Target Audience: K-12th Grade Teachers

"Why do we even have to do this?  This isn't important. No one cares." All of these statements are things I have heard from my middle school students when collecting data for a lab or doing class activities.

I asked myself, "How can I connect what is going on in class with what is going on in the world? How can I show my students that science CAN and DOES have a real-world impact and that there are people interested in their research?"

The answer is involve my students in Citizen Science!! Citizen Science is a great way to use crowdsourcing for the advancement of science.

In this presentation I will share how I've used Citizen Science to increase engagement in my classroom and to give students a glimpse into how data really does matter in real life. I will share a host of free resources for you to find citizen science projects that tie in to your existing curriculum and standards. I will share the challenges and successes of the various projects I have implemented over the past 8 years as a K-8 teacher.