scholarly journals FutureForest: Promoting Biodiversity Literacy by Implementing Citizen Science in the Classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Schneiderhan-Opel ◽  
Franz X. Bogner
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Sixth Mass Extinction ◽  
Biodiversity Education ◽  
Teaching Unit ◽  
Citizen Science Project

The terms Anthropocene and Homogenocene are frequently used to describe our current epoch, which is characterized by strong human impacts on the environment. One defining feature of the Anthro- or Homogenocene is biodiversity loss – experts say we are heading for Earth's sixth mass extinction. A crucial weapon in the battle against threats to biodiversity is education, particularly biodiversity literacy. Raising awareness of the social and environmental value of biodiversity, providing education on the concept of biodiversity, and promoting the ability to act may lead to active and responsible citizenship. We developed a biodiversity education teaching unit to promote biodiversity literacy through formal education. To make the topic of biodiversity tangible for students, our approach involves them in a citizen science project and uses the forest ecosystem to illustrate the relations between economic, ecological, and social aspects of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Combining formal education and citizen science: A case study on students’ perceptions of learning and interest in an urban rat project

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Aivelo ◽  
Suvi Huovelin
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Future Citizen ◽  
Citizen Science Project ◽  
Study Species

AbstractCitizen science is a valuable tool in environmental and formal education in creating scientific knowledge for the researchers and facilitating learning and fostering a positive relationship toward the environment and study species. We present a case study on the Helsinki Urban Rat Project in which students surveyed rat occurrence in their own near environments. According to our results, experientiality, involvement, meaningfulness, freedom to choose, ease of participation, and the rats themselves contributed to students’ increased interest in participation. Furthermore, students described diverse factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge that they acquired during their participation. In general, students described negative attitudes toward rats, but they described fewer negative views on rats after participation. We reflect on the success of the citizen science project and implications of planning a future citizen science project and incorporating citizen science in formal education.

scholarly journals Beewatching: A Project for Monitoring Bees through Photos

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 841
Author(s):  
Simone Flaminio ◽  
Rosa Ranalli ◽  
Laura Zavatta ◽  
Marta Galloni ◽  
Laura Bortolotti
Keyword(s):  
Apis Mellifera ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Numerous Species ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Wild Bee ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
The Common ◽  
Interactive Map ◽  
Citizen Science Project

Bees play a key role in natural and agro-ecosystems and their diversity is worldwide threatened by anthropogenic causes. Despite this, there is little awareness of the existence of the numerous species of wild bees, and the common name “bee” is very often exclusively associated with Apis mellifera. Our aim was to create a citizen science project in Italy with the following objectives: (a) raising awareness of the importance and diversity of bees, (b) obtaining data on the biology, ecology and distribution of Italian species, and (c) launching the monitoring of alien bees. The first step of the project was to create a website platform with a section containing informative datasheets of the wild bee families and of the most common bee genera present in Italy, a form to send reports of observed bees and an interactive map with all citizen’s reports. During the 2 years of the project 1086 reports were sent by 269 users, with 38 Apoidea genera reported on 190 plant genera; furthermore, 22 reports regarding the alien species Megachile sculpturalis arrived. The majority of bees (34 genera) were observed on spontaneous plants, including 115 genera native to Italy. Considering the increasing number of reports and data obtained in these first two years of the project, our objectives seem to be achieved. Future steps will be to outline the profile of beewatchers, to plan activities in a more targeted way, and also to start some sub-projects for conservation purposes.

scholarly journals Citizen Science for Scientific Literacy and the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals in Formal Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Queiruga-Dios ◽  
Emilia López-Iñesta ◽  
María Diez-Ojeda ◽  
María Consuelo Sáiz-Manzanares ◽  
José Benito Vázquez Dorrío
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Citizen Science Project

