ERIC Number: EJ1269507
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8148
EISSN: N/A
Birds Near and Far
Bird, Erin Bridges; Harte, Peggy; Ballard, Heidi L.
Science and Children, v58 n1 p48-54 Sep-Oct 2020
"Citizen science" gives students a unique opportunity to engage with their own research, as well as data collected by other citizen scientists. Often, citizen science projects focus on students collecting and submitting data for scientists, which can sometimes limit opportunities to engage in the entire scientific process. This article describes one fourth-grade class's community and citizen science project on bird species diversity and abundance. This outdoor science experience was unique and applicable to both in-school and distance-learning because students conducted their scientific research at different locations: on their campus and while on two seasonal field trips to a neighborhood pond and wetland area used by the city for flood control. With the pond as a second data collection site, students compared their bird biodiversity datasets to understand each ecosystems' characteristics and how different bird species are supported in different habitats. Similarly, students could compare their school campus data to multiple sites across neighborhood locations. After the class ensured their bird species data was accurate, they submitted it to the citizen science project eBird, a public database used by scientists around the world to study bird populations. However, that was not the full extent of their scientific work. They also developed their own research questions and shared their data findings with city officials to inform environmental conservation decisions. These additional ways of using science for local decision-making are typical of "community science." This convergence of goals through "community" and "citizen science" provided these students with a unique opportunity to conduct science in ways meaningful to their lives and broader community--and to professional scientists (Ballard, Dixon, and Harris 2017).
Descriptors: Grade 4, Elementary School Students, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Conservation (Environment), Decision Making, Databases, Animals, Student Participation, Scientists, Citizenship, Scientific Research, Accuracy, Program Descriptions, Learning Experience, Distance Education, Blended Learning, Outdoor Education
National Science Teaching Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: https://www.nsta.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A