In the Students Discover project that Team Dirt has built together we are focusing on students becoming real scientists, for the real world. Our students will be collecting data that will be used by Dr. Julia Stevens in her research in the Genomicis Lab at the North Carolina Natural Sciences Museum.   This data will also go into a world wide data base that other scientists can use on their projects.  Students will be discovering new things and coming up with their own questions and hypotheses that will help drive Dr. Stevens research in the lab.

The key way that Team Dirt has decided to get the students involved and invested in this project is to have them feel like they are discovering new things about their own home town.  Students will be bringing in their own soil from around their homes, they will be searching for dandelions around their own school, and growing these dandelions in their classrooms. The students will collect samples and send them to Dr. Stevens at the Museum, who will process the soil through DNA extraction, PCR, and DNA sequencing. Then the students will get back the data about what is found in their soil.  Students will be engaged because they are doing hands on research with soil and plants from their own home town.

Another key component to the success of this project is the collaboration between the students and the Museum Scientist.  Students will feel like they are being scientists because the data that they collect will matter in real scientific research. It won’t be data that they collect and throw away at the end of the year.  Students will also be discussing their findings with other students on Edmodo.  This communication is a huge part of science, because all scientists must communicate their findings with others.  Students will be communicating their findings with other students outside of their classroom.  All of these components are what I believe will lead to making this a true Citizen Science Project.