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STEM Tuesday –Community Science – Writing Tips & Resources

By on June 21, 2022   /   Community Science, STEM Tuesday  

The community bit to science is often the ignored, undervalued piece of the scientific process. Collective knowledge needs to be collected and then dispersed among the collective.

Totally confusing, right? 

Well, it is if you think about science as we’ve been generally taught…as a static thing. We’ve been ingrained to think of science as only a rather dull series of steps. How many times have you had to list the steps of the SCIENTIFIC METHOD on a test? I wish I had a dollar for every time I did!

  • Observation
  • Discovery
  • Hypothesis
  • Test
  • Conclude
  • Communicate

Sarah Greenwood, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

But science is so much more than just a few memorized steps in a process. What has often been overshadowed in science is the “aliveness” of science. We too often think about science as an individual or small group activity of people isolated in a laboratory, office, or at a site going about their business. We think of science as static. The same misconception holds true for technology, engineering, and mathematics. Lifeless and mundane egghead stuff.

But STEM is so much more. It’s vibrant and alive! It’s all around us. It affects all of us. Science is a tool we use to explain the world around us. Technology, engineering, and mathematics are the tools we use to help science define our world and then manipulate it. And STEM needs you. 

As much as science affects the community, community affects science. Whether it’s an individual or group participating in a scientific study to collect data points for a research group or science information being presented to a population, the community plays a vital role.

It’s TEAMWORK!

What better way to learn and appreciate science than by participating in science? Shared experience. Now, that’s the value of community science. With many eyes, bodies, and brains at work, the more alive the science is. Community science spreads the load in both directions. It helps cover the necessary ground to turn an unknown into a known by gathering and then distributing the information.

Within the realm of community science, there is a multitude of opportunities covering just about any interest. From open code sourcing software to bird counts, to data analysis, to at-home CRISPR gene-editing, there’s something for everyone. Find your particular jam and give it a shot.

Community Science for the win!

  • Teamwork
  • Spread the load
  • Cover the ground
  • Gather the information

Teamwork makes the dream work!

 

Mount Rainier NPS, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Mike Hays has worked hard from a young age to be a well-rounded individual. A well-rounded, equal opportunity sports enthusiast, that is. If they keep a score, he’ll either watch it, play it, or coach it. A molecular microbiologist by day, middle-grade author, sports coach, and general good citizen by night, he blogs about sports/training-related topics at  www.coachhays.com and writer stuff at  www.mikehaysbooks.com. Two of his science essays, The Science of Jurassic Park and Zombie Microbiology 101, are included in the Putting the Science in Fiction collection from Writer’s Digest Books. He can be found roaming around the Twitter-sphere under the guise of @coachhays64 and Instagram at @mikehays64.

 

The O.O.L.F Files

This month’s version of the O.O.L.F.(Out of Left Field) Files provides resources to get involved in community science projects. 

Looking for a community science project? Check out these resources!

The one and only Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count!

CRISPR at Home – Gene editing for anyone!

The Cornell Ornithology Lab

 

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STEM Tuesday –Community Science – In the Classroom

By on June 14, 2022   /   Community Science, STEM Tuesday  

This month’s theme is something that is near and dear to my heart – Community Science (also known as Citizen Science). I’ve participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count (among others) for years. The books I read that inspired this month’s activity suggestions are:

Book Cover for Bat Citizens, showing a bat flying toward the reader.Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night
by Rob Laidlaw
This book is devoted just one type of animal – bats. It highlights many different young scientists and what they are doing to help these amazing creatures.

 

Book cover for Citizen Scientists. Shows a ladybug on a leaf, a red-bellied woodpecker, a hand holding a frog, and a monarch butterfly.Citizen Scientists: Be A Part of Scientific Discovery From Your Own Backyard
by Loree Griffin Burns and Ellen Harasimowicz
This book covers a citizen/community science project for each season – Fall butterflying, Winter birding, Spring frogging, and Summer ladybugging.

