Findresearchers participating in Citizen Science in your areas of interest.
- 9. Step 3: Learnabout the tools of the trade and how to use them.
- 10. StudentsDiscover.org Current Projects: eMammal Shark Teeth MuddyMicrobes Ant Health Watch
- 11. eMammal Local Researcher: Dr. StephanieSchuttler Current Focus: • State-wide Implementation @ schools • Rural yards within 2 hrs of Raleigh
- 12. Camera Trapping atour Schools! Alamance County Buncombe CountyDuplin County Pender County
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- 14. Black Bear Contributing toNC Wildlife Resources Commission
- 15. A Broader Perspective Contributingto the Smithsonian Institute’s repository of data, globally accessible by anyone interested in learning more about mammals. Student quote: “It’s so cool that our pictures will be used by scientists for hundreds of years to come!”
- 16. Studying Mammals –the Fantasy What mammals do you see?
- 17. The Real Worldof Mammal Research When you see the mammal – STAND UP!
- 18. Some History: George Shiraswas a nature conservationist who advocated for camera “hunting” instead of gun hunting to study animals 100 years ago. He would set up cameras with exploding magnesium powder that would both temporarily blind the animals AND terrify them....leading to pictures like…
- 20. With advancements intechnology we now get pictures like these!
- 21. eMammal Citizen Scientists… •Setup camera traps • Record deployment data • Retrieve cameras and/or SIM cards with photos • Identify animals on photos • Upload data to Smithsonian Institute’s database
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- 29. Species Richness Species richnessallows you to identify the species that are present in an area.
- 31. Muddy Microbes –Julia Stevens
- 33. -Collecting Samples -Prepping Samples -PlatingSamples -Lab Methods -Guided Lab Report -Counting Colonies Classroom Procedures
- 34. Alternative Methods-Accessibility Materials tocreate plates: Purpose Professional Lab Option School Lab Option(s) Sanitation Autoclave Pressure Cooker Microwave Precipitate Separation Centrifuge Salad Spinner Anti-Fungal Prescription Strength Anti-fungal Tinactin – used to cure athlete’s foot Anti-Bacterial Prescription Strength Anti-bacterial Neosporin Nutrient Broth Nutrient Broth Agar Powder Rose Bengal Agar Soil Extract (boiled and filtered soil) Agar-Agar powder
- 35. Shark Teeth Fossils SedimentSource: Aurora Quarry Lessons available soon – 8th Grade Math – Regression Analysis Science – History through Fossils Art – Interdisciplinary Connections
- 36. Ant Health Watch Dr.DeAnna Beasley
- 37. Want to LearnMore? Students Discover Institute When: June 23 – 24, 2016 Where: NC Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, NC How: Apply online @ https://sciencehouse.ncsu.edu/ or http://naturalsciences.org/
- 38. Follow us onTwitter @hohmsclass @mysmamatha @abcdbelair @FancyScientist @dkhumphries Contact Information: stephanie.schuttler@naturalsciences.org catherine.belair@bcsemail.org jhumphries@duplinschools.net jordan_hohm@abss.k12.nc.us mamathamys@gmail.com
- 39. Other Citizen ScienceProject Sources: SciStarter http://scistarter.com Science we can do together. Helps connect citizens and scientists via searchable project finder. Journey North http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ Engages citizen scientists in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. K-12 students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/ Help make science happen by volunteering for a real research project. National Geographic http://education.nationalgeographic.org/programs/community-geography/ Find ideas on citizen science projects to jump into for yourself, your family, or your classroom.
Editor's Notes
- #8 Remind yourself what it’s like to be inquisitive and curious about the world around. One of our primary objectives as middle school teachers is to find a way to inspire, even our most reluctant students, to Learn to Love to Learn - that’s the foundation of Citizen Science, curiosity and the love of learning.
