Scientific Method Project: Citizen Science and Service Learning

⭐ Our Scientific Method Unit is currently 50% OFF! ⭐

Citizen science is scientific research conducted in whole or in part by amateur scientists – and there are plenty of projects out there that YOUR STUDENTS can choose to contribute to!

In this activity, students will:

• Watch a video that explains what Citizen Science is.
• Choose from hundreds of provided projects they can contribute to.
• Complete a time log as they contribute to the science project of their choice (you will determine the time requirements).
• Answer follow-up questions.

What does Citizens Science look like? It depends! Basically, students are given a task and record data from the tasks. They may be asked to read old scientists’ logs, watch live cams, examine images of samples, and so much more. The projects are so wide-ranging in topic and tasks, it’s impossible to give an overview! There’s ways to contribute for everybody and for secondary students of every ability. Recent citizen science projects our students have been involved with have included:

• Examine underwater photos of wild beluga whales and help identify the age, sex, and group size.
• Transcribe the groundbreaking work of early women astronomers.
• Trace patches of kelp in Landsat images.
• Help scientists at LIGO search for gravitational waves.
• Count penguins in remote regions.

As projects are completed by Citizen Scientists, new projects are added – there’s always something new and interesting going on!

Teacher Notes:

• Our Scientific Method Unit is currently 50% OFF! 
• While there are numerous websites that can be used to contribute to citizen science, we’ve included one that we think is the most student-friendly. You could easily add more website choices but use this same write-up.
• Check out more resources in the scientific processes section of our shop!