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Citizen science: become a steward for our feathered friends

Looking to integrate new learning approaches this year? Incorporating citizen science initiatives into your lessons plans are a great way to link learning and action. It can also connect your classroom activities to the broader community of engaged environmentalists.

What exactly is citizen science? Citizen science refers to the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public – often in collaboration with professional scientists and scientific organizations. In a school settings, this tends to take the form of collecting information about the natural world, then sharing findings with the wider scientific community. Find out more on pages 24-25 of our Climate Leadership Tool Kit.

There are many ways to be a citizen scientist – from measuring water quality in a nearby stream to counting butterfly species in your school’s pollinator garden. One activity coming up  is the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) which takes place across North America from February 17-20.

The GBBC brings together bird watchers of all ages and experience levels to count birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are. Last year, GBBC participants counted an incredible 18,637,974 birds, representing 5,689 species, across 162,052 checklists. By participating, students can take pride in contributing to a continent-wide effort to document bird species’ whereabouts. Check out the GBBC website for information on how to get involved.

More resources:

  • Ontario Nature has a fantastic Citizen Science project directory; search for projects based on your interests.
  • Visit the Ontario Parks blog (use the ‘citizen science’ tag) for more ideas to combine citizen science with outdoor field trips this winter/spring.
  • Another great resource for winter: Rink Watch combines skating and environmental science.
  • Check out our Citizen Science lesson plan for more ideas on bringing this concept into your teaching.
  • Revisit last year’s blog post to get a taste of what you can experience by participating in the 2017 GBBC.