Let's Celebrate Citizen Science Month, Earth Day, and Take Your Kids to Work Day!
Take Your Kids Teleworking with Citizen Science to Understand Our Earth
Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET
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April is Citizen Science Month!
April 22 is the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day!
April 23 is Take Your Kids to Work Day!
Disruption to daily education is affecting nearly 1.5 billion learners around the world and nearly 30 million students in the US, as more teachers and teleworking parents are having to shift to doing educational activities at home. Citizen Science allows people of all ages to contribute to science virtually anywhere, making them fun social and educational activities that contribute to science while maintaining safe "physical" distancing. You and your kids can help advance scientific knowledge by asking questions, reporting observations, conducting experiments, collecting data, or developing low-cost technologies and open-source code online, on a mobile phone, at home, in your backyard, or outdoors! In this Ignite Open Innovation (OI) Forum, Eleanour Snow, Erin Posthumus, Sally Cook, and Erin Korris will share citizen science projects and other educational resources that have been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), other federal agencies, and other partner organizations.
Ignite Open Innovation (OI) Forum
Series of talks and open discussions to inform the USGS Open Innovation Strategy
SciStarter
(Filter by Age Group in Project Finder)
Citizen Science Month April 2020
SciStarter Event Finder
What is Citizen Science? | SciStarter Home School
Natural Inquirer Citizen Science Edition
Publication by the US Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey
(Download the PDF or Order a Free Paper Copy)
Eleanour Snow
USGS Office of Science Quality and Integrity
Youth and Education in Science Program
Eleanour Snow is the national manager of Youth and Education programs for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Youth and Education in Science (YES) program has a diverse portfolio encompassing everything from STEM outreach to graduate student internships. In addition, Eleanour represents USGS and DOI on several federal committees in the field of STEM education. She will explain the USGS Learning from Home curriculum recently developed. Each week during the spring of 2020, the USGS Education Team will be adding resources for those who are learning at home. USGS Resources for Teachers allows educators to tap into over 140 years of USGS research in the natural sciences in the form of lesson plans and activities, maps, podcasts, online lectures, videos and animations, and much more for elementary, secondary, university, and informal education settings.
Erin Posthumus
USA National Phenology Network (NPN)
Outreach Coordinator and US Fish & Wildlife Service Liaison
Erin Posthumus leads USA-National Phenology Network's outreach and engagement efforts with Nature's Notebook observers and USA-NPN partners. She is also the USA-NPN's liaison to the US Fish & Wildlife Service and is working with National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) across the country to implement phenology monitoring to meet their resource management goals. Erin will explain the National Phenology Network as well as the Nature's Notebook Education Program and how NPN is providing guidance in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Consider reading the Director of NPN Theresa Crimmins' recent Op-Ed in the Arizona Daily Star about how citizen science programs offer great options for families during the current public health crisis. Also, check out the PBS Kids SciGirls on Citizen Science where Middle school girls and their mentors participate in several projects, including Nature's Notebook! Watch the Flower Power Episode!
Sally (Sarah) Cook
USGS National Land Imaging Program
Sally Cook works in the USGS Land Imaging Program and partners with AmericaView to provide distance learning tools for remote sensing science. AmericaView is a nationwide partnership of remote sensing scientists who support the use of Landsat and other public domain remotely sensed data through applied remote sensing research, K-12 and higher STEM / STEAM education, workforce development, and technology transfer. A critical component of the AmericaView mission is to provide freely available, online educational and outreach resources that support K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students. These resources offer opportunities to understand Earth sciences from the perspective of remotely sensed (satellite) data. The topics covered range from memory building, programming, and image interpretation to educational games and pattern recognition. The AmericaView educational resources have recently been shared widely to support the national online education needs due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, check out the AmericaView Education Website and White Paper to access the learning tools like: Remote Sensing Imagery Game | Land Cover Lessons | Earth Image Puzzles.
Erin Korris
USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center
Erin Korris is the project lead for the USGS The National Map Corps. Using crowdsourcing techniques, the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) project known as “The National Map Corps (TNMCorps)” encourages citizen scientists to collect and edit data about man-made structures in an effort to provide accurate and authoritative map data for the USGS National Geospatial Program’s web-based The National Map. VGI is not new to the USGS, but past efforts have been hampered by available technologies. Building on lessons learned, TNMCorps volunteers are successfully editing 10 different structure types in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Volunteer citizen mappers continue to make significant contributions to the USGS’ ability to provide accurate mapping information to the public. Mapping Challenges are launched periodically to focus volunteers on specific points that need editing. To complete critical datasets in specific states, TNM Corps periodically issues “Map Challenges” to the registered citizen scientists. Participating in a challenge includes verifying or updating the existing points, adding missing points, and removing obsolete points. Erin will explain the Step Up to the Map Challenge initiative currently happening.
Citizen Science Portals
Citizen Science Videos
Caren Cooper “Citizen Science: Everybody Counts” TEDxGreensboro Talk
- NPS Outside Science (Inside Parks)
- PBS Kids SciGirls on Citizen Science
Articles about Citizen Science and STEM Resources for Learning at Home
NSF - "7 NSF-supported STEM Resources Perfect for At-Home Learning"
NOAA - "Staying in? Keep Learning with Science Activities that Kids and Families Can Do at Home"
SciStarter - "You Can Celebrate Citizen Science Month From Home" and "Citizen Science-ing Where You Are"
Science Friday - "Cooped Up At Home? Try These Citizen Science Projects" about Crowd the Tap
Discover Magazine - "Cooped up at Home? Here Are 7 Ways to Take Part in Online Science Projects and Activities"
Australian Article - "Citizen Science: How You Can Contribute to Coronavirus Research Without Leaving the House"
Other USGS Citizen Science Projects
Other Federal and Citizen Science Projects and Educational Resources
- EPA EnviroAtlas Educational Materials
NASA @ Home | STEM Engagement | STEM Connection Blog | Future Engineers | Floating Forests | Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 | Planet Hunters TESS | Stardust@Home | Globe Observer Land Cover App
- NIH - Eyewire - Game to Map the Brain | Foldit Coronavirus Binder Design | EteRNA
- eMammal | Invader ID | Transcription Center | Neighborhood Nestwatch
- NSF STEM Apps
- NARA Citizen Archivist
- SciTech Futures (Department of the Army)
- iSeeChange
- iNaturalist
- eBird
Other Citizen Science Initiatives
Overview
Community Forums
Content Tools
Tasks
U.S. Department of the Interior
| DOI Inspector General | White House | No Fear Act
DOI and USGS link policies apply