2009

For several years, a European amateur science group was on the trail of dinosaur prints and last spring they made a significant discovery. Now authenticated by scientists at Lyon University and France’s National Center for Scientific Research, the find is one of the largest and most well preserved prints from a sauropod estimated to be 150 million years old.

What’s particularly exciting about this finding–in addition to the pure excitement from being able to directly witness the movements of our planet’s once great giants–is that the possibility of important scientific progress coming from groups of amateurs and citizen scientists is so great. More organized citizen scientist groups must be developed around the world, and with this growth not only will scientific progress benefit, but the increased appreciation and understanding of science will begin to reach an even broader population.

For example, in the United States, the Society of Amateur Scientists is a national organization that will support the development of local and regional chapters, which is the absolute perfect opportunity for interested people to self-organize and generate some real science and generate some real science appreciation for the masses. Their current list of active local chapters is rather limited, but the time is ripe for growing local interest and regional society groups to become deeply involved in citizen science around the country.

In particular, this author is working on establishing a local chapter for the Central Illinois region, so if you are located in the area and would be interested in considering being a charter member of a new local chapter, please let me know.

Be inspired by the increasing number of successes of important results from citizen scientists and get more involved to see what wonderful science you may discover and experience.

So much science education happens in informal ways–outside of the classroom. These experiences can be so valuable and sometimes even more influential than the classic approaches taken for so long by the public school system of the American culture.

Successful informal educational opportunities can start right at home between parents and their children at the earliest ages. From simple questions to make a child think about what is happening around us to getting directly involved with exciting citizen science projects in our community, there are so many opportunities that can be presented to a young mind that can leave a lasting impression.

A growing focus on the importance of informal education is emerging, and citizen scientists can be on the forefront of this valuable movement. The National Academies Press has published materials on the issue, and is helping to create new studies and information on how informal educational approaches might be more thoroughly developed.

In their latest newsletter (subscribe), NAC featured an interesting survey of readers who had experiences as a child of a lasting memory of an informal educational experience. The following are some of their favorite responses…

“‘My dad waking us all up at 2 a.m. on a freezing winter night to come out and see the Northern Lights; I was 4 years old and never forgot.’

‘Studying pond water samples with a friend’s microscope, drawing my observations, then going to the library to find the names of the microbes (amoeba, diatoms, etc.) during the summer between 3rd and 4th grade.’

‘Making an electromagnet out of a piece of wire, a nail, and a battery.’

‘The original Mr. Wizard television program set my future path toward science. Each episode presented scientific concepts through interesting and understandable demonstrations that, for the most part, the young viewer was encouraged to try at home. This was really exciting TV!’

‘The first time I learned to mix baking soda and vinegar to make carbon dioxide and the resulting foam overflowed on to my parent’s kitchen table.’

‘A lifetime of interest came from my father’s simple question: ‘Why is it so hard to push this boat into the water?’ 40 years later, I am still pursuing wave flows and resistance.’

‘Sitting on the front porch with my father and siblings counting the seconds between the lightning flash and the thunder that followed. We estimated how far away the lightning strike was and learned math as well as science.'”

Each of these special memories should be an inspiration for parents and how we can contribute to positive informal science education every day. If you and your children have experienced meaningful informal science education moments–no matter how small–please tell us about it by posting a comment here on DPR AmSci Journal.

In a little more than two weeks, NASA will have an expensive hunk of metal slam into the Moon… the resulting plume will be closely observed in hopes to learn more about the possibility of the existence of water ice (read more and learn about how you can participate…). As the LCROSS vessel makes it way toward its impact site, NASA needs assistance with tracking due to its steep orbit; they only have brief and infrequent time frames to monitor the trajectory using their Deep Space Network of radio antennas.

So, who better to ask for more listening help than school kids from around the globe interacting remotely and on-site with the GAVRT program. Located in Apple Valley, California (view map), the antenna is a collaboration between the Lewis Center for Educational Research, NASA, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Teachers from around the world, including home schoolers, may sign up for free through the Lewis Center’s website and take part in their LCROSS curriculum. This is a wonderful opportunity for young science students to get hands-on experience in an important scientific field and to support NASA in a valuable way.

And if this program doesn’t directly create excited new young scientists, then it should certainly help drive these students’ personal interest and appreciation for science as they become vital and participating citizens in the future.