GET INTO GET INTO IT GUIDES citizen science VIC KOVACS SCRABTREE Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
CITIZEN SCIENTISTS Citizen science is a way for everyday people to collect data and share it with researchers who use it to gain a better understanding of the world Amateur scientists have been contributing to different fields for centuries but the term citizen scientist is still fairly new Today’s citizen science movement came about as a way to move science out of labs and back into the real world Citizen science gets people to care about science by encouraging people to better understand the natural world starting with the world right outside their window Some investigations require small groups Others can be done alone How to Use This Book The projects in this book are meant to inspire you to get into citizen science Websites for all the projects are listed on page 30 You can also find many other projects online that are suitable for young citizen scientists 4
Projects for everyone Part of the fun of citizen science is that anyone can get involved No matter your age or where you live you can be a citizen scientist And no matter what part of the natural world you’re interested in you can find a project to get excited about Just a few of the fields that use data collected by citizen scientists include ornithology the study of birds entomology the study of insects meteorology the study of weather and astronomy the study of celestial objects such as planets and stars There might be a project that’s specifically about the area you live in or one that’s about a particular season Some can even be done right in your own backyard or at school Whatever projects interest you the most you can be sure that your contributions can help real scientists make important discoveries about the world People of all ages volunteer together as citizen scientists online resources There are a number of online resources for budding citizen scientists One of the best is SciStarter Most of the projects mentioned in this book can be found on SciStarter The site also has a useful search function so if you have a topic you’re interested in you can just type it in and see if there are any current projects related to it Scientific American also has a great list of current projects that can be grouped by age level The Citizen Science Center produces a newsletter with updates about new citizen science projects that you can subscribe to at its website Citizen science is a great way to learn about the world around you and help science move forward at the same time Whatever you’re interested in there’s a project out there right now with your name on it Today’s technology makes collecting and sharing data easier 5
