I am part of Team Dirt (Arthina Blanchard, Amy Lawson, myself and our mentor Dr. Julia Stevens) working on the Citizen Science Soil Microbiology project entitled Dirt is Alive.  Our goal is to analyze the microbiome of the dandelion and specifically look at the microbes, the bacteria and fungi, associated with the dandelion.  Click on the link below to hear Dr. Julia Stevens explain our project in more detail.

Click here:  Dr. Julia Stevens describing Dirt is Alive Citizen Science Project

In order for our Citizen Science project to be a success there are several key components that must be met.  First and foremost getting the students engaged and excited about the project is key.  I plan to have Dr. Julia Stevens help ignite the excitement by visiting our classroom at the very beginning of the year and explaining her research to my students.  She will then solicit their help in collecting data to be used as part of her research.  I imagine my students will buy in hook, line and sinker as they interact with Dr. Stevens and realize that they are going to be part of REAL SCIENCE.

An important tangible key component of this project is the students must be able to actually find the dandelions.  When Team Dirt was searching for dandelions at Prairie Ridge we discovered this was more difficult that we first thought.  But after a bit of searching we hit the jackpot and were able to find plenty of dandelions.  Dr. Stevens chose dandelions for her research because they can be found almost anywhere. In preparation for my students conducting the project in class, I plan to scope out the school grounds for dandelions ahead of time.  I want to make sure students experience success in the first step of our project.  Of course THEY will actually find the dandelions on their own, but we will avoid spending a few hours searching the entire school grounds (big campus) for dandelions – the reality and time constraints of a one hour block of class time have to be considered.

Lastly, I think direct contact and communication with Dr. Julia Stevens and other scientists at the museum is going to be a crucial component for this project’s success. Once the students have collected the dandelion soil samples we will need to utilize the science museum’s lab in order to analyze the data and identify the bacteria and fungi associated with the dandelion’s microbiome.   Part of our continued communication with the museum will be participation in the museum’s SMARTS program (Scientists Making Answers Relevant for Teachers and Students).  This program will allow my students to interact with scientists in the Genomics Lab and get real time feedback about our ongoing Dirt is Alive project. I will need to work with my media specialist to make sure we can access the necessary equipment for the interactive video conferencing.  While we were working in the lab this summer, Dr. Julie Urban, was actually conducting a SMARTS session with a group of educators participating in a conference in Greensboro.  Dr. Urban invited us to join her in the video conference.  It was a great opportunity to see the SMARTS program in action from the scientist side.  This program will be a key component in continuing the connection between the middle school science classroom and the museum.

It is difficult to pick among the multiple AHA moments that occurred during my time at the museum, so I’ve narrowed it down to two.  My first AHA moment occurred day one at the museum.  We spent the morning at Prairie Ridge getting to know one another and meeting all the stakeholders involved in the Students Discover project.  We were able to express our hopes, dreams and fears as we embarked on this unchartered ground … to bring Citizen Science into the public school setting.  We had fun participating in the Dragonfly Swarm Citizen Science project.   Then it was time to go to our home for the next three weeks, The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  Dr. Rob Dunn, the principal investigator of the Students Discover project, was scheduled to give a talk in the museum’s Daily Planet.   He described the Students Discover project and talked of a “quiet revolution brewing in the museum” among the teachers and scientists.  The idea of bringing together public school educators and museum scientists was a ground breaking endeavor.  As he talked, I began to get chills and realized what a big deal this was and that I was part of something great.   I was so excited to be sitting in the Daily Planet as one of the Students Discover teachers getting the CHARGE from Dr. Rob Dunn.   In that moment I realized that this project could really change the face of middle school science.  I could not wait to ignite the fire of Citizen Science in my 6^th grade classroom!

My next AHA moment came towards the end of my time at the museum.   Team Dirt (Arthina Blanchard, Amy Lawson and myself) and Team Mite (Marybeth Evans, Kayla Norvile and Willis Foster) were asked to present to all the scientists in the Genomics Lab.  We shared our curriculum ideas and explained ways we planned to bring our experience in the lab back to our students in the classroom.  The presentation went well and I felt again like I was part of something great.  The scientists shared how they enjoyed our enthusiasm in the lab.  They talked of being rejuvenated themselves working alongside us in the role of mentor.    After our presentation, the scientists were continuing their meeting to discuss budget and other upcoming projects.  As the teachers were getting up to leave, my mentor Dr. Julia Stevens, leaned over and gave me directions to make the next gel in preparation to run our gel electrophoresis in the lab that day.  I hesitated and asked “You mean you want us to go ahead and make the gel without you?”  She answered, “Yes, you got this, I trust you.”  That is when my second AHA moment occurred.  I realized that after spending several weeks in the lab learning under the tutelage of my mentor, she viewed us as one of the team.  That felt pretty awesome and it was then I recognized my experience at the museum was like a needed shot in the arm.   I felt empowered in that moment and knew that my teaching would be positively influenced by the time spent in the Genomics Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.