Environmental educators have long engaged students in collecting data and monitoring environmental quality. Now scientists are recognizing the potential for student-collected data to contribute to the understanding of phenomena such as global climate change. Suggests some ways of thinking about the potential of environmental monitoring as a means…

Frogwatch is a volunteer monitoring program developed in response to worldwide concern about declining populations of amphibians. Outlines a frog-monitoring program and a wetland study to be conducted alone or together. Explains the basics, including choosing a frog, introducing the topic, mapping, recordkeeping, equipment, survey procedures, and…

Describes River Watch, an award-winning floating river study project that gives students continuous contact with the river environment. (PVD)

Presents a water-quality monitoring project in a Denver school that has evolved into an experiment using a constructed wetland system to treat the acid-mine drainage from an abandoned gold mine. (PVD)

This survey reviews types of environmental monitoring as well as the general aims of the organizations who sponsor volunteer monitoring programs for school and community groups. These programs address educators' interest in involving students in authentic science experiences and provide interdisciplinary activities that link schools and…

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is an international hands-on environmental science and education program that began on Earth Day in 1995. Students measure environmental parameters for scientists studying weather patterns and environmental change, and discover their connection to Earth's ever-changing systems…