Citizen Science

"Mr. Paull, Mr. Paull, see what I found!"
Countless children have excitedly shown me what they picked up off the ground, lighting a fire in their heads.

I like to think that the delight and warmth in my response has fanned those fires and set many on the way to be keenly aware and interested in what's around them. 

Scientific research often involves teams of scientists collaborating across continents. Now, using the power of the internet, children are participating, too.

Citizen Science (also known as networked science) is scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists, often by school children. 

Formally, citizen science has been defined as "the systematic collection and analysis of data; development of technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities by researchers.”

I’m defining Citizen Science as:

North East Elementary School’s participation in scientific research in The Pinery Nature Reserve.

This post describes the work currently underway in North East Elementary, led by 5th grade teacher, Jeannine West, who fans the fires of young scientists' inquiry and research, each and every day.

Here's her input to the school's website:

Here’s part of what Jeannine wrote for the school’s website:

CITIZEN SCIENTISTS AT NORTHEAST ELEMENTARY

            Fourteen fifth graders are currently involved in a Citizen Science program at Northeast Elementary.  Citizen Science is collaborative scientific research, managed by scientists and conducted by amateur or non-professional scientists in the field.  Its goal is to further science itself---and the understanding of both science and the scientific process.  

For the last two weeks, fifth graders students have been observing pollinators in the bird sanctuary adjacent to N. Pinery Parkway and the school.  This data has been shared with a network of other citizen scientists through a project called The Great Sunflower Project, a group which is counting and identifying pollinators in yards, gardens, and schools all over the United States.  This group has constructed the largest single body of information about bee pollinators in North America.

As the weather is changing, students will be turning their focus to the spiders in the bird sanctuary and will be collecting data about the amazing assortment of arachnids living there.

If you want more information about Citizen Science, visit:

Citizen Science Alliance

The process excites the 5^th graders, lighting and fanning their fires of curiosity – and deepens their knowledge and respect for The Pinery environment.

OK, week by week, I shall document what the Citizen Scientists are doing.........

October 9th.

October Discovery

Banded garden Spiders typically begin to appear during autumn from early September to late October as temperatures start dropping.

Their webs can reach a diameter of about 60 cm. The length of the web depends on the size of the spider, capable of reaching a total length of 2 meters.

We are Citizen Scientists at Northeast Elementary.  Each week, we go to the bird sanctuary outside our school.  Today, we made an extraordinary discovery.  In a tall grassy area next to a big rock, we spotted a huge orb web.  After a short walk, we returned to find a yellow, speckled spider with banded legs feeding on a large grasshopper.  When we went back to our classroom, we discovered its species name: Argiope Trifasciata, a spider found in tall, dry grasslands in Colorado.  It was an amazing discovery for Citizen Scientists! --Alexis, Ashley, Bailey, Cade, Chloe, Emillee, Henry, Lilly, Jace, Justin, Maddy, Paige, Paris, Steele, Weston November The Citizen Scientists went to the nearby Nature Sanctuary and helped clear out the nesting boxes.................and were fascinated by what they found.

Today, January 12th, I enrolled in YARDMAP and Ebird, two Citizen Science projects that focus on my garden.......that is the cultivated and wild environment that surrounds my home in The Pinery.......
I'll keep you posted on how that works out.

Incidentally, I have about six bird feeders hanging from trees and this one (see photo) that is on my deck. The squirrels and the deer eat most of the bird seed in the hangers, hence the deck feeder.....and that one does attract a lot of different birds.