 

Turquoise book cover reading "The Outdoor Scientist"The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World
by Temple Grandin
The Outdoor Scientist is part memoir, part field guide, and contains lots of different activities and mini-bios of inspiring scientists. Opportunities to take part in citizen science projects are sprinkled throughout. They include several projects I hadn’t heard of before.

 

Book cover for 12 Epic Animal Adventures shows monkeys bathing in a hot spring.12 Epic Animal Adventures
by Janet Slingerland
I wrote this book, which means I read it MANY times. Each chapter highlights a different location around the world where people can have an interesting animal experience. The 5th chapter shows visitors participating in a leatherback sea turtle nest count.

 

Find a Project and Join In!

Of course, the first thing I’m inspired to do after reading these books is to participate in a community science project. There are a multitude to choose from.

Most of the better-known community science projects are related to the natural world. But there are lots of other projects out there. Here are a few web sites where you can see or search for a variety of efforts you can participate in.

SciStarter (https://scistarter.org) lets you search for projects that are online or in person near you. You can also search by topic, age range, or goal. This site most likely has links to all the projects listed in the books.

NASA has a page dedicated to citizen science projects. Some of these are literally out of this world (sorry, couldn’t resist). Here’s the link: https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscience

National Geographic has a page where you can look through a list of projects geared for grades 3-12+. The web site is: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/citizen-science-projects.

Keep an eye open for new opportunities. I recently saw a notice put out by NJ Fish & Wildlife about a turkey brood survey. Each year, they ask for help estimating the number of turkey families throughout NJ. (The link to the survey is on the NJ Fish & Wildlife home page: https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw – look for the orange “Wild Turkey Alert”.)

I also saw a notice about a firefly survey. We see fireflies in our backyard, so I was really interested to see what that was all about. It’s run by Mass Audubon, but anyone in North America can participate. https://www.massaudubon.org/get-involved/community-science/firefly-watch

Report on a Project

Each of the books presents community science projects in different ways. After participating in a project, report on it.

You could choose to imitate one of these methods or explore different ways of communicating what you did and what you learned. You could practice interview and journalism techniques by reporting on a community scientist’s experiences. You could present your project participating as a photo-essay. You could put together a podcast episode or video segment.

The opportunities for this are endless.

Citizen vs. Community

You might notice that some people refer to community-supported science efforts as citizen science while others call it community science. A few organizations have explained why they’re making the switch, like here: https://debspark.audubon.org/news/why-were-changing-citizen-science-community-science and here: https://www.re-sources.org/2020/10/community-science-citizen-science.

This is a great opportunity to talk about citizenship, community, and the power of words. I recently had a very interesting conversation with my son on these topics. What I find especially interesting is that we each have different ideas about what it means to be a citizen.

Some things to ponder:

What do you think of when you hear citizenship? Community? What are your feelings around these words?

Look the words up in the dictionary. Do they mean what you think they mean?

Does citizen science imply something different than community science?

As citizens of Earth, do we (or should we) have some responsibility to engage in community science?

—
Janet smiling while holding a butterflyJanet Slingerland is the author of over 20 books for young readers, including 12 Epic Animal Adventures. For more activities related to this book, check out this page on Janet’s web site: http://janetsbooks.com/my-books/animals.

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STEM Tuesday — Women Who Changed Science — Author Interview with Kirsten W. Larson

By on May 24, 2022   /   STEM Tuesday, Women's History Month  

Welcome to STEM Tuesday: Author Interview, a repeating feature for the fourth Tuesday of every month. Go Science-Tech-Engineering-Math!

Today we’re interviewing Kirsten W. Larson, author of Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane. “This inspiring work shines a light on a lesser-known inventor who was the first woman to design an airplane,” says School Library Journal.

Mary Kay Carson: Tell us a bit about your book Wood, Wire, Wings. How did you come to write it?

