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Overview
“Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”
– Jane Goodall, Primatologist
Scientific discovery has informed our understanding of the world around us. Some amazing examples include discovering round green “pea” galaxies light years away, following migratory and breeding birds, describing the flora of Australia, and monitoring air and water quality. Each of these examples share one common, invaluable resource – citizen scientists!
Citizen science is when researchers use the general public to aid in the collection of data. Involving the public in research is not new but only recently earned its name and widespread recognition. Scientists are utilizing the power of volunteers! Numerous projects have made fascinating discoveries by relying on volunteers, who without them many projects would likely still be years away from completion.
As a citizen scientist you may be asked to locate all the penguins in a photo or play online games. Some citizen science projects involve walking around your neighborhood and taking photos of your local plants and animals, testing the water in your nearby streams, or cleaning up a trail and recording the items you found. The project possibilities are endless and scientists rely on people like us to help make amazing discoveries.
Citizen science is extremely important to advancing scientific research. We can track migratory birds, determine the number of breeding birds in an area, locate endangered species, determine water and air quality in different neighborhoods and make science more accessible than ever before. Everyone can help inform change by becoming a citizen scientist.
THINK
Science is telling us we need to act now on the climate crisis. The problem is some entities spread misinformation, government officials are not sure what their constituents want to see happen and people are not sure which climate policies to choose from. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has created a game, Mission 1.5 to educate people on climate policy and provide them with an easy means of voting on the policies they want to see enacted. Researchers will then compile the votes to present to policy makers.
ACTIVITY
- Play the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Mission 1.5 game.
- Vote on the climate policies you would like to see.
- Share the game along with a climate policy you voted for and challenge others to participate. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom
DELIVERABLES
Upload your responses and a screenshot of your social media post. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.
THINK
Being a citizen scientist in support of climate justice can be as easy as using an app on your phone. Better understanding how climate change and pollution are impacting the communities and world around us is of vital importance when determining what actions need to be taken. With this in mind the Earthday Action Network created the Earth Challenge 2020 App to include ordinary us, people in climate science.
ACTIVITY
- Download the Earth Challenge 2020 app
- Choose your challenge topic: air quality or plastic pollution
- Take a photo of the sky or plastic trash you found outside
- Upload and classify (Identify what is in your photo)
- Provide feedback (Rate your air quality or location of trash)
- Take action (sign a petition or recycle/collect trash)
- Participate and share your findings on social media along with your next steps. Challenge someone else to be a citizen scientist. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom and #EarthChallenge2020
DELIVERABLES
Upload your responses and photo and a screenshot of your social media post. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom and #EarthChallenge2020.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.
THINK
There are hundreds of citizen science projects that need volunteers. It’s time to find a project based on your interests –. water quality, biodiversity, historical letters and documents, or even outer space – there are plenty of incredible projects for you to choose from.
ACTIVITY
- Find a citizen science project that speaks to you. Below are some helpful sources.
- Choose a project that could benefit from your participation and start planning
- Create a short presentation or a poster about the project
- Tell us the goals of the project
- Why it interests you
- How you will participate
- Share it with us. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom.
DELIVERABLES
Upload your responses and a screenshot of your social media post. Tag @TurningGreenOrg and include #TGClassroom.
Submission Guidelines
- If you do not see an upload button, you need to log in
- Submit all entries as PDFs; no Word or Pages documents
- Be sure to include all content for your submission in one document
- Do not include # or spaces in filenames
- You will see a confirmation in green that your submission uploaded correctly; if you do not see this confirmation, please try again
- Send any questions to classroom@turninggreen.org
Don’t forget to post about the challenge and your learnings/doings on social media and tag us on Facebook @TurningGreen, on Twitter @TurningGreenOrg, and on Instagram @TurningGreenOrg and use #TGClassroom.