Opportunities
There are many opportunities to take part in a citizen science project. Perhaps most well known is Zooniverse.org which has over fifty projects available at the moment, with up to and over 100 projects having taken place. For armchair enthusiasts, these type of projects can be a great entry point and include diverse subjects such as 'spider crab watch', 'getting to know medieaval londoners' or 'genome detectives'.
What is citizen science?
Smartphones and the environment
Smartphones have increased the opportunities for citizen science a great deal.People are able to get out into the environment and take water sample readings, numerous nature projects as well as being involved in 'citizen sensing', a form of science that hopes to measure, for example, urban pollution from people using wood stoves: trendy but deadly!
In the UK many of these are projects that children can enjoy, which can also help build awareness of our environment Perhaps reptile reporting (finding snakes) isn't such a good move, but something simple like conker tree observations or bird counts can capture interest. Many schools already have activities and lessons centred around getting youngsters involved with science.
Friends of the Wye valley
Activities quiz
Take part in the Activities page quiz by clicking the button below! The quiz is a five question multiple choice with a pass mark!
Links to activities
- Citizen sensing - where people act as sensors.
Info - Ocean Cleanup - Become a Citizen Scientist.
Info - SciStarter - Science we can do together.
Info - UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology - Free mobile apps.
Info - National Geographic - Citizen Science Projects.
Info - The Conservation Volunteers - Citizen Science resources.
Info - The Wildlife Trusts - what is citizen science?
Info - The Guardian - Good nature: citizen science trips and holidays in the UK.
Info
"The first use of the term "citizen science" in the meaning that we now use can be traced to an article in MIT Technology Review from January 1989." (below)