Kirsten Larson: WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane, illustrated by Tracy Subisak, is the true story of early airplane designer Emma Lilian Todd. Todd was the first woman to design a working airplane on her own, which flew in 1910. That’s only seven years after the Wright Brothers, and she worked during the same period as the Wrights as well as Glenn Curtiss and other notable early aviation pioneers!

The idea for that book came straight out of the pages of the best-selling picture book, ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts. The book contains a timeline of female firsts in aviation towards the end, and there was Lilian’s name. I had never heard of her even though I’ve lived and worked around airplanes my whole life. I knew I had to tell her story, especially when I found out how few people had heard of her.

MKC: To whom did you imagine yourself writing to while drafting the book? 

Kirsten: Writing picture books is always a balance. I always keep my reader in mind, primarily students ages seven and up. That means I have to think carefully about what students know and what they need to know to understand the story. And then there’s always the question of what can be shown in the illustrations, because often pictures say things far better than my words ever could. Yet because picture books are designed to be read by an adult to a child, especially for younger students, I can often use richer language than you might find in very early middle grade like chapter books.

MKC: Did you chose a particular angle or slant or the book? Why?

Kirsten: When I’m writing a book, I try to think of all the ways it might appeal to different readers and fit into school curriculum. In the case of WOOD, WIRE, WINGS, the narrative of the book closely follows the engineering design process, from Lilian’s to initial design to testing, tweaking, and testing still more. That was deliberate. I wanted to book to be able to be used to teach the engineering design process. I also wanted readers to realize that few inventors or engineers get things right on the very first try. Instead, it’s 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, as Edison supposedly said. In other words, it’s about persistence. I felt that was a message readers needed to hear.

MKC: What other books for kids about women who changed science would you recommend?

Kirsten W. Larson is also the author of A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything, illustrated by Katy Wu (Clarion, 2021), THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle, 2023), and THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW, illustrated by Cornelia Li (Little, Brown 2024). THE LIGHT OF RESISTANCE, illustrated by Barbara McClintock, (Roaring Brook, 2023) is her first graphic nonfiction. Kirsten lives with her family near Los Angeles. Find her on social media @kirstenwlarson or at Kirsten-w-larson.com.

Kirsten: I could rattle off at least a hundred. I appreciate that STEM Tuesday has included my picture book here, as many picture books, especially biographies, are for the upper elementary age group. A few of my favorite Women Who Changed Science picture books include Teresa Robeson’s QUEEN OF PHYSICS, illus. Rebecca Huang, Laurie Wallmark’s HEDY LAMARR’S DOUBLE LIFE, illustrated by Katy Wu, and HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shetterly, illustrated by Laura Freeman.

In terms of non-picture books suitable for middle grade readers, I am a huge fan of Joyce Sidman’s THE GIRL WHO DREW BUTTERFLIES, Martha Freeman’s BORN CURIOUS: 20 Girls Who Grew Up to Be Awesome Scientists and Tonya Bolden’s CHANGING THE EQUATION: 50+ U.S. Black Women in STEM.

MKC: Why do you choose to write STEM books?

Kirsten: I think I gravitate to STEM books for a few reasons. First, I do have a background in STEM. For many years, I worked in public affairs at NASA, which gave me a crash course in STEM communication. I’m also intrigued by how scientists and engineers go about their work; I find so many parallels between STEM processes and the process of writing and publishing books. STEM and writing are deeply creative fields that require deep observation, a willingness to revise ideas, and dogged persistence. Finally, I gravitate to underdogs and people who turn traditional notions on their heads. That means I often write women’s stories, whether they are in STEM or other fields, or even fictional characters like Wonder Woman.

 

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane (Calkins Creek, 2020) by Kirsten W. Larson and illustrated by Tracy Subisak.

Download a complete educator’s guide and access other teaching resources on the author’s website. You’ll find all the resources here.

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Your host is Mary Kay Carson, author of Wildlife Ranger Action Guide, The Tornado Scientist, Alexander Graham Bell for Kids, Mission to Pluto, and other nonfiction books for kids. @marykaycarson

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