Revista de Gestão Costeira Integrada
Volume 14, Número 4, Dezembro 2014, Páginas 569-579

DOI: 10.5894/rgci507
* Submission: 21 APR 2014; Peer review: 20 MAY 2014; Revised: 9 JUL 2014; Accepted: 26 JUL 2014; Available on-line: 16 September 2014

The potential for young citizen scientist projects: a case study of Chilean schoolchildren collecting data on marine litter *

Lucas Eastman ^a, Valeria Hidalgo-Ruz ^a, Vivian Macaya ^a,
Paloma Nuñez ^a, Martin Thiel ^{@, a, b, c}

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@ - Corresponding author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Thiel <thiel@ucn.cl>
a - Universidad Católica del Norte, Facultad Ciencias del Mar, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile
b - Millennium Nucleus Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Island (ESMOI), Coquimbo, Chile
c - Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas, CEAZA, Coquimbo, Chile

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ABSTRACT
A wealth of environmental and ecological questions are answered with the help of citizen scientists of all ages, but schoolchildren (<18 years) rarely participate in these projects. This is surprising considering that many citizen science projects would ideally complement modern school curricula, ranging from science, to math, reading and arts. Here we present a citizen science project supported by schoolchildren who investigate the problem of marine litter along the Chilean coast. Schoolchildren received specially designed education materials, carefully tested instructions and sampling kits. Wherever possible they were accompanied by recent university graduates, who supported the teacher in supervising the sampling process. After the samplings, schoolchildren were enthusiastic and expressed interest in participating in future environmental projects. Based on our experience, we present seven steps for designing a successful citizen science project with schoolchildren. We suggest that involving schoolchildren in citizen science projects will not only enhance the spatial and temporal scale of data collection, but also support school curricula, public understanding of the scientific process, and environmental management decisions.