Anyone can be a citizen scientist and participate in scientific research, including you and your students! Citizen scientists contribute to ongoing research by helping collect data and then sharing it with scientists. Through participation in a citizen science project, your students are not only making a meaningful scientific contribution, but are also getting an authentic experience of what it means to be a scientist.
Finding a Project 
April 16th is National Citizen Science Day so it’s a great time to pick a project and get your class involved for the last few months of the school year. There are countless citizen science projects your class can become a part of and most of them require minimal prior experience, equipment you already have, and very little time, making it easy to get started and stay involved! SciStarter is a great site to find a citizen science project that is perfect for your class. The website makes it easy to search for projects by topic, location, and more.
Careers in Science Series
A great way to connect citizen science and The Walking Classroom is through our Science Career podcast series. Each of these podcasts provides insight into a career in science and many of the scientists talk about the importance of getting involved in science early on. All sixteen Careers in Science podcasts are available for free download from our website.
Have you done any citizen science with your students? Share your thoughts and experiences with us!
Our kids love the opportunities to learn and be active at the same time. We love this resource for chances to get out of the classroom and learn at the same time! Thank you for sharing!
The students love the program! They look forward to listening to the podcasts and having discussions about them. This has truly been a great addition to our curriculum!!!
Wow! SciStarter looks super neat! I am excited to delve deeper into this. Real-world experiences are always so meaningful, and I love that Walking Classroom ties in so many of these topics and careers.
Thank you for this resource! I am excited to try it out in my classroom!
Thank you for this resource! Our kiddos love science!
Thank you for the resource! We will use this in our program! Our kiddos love Science!
Thank you for sharing this resource! I have not heard of scistarter before…I believe the kids will love it!
Wow, what a fantastic resource. Students are so much more motivated and engaged when they have authentic work to do. We’re in Northern California and this project mapping kelp forests ties directly to our local ecology lessons. https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/zooniverse/floating-forests
(It’ll also pair well with the Marine Life, Conservation or Ocean Floor Walking Classroom podcasts!)
Thank you for sharing this resource. Having a database is always so helpful and the kids will love adding this to the fun they already have!
I have not heard of scistarter before…I LOVE it! We will definitely be looking into starting one of these projects. I have the grades above and below me excited about it too! Thank you for this resource!
Thank you for sharing this resource. My students love being outside in our beautiful Umqua Valley in Oregon. Living in a rural area gives my students unique opportunities to get outside to study nature, and I am always looking for new ideas for project-based science.
Pam Ciullo
This is a perfect combination! Our school currently has a Science Lab for our intermediate students and the Citizen Scientist lessons are incorporated every Friday; combining the Walking Classroom podcasts is a perfect way to achieve the best of both worlds! Thank you for adding this link and sparking a flame – sometimes what you are looking for is right in front of you the whole time!
Thank you for sharing this resource! I look forward to engaging students in these science opportunities. One of the things I just love about The Walking Classroom is that students conduct the research to create the podcasts. It is such an inspiration to learn new things from these student researchers.
For the past few years, my classes have participated in various citizen science projects sponsored by Journey North. All of them are engaging, but we especially like the ones that involve us getting outside to actually observe wildlife, like the hummingbird migration project. Another favorite is the monarch butterfly project; even though our state isn’t on the butterflies’ normal migration path, that doesn’t stop my students from watching for them! Part of that project is exchanging paper butterflies with students from Mexico, and that’s always a highlight of our year.
Science is a fascinating and engaging Avenue to use in my classroom. I am so happy to see the numerous options that are out there! Thanks for sharing.
This is just what my class needs. They love science and the opportunity to contribute to the field will really inspire them. Thanks for adding the link to help me find the right project for them.