Curricular integration in formal teaching of citizen science can bring to the classroom aspects of scientific literacy that encourage the involvement of citizens. In particular, these include non-epistemic aspects related to the sociology of science (which are often not transferred to the classroom). Furthermore, this practice raises awareness among students, and encourages them to become participants in the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article describes a proposal for the integration of a citizen science project into the secondary education curriculum that can be reproduced in any educational center. Eighty-three secondary school pupils (14–15 years old) took part in this research at a city-center school in Northern Spain. A questionnaire based on validated studies was created and used to analyze the changes in attitudes of pupils towards science and technology and their improvement in scientific literacy in terms of scientific processes and scientific situations. The results indicate a significant improvement in the attitudes towards science and technology among the participating learners, as well as a better understanding of scientific processes and situations. Likewise, the results reflect how the implementation of the citizen science project contributes to the SDGs.

scholarly journals Citizens, Scientists, and Enablers: A Tripartite Model for Citizen Science Projects

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 309
Author(s):  
Rhian A. Salmon ◽  
Samuel Rammell ◽  
Myfanwy T. Emeny ◽  
Stephen Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Tripartite Model ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Citizen Science Project

In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective relationships. We propose a tripartite model that recognises not only citizens and scientists, but also an important third role, which we call the ‘enabler’. In doing so, we acknowledge that additional expertise and skillsets are often present in citizen science projects, but are frequently overlooked in associated literature. We interrogate this model by applying it to three case studies and explore how the success and sustainability of a citizen science project requires all roles to be acknowledged and interacting appropriately. In this era of ‘wicked problems’, the nature of science and science communication has become more complex. In order to address critical emerging issues, a greater number of stakeholders are engaging in multi-party partnerships and research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. Within this context, explicitly acknowledging the role and motivations of everyone involved can provide a framework for enhanced project transparency, delivery, evaluation and impact. By adapting our understanding of citizen science to better recognise the complexity of the organisational systems within which they operate, we propose an opportunity to strengthen the collaborative delivery of both valuable scientific research and public engagement.

scholarly journals Citizen Science Contributions to Address Biodiversity Loss and Conservation Planning in a Rapidly Developing Region

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Diana L. Soteropoulos ◽  
Caitlin R. De Bellis ◽  
Theo Witsell
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Herbarium Specimens ◽  
Rare Plant ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Natural Heritage ◽  
Northwest Arkansas

Biodiversity data support conservation research and inform conservation decisions addressing the wicked problem of biodiversity loss. However, these data often need processing and compilation before use, which exceed the time availability of professional scientists. Nevertheless, scientists can recruit, train, and support a network of citizen scientists to prepare these data using online platforms. Here, we describe three citizen science projects sponsored by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to transcribe and georeference historic herbarium specimens and document current biodiversity through iNaturalist for two highly biodiverse and rapidly developing counties in Northwest Arkansas, USA. Citizen science-generated data will be used in a county natural heritage inventory (CNHI) report, including a comprehensive list of taxa tied to voucher specimens and records for rare plant populations. Since the CNHI project started in 2018, citizen scientists have transcribed 8,855 and georeferenced 2,636 specimen records. From iNaturalist observations, 125 rare plant populations of 39 taxa have been documented. This CNHI report will determine the most critical taxa, habitats, and sites for conservation action in the region and will inform conservation stakeholders at the local, state, and federal levels as they engage in land acquisition, ecological restoration, natural resource management, planning of growth and development, and environmental review/regulation.

Building Data Sets for Rainforest Deforestation Detection Through a Citizen Science Project

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Fernanda Beatriz Jordan Rojas Dallaqua ◽  
Fabio Augusto Faria ◽  
Alvaro Luiz Fazenda
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Citizen Science Project

scholarly journals The epistemic culture in an online citizen science project: Programs, antiprograms and epistemic subjects

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dick Kasperowski ◽  
Thomas Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Distributed Cognition ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Large Sets ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Epistemic Culture ◽  
Classification Of Images ◽  
Citizen Science Project

In the past decade, some areas of science have begun turning to masses of online volunteers through open calls for generating and classifying very large sets of data. The purpose of this study is to investigate the epistemic culture of a large-scale online citizen science project, the Galaxy Zoo, that turns to volunteers for the classification of images of galaxies. For this task, we chose to apply the concepts of programs and antiprograms to examine the ‘essential tensions’ that arise in relation to the mobilizing values of a citizen science project and the epistemic subjects and cultures that are enacted by its volunteers. Our premise is that these tensions reveal central features of the epistemic subjects and distributed cognition of epistemic cultures in these large-scale citizen science projects.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document