- #9 Museum of Natural Sciences; Smithsonian Institute
- #13 Cathy - There are two primary questions What is the mammal biodiversity at NC Schools? and How does human activity affect animal activity? When we asked why she is focusing on school grounds, Dr Schuttler explained that the habitat is unique because the landscape is larger than most yards and there is also a larger concentration of people on a regular basis. The 3 counties where this year’s Kenan Fellows will be setting up traps and collecting data are Duplin, Alamance and Buncombe. In addition, Dr. Schuttler has implemented her research at 6 other NC Middle Schools, as well as 5 in Mexico and 3 in India (which Mamatha will be telling you about later in the presentation).
- #14 Cathy - Although we are working directly to help Dr. Schuttler answer her research questions, the information we gather from our Camera Traps will also be used in several other ongoing studies. The cool thing about eMammal, and Citizen Science in general, is that the data collected by regular people like you and me is shared with scientists (and citizens) everywhere. One of the broadest research questions currently being studied by the Biodiversity Lab relates to how different concentrations of humans affect animals on a spectrum from urban to wild habitats, and the data our students collect will contribute to their findings.
- #15 Cathy - eMammal will also be sharing our data with the NC WildLife Commission to help them create range maps for previously undocumented species and to establish coverage and baseline data for conservation efforts.
- #17 No… you are right. The real world is not like a Disney fairy tale. The animals actually are very smart and hide from you. Or do they? Take a closer look. Do you see any mammals? If you look closely, you’ll see the tail of an Eastern Grey Squirrel. If you look even closer at this photo, you’ll also know a lot more information about the date and time this photo was taken. This particular photo was taken using a Reconyx camera trap, which Jordan will tell you about later. But first….why do scientists use camera traps? Don’t scientists catch and release animals? Why not just do that?
- #18 George Shiras was a nature conservationist who advocated for camera “hunting” instead of gun hunting to study animals 100 years ago. He believed there was no reason to kill animals in order to really understand them. Limited by technology, though, his methods were a little...questionable. He would set up cameras with exploding magnesium powder that would be hooked to a trip wire connected to bait. The animal would be walking along and trigger the camera, setting off a flash bright enough to both temporarily blind the animals AND terrify them...leading to pictures like this...
- #19 There has got to be a better way, right?
- #20 Jordan - Which leads us to Reconyx. This is the camera trap we use in the eMammal program. We don’t use a trip wire anymore to trigger the camera. How do you think cameras are triggered?
- #21 Jordan - here is what the photos look like when they come off of the camera. Data, time, number in the sequence, temperature
- #22 Jordan - This is what the species id software looks like. Project. Sequence. Number of animals in sequence. Process: Import photos, species id, upload
- #23 Jordan - used by students and interns as well as teachers
- #24 Jordan - grey fox page in manual, talk audience through the distinctive marks
- #26 One way we hope to use the data for our classrooms is to have students decide on the best fit for data representations. Here are some examples of activity patterns for coyote and red fox based on camera trap data. There are two different representations here, but the one that is most interesting is the the line graph that shows how the red fox changes its activity pattern based on the presence of coyote. One of the goals in 7th grade math is for students to consider the questions they want answered and the available data to determine which representation is best.
- #27 Denise One of our expectations as part of Students Discover is to develop a curriculum piece that allows students to participate in citizen science while also meeting the standards that we are charged with as teachers in NC public schools. One of the ways I plan to do that is to collect data on species richness and then to use this data in ways that students can practice with measures of center and measures of variability. Our hope is that by having students actively involved in collecting the data, they will be more engaged which will lead to mastery of the objectives. Species Richness: the different species that are present in a given region. One aspect of 7th grade statistics is that students are asked to compare two data sets, which we expect to come up as students explore the data. This will lead us to a discussion of using the Simpon’s scale of diversity as one way to do that, but we must keep in mind that this isn’t optimal because of possible differences in detection probability. Again, this will lead to a rich discussion about what questions can be answered with the data we collect and possible limitations of using camera traps or just limitations of studying locations with limited diversity. Roland Kays (in report to NC State Parks): “Raw counts and detection rates can be used as an index of richness and relative abundance but, are not optimal for comparing between sites because of possible differences in detection probability. “
- #28 Mamatha, Cathy, Jordan, and Denise