Citizen Science and Tracking Climate in Your Backyard
Participate in and learn about citizen science projects at our venues, and find our Tracking Climate in Your Backyard curriculum: climate and weather activities that you can do in your backyard or classroom.
Tree Phenology
You can participate in a tree phenology citizen science project at the Cayuga Nature Center. Phenology is the study of cyclical changes in plant and animal life. At the Cayuga Nature Center visitors can collect data on trees that we have registered with the USA National Phenology Network.
Follow the onset of spring at the Cayuga Nature Center
During Spring 2020, we will be posting videos so you can see the signs of spring in our trees, such as when the buds break, leaves emerge, and flowers bloom.
CoCoRaHS: the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network
At the Museum of the Earth we participate in a meteorology citizen science project as part of the national CoCoRAHS Network. We collect precipitation data from a rain gauge outside the Museum, filling an important data gap on the west side of Cayuga Lake. The data collected by citizen scientists are used by scientists, weather forecasters, water managers, engineers, insurance industry researchers, and others.
4-H Tracking Climate in Your Backyard curriculum
PRI and the 4-H Youth Development program at Cornell Cooperative Extension have developed a curriculum on weather and climate for upper elementary and secondary school youth: Tracking Climate in Your Backyard.
Background
Development of this curriculum was part of a project made possible through funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF 0808122). Project materials and curriculum are free to download for use by anyone, though focus is placed on informal science activities for 8-12 year old youth with extended science project ideas for science fairs or 4-H fairs.
The purpose of this project was to encourage youth, specifically ages 8-12, to better understand the scientific process by engaging them in the collection of meaningful meteorological data in their community. In this way, youth develop an understanding of scientific methods and standardization, and by recording and sharing their data through a citizen science project, they recognize the importance of accurate data collection. The citizen science portion of the project involved youth collecting precipitation data as part of CoCoRaHS (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network) for scientific analysis and for issuance of severe storm warnings and flash flooding events.
Using the Curriculum
The Tracking Climate in Your Backyard curriculum has been designed for use in conjunction with participation in CoCoRaHS. However, each activity can be performed regardless of CoCoRaHS participation, and have been designed to stand alone, without the aid of other activities in the curriculum or their extensions. Because climate is a complex topic, consisting of weather — i.e. temperature, rain, snow, and the hydrologic cycle — as it occurs in a region over decades, lessons are built to explain the short-term and long-term effects of the different topics in your community.
The underlying theme of the entire curriculum is the role of the water cycle. There is a finite supply of water on the planet; it controls our climate, provides us with drinking water and recreation, and is home to vast numbers of species. Understanding the water cycle helps connect weather, climate, biodiversity loss, and environmental awareness, which is much needed for the youth of today as they prepare to be the scientifically conscious society of tomorrow.
This project certainly did not aim to re-invent the wheel, and many activities are adapted from other sources. What makes this program unique lies in the discussion section of the activities; the real ‘meat’ of the science is dissected in a user-friendly way in the discussion section, and highlights the ways in which these activities relate to a changing climate. Also, CoCoRaHS extension activities suggest ways to look at information learned in an activity from another perspective, and conduct your own scientific investigation.
To download individual activities by subject, click on the links below.
Rain Activities
Snow Activities
Temperature Activities
Wind Activities
Water Cycle Activities
Climate Activities