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Engaging Students through Citizen Science
In schoolyards, backyards, and classrooms throughout North America – and beyond – students of all ages scan the skies for monarchs, monitor milkweed, document hummingbird arrivals, snap ladybug photos, notice nests, interview gardeners, report on bursting buds, and observe the color of firefly flashes. And that’s just for starters. In most cases, their next step is to go online and send their observations and measurements to a project Web site. There, their data is combined with input from hundreds or thousands of other observers. These young “citizen scientists” serve as an army of eyes and ears, helping professional scientists gather data to answer real-world questions and better understand our environment and how to protect it.
But the classroom sleuths don’t just serve as data collectors. They think and act like scientists as they make careful observations, ask their own questions, look for patterns, try to make sense of data, and link their local observations to larger global issues. Oh, and they have fun, to boot!
Learn more:
Engaging Students through Citizen Science - An introduction to the classroom opportunites available through citizen science projects.
Citizen Science Projects We Like- Check out this helpful list of citizen science projects.
Learning Takes Flight: A Passionate Pursuit of Monarchs - Discover how to integrate Journey North into your curriculum.
Ladybugs Lost and Found: A Tale of Schoolyard Citizen Science - Learn how one school is tracking ladybug populations through the Ladybug Lost Project.
How to Find a Ladybug - Jumping into the Ladybug Lost Project.
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Find
Fruitful Classroom Exchanges
Connect
your students with classrooms that garden in another hemisphere,
or find garden buddies close
by that
you
didn't
know
were there!
There are many e-mail pals listed in our School
Garden Registry. Below are some highlights:
Ann Arbor Learning Community (MI)
Would like to exchange seeds, ideas and habitat information.
Grace Point Academy (IN)
Educators want to exchange seeds, particularly heirloom varieties, information, tips, plans, etc.
Gulliver Schools South Miami Campus (FL)
Highwood School (MT)
Interested in exchanging ideas for establishing a community garden and greenhouse.
Spring Creek (CA)
This K-2 school uses their 18 garden beds and butterfly habitat for observation and hands-on activities.
St. Joseph Catholic School (CA)
Educators are looking for additional resources, exchange of knowledge, and lesson activity ideas.
The Farm School Howard Ave Campus (TN)
Wants to exchange data.
If your garden or habitat is not already represented in this international
database, register it now!
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Featured
Book: GrowLab Activities for Growing Minds
Whether you're growing in a greenhouse, in a GrowLab® Indoor Light Garden, or on a windowsill, Activities for Growing Minds will help spark students' curiosity about plants and invite them to think and act like scientists. Learn
more and order here.
Fundraise
with Flower Bulbs: Earn 50% Profit  Looking
for a "healthy" and alluring option for raising funds for
your school? NGA endorses the Flower
Power Program. It features easy-to-grow spring-flowering
bulbs and is a good deal to boot; your school gets to keep
50% of the profits. Click
here to learn more.
More
Garden Activities
and Lessons
Mountain Adventures
This curriculum is designed to introduce students in grades 5-8 to the role and importance of native plants in the United States and abroad.
Cultivating Literacy in the Garden
A collection of articles highlighting how educators have created garden-based writing opportunities and used children's fiction to exercise imaginations, inspire growing projects, and improve literacy skills.
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© 2010
National Gardening Association