Connecting students with scientists
- Posted by Britt Gow |
- Tuesday 12 August 2014, 11:15 AM (EST)
Britt Gow says teachers can foster a love of science by connecting students with working scientists, and explains how it is working in her rural Victorian school.
Despite all children having a natural curiosity for how the world works, there is a worrying trend in Australia of decreasing enrollments in senior secondary school science subjects. To be fair, science teachers have a lot of competition, with students seeking careers in new fields such as personal training, game development, event management and entertainment. So how can teachers and parents foster the natural curiosity of children and encourage an ongoing interest in the natural world? One strategy is for children to see and hear what scientists actually do in their work, introducing them to the excitement of discovery and the challenging world of research.
Modern technologies allow us to connect and communicate with real scientists, both locally and across the globe. Social media, such as Twitter and Skype, enables teachers and others to follow and chat with a diverse range of authentic researchers, science writers and other experts in astronomy, biology, chemistry, environmental science, genetics, physics and other fields.
There are some formal programs that encourage students to connect with real scientists, including the popular CSIRO "Scientists in Schools" program, which matches a school with a working scientist for visits and communication. Another is the "Earthwatch" program, which runs volunteer vacations and expeditions, where students work with researchers on various projects, including archeology, climate change, marine systems, wildlife and ecosystems. I have had several students who have participated in the Earthwatch student programs, spending five days in the field with scientists and learning to collect and record data, identify species and manage scientific equipment. They have all been tremendously excited about working with live specimens, learning from real scientists and meeting other students with similar interests.
Mobile technology and social media have also allowed a renewed interest in "citizen science" projects. Citizen science, sometimes called crowd-sourced or networked science, is scientific research conducted in whole or in part by amateur or non-professional scientists.
Amateur scientists have been collecting data and contributing to scientific research throughout recorded history. People who earned a living in another field, but had a passion for astronomy, nature, alchemy, fossils or the weather have made many important scientific discoveries possible. The Austrian monk, Mendel, made meticulous observations of heredity in pea plants that are still used as the basis for modern day genetics. Benjamin Franklin was a printer who made significant contributions to our understanding of electricity and Charles Darwin was an unpaid companion aboard the Beagle. Mary Anning was a fossil hunter in the 1700s whose discoveries assisted our understanding of evolution. Botanical artists, hunters and fisherman, bird observers and wine makers have also contributed data, such as migration dates, harvest times, pelt and catch records. Japanese court diarists have recorded the dates of cherry blossom festivals over more than 10 centuries. One of the most established citizen science projects is the "Christmas Bird Count" that has been run by the National Audubon Society in the USA every year since 1900. In the most recent count, tens of thousands of observers counted a total of over 63 million birds.
Mobile phones with cameras and global positioning system navigation devices make it very easy for users to capture an image with its location and immediately upload the data to a website. Online field guides are also easily accessible, allowing people to identify plants, animals, fungi and other specimens or landscapes. Smart phones with various sensors can record measurements such as precipitation (mPing), light levels (Loss of the Night), noise levels (NoiseTube), rubbish (Marine Debris Tracker) and depth of phytoplankton (Secchi).
In Adelaide, professor of urban ecology Chris Daniels has lead some fascinating citizen science projects. His projects have focused on local wildlife in South Australia, like koalas, possums, magpies and bluetongue lizards. These projects assist researchers to understand how people feel about and interact with local wildlife. Their newest program, facilitated by the Barbara Hardy Institute, is called Creating Biophilic Cities through Citizen Science.
Biophilia (literally "love of life") is a term brought to prominence by the distinguished biologist, EO Wilson. Wilson suggests that we need to connect with the natural environment in order to lead fulfilling and healthy lives. Modern lifestyles sometimes result in a disconnection between nature and humanity - living in cities and suburbs, we are often isolated from the natural environment. Citizen science programs can reconnect us with nature, allowing any interested person to be involved by recording and submitting their observations. They can be as simple as taking a photograph of backyard visitors, such as magpies or possums, or excursions to specific locations to observe threatened species, such as the orange-bellied parrot or red-tailed black cockatoo.
Most secondary students in Australian schools are lucky enough to own a mobile device (perhaps an iPod or a smart phone). Involving students in collecting and submitting scientific data is an authentic task that allows them to contribute to real research projects. There are a range of Australian apps that allow students to identify specific organisms with maps and descriptive information, take a photo with an automatic geo-tag and submit the image to an online database. Some you might like to investigate include: Atlas of Living Australia, Ecolinc's Field Guide to the Victorian Volcanic Plains and ClimateWatch.
At Hawkesdale P12 College we have been fortunate to be involved in several citizen science projects over the past few years. One is the "Shout Tree Banding Project", facilitated by the Smithsonian Institute. The organisers send out a kit including measuring tape, digital calipers, aluminium labels and dendrometers, used to fit steel bands around the circumference of trees. Several times each year students measure the increase in circumference and submit the data online. This data is used by scientists investigating carbon sequestration around the globe, contributing to our understanding of increasing carbon dioxide concentrations and effects of climate change.
Another project has been initiated by the Glenelg Nature Trust to investigate the distribution and abundance of rare burrowing crayfish. These species are rather cryptic but in wet weather create mud chimneys that can be seen in paddocks and cleared areas in parts of SW Victoria. Two researchers came to the school and provided information to students and as part of our Victorian Certificate of Education Environmental Science class where we measured the location and height of chimneys along transects at the local Apex Park. Students have been encouraged to report other sightings of the chimneys on their home properties, on local bus routes and when travelling on weekends. This data is then submitted to the researchers. "ReportMonster" is an app that allows you to take photos using your camera, add notes, add text onto the photo itself, geotag the photo and then email it or dropbox it as a pdf file.
There are so many ways teachers can involve students in real projects and put them in direct contact with working scientists who are experts in their field. Why not send out a tweet to ask if a scientist can speak to your class during science week?
Image: Britt Gow