This document discusses citizen science, which involves volunteers without formal scientific training assisting researchers by performing tasks like observation, measurement, and data collection. It provides examples of citizen science projects like monitoring earthquakes through the USGS "Did You Feel It?" website, testing local water quality on World Water Monitoring Day, and mapping ant populations for the School of Ants project. A distributed system is important for citizen science as it allows data to be collected and shared from various locations and device types. Citizen science benefits scientific research by increasing available data and public engagement with science.