Bringing “real science” into the classroom

When I talk to students about what they think a scientist looks like, many times they picture a guy like Albert Einstein rocking the classic white coat. Fortunately for me I am part of Students Discover and get to bring citizen science into the classroom, changing students perception on what a scientist actually is.

The whole goal of citizen science is to show people that they can be a scientist in their everyday clothes, looking at their back yards, living  their life. They don’t need to be in a lab coat, in a fancy building, with fancy equipment. I think this is an incredible module to be using in classrooms around the world and its success depends on how well teachers present the opportunity to their students.

My school has a lot of students that don’t get to see much outside of their own world. They don’t get to see that they can be part of something bigger that impacts a large variety of people. They don’t get the opportunity to be part of scientific history.  With citizen science that will all change for them. My particular group eMammal will have data that will be stored in the Smithsonian forever! My students are finally going to get a chance to see that even as middle schoolers, they are making a difference in the science community. If the lessons we create and share inspire just one student to pursue science, I believe that citizen science has done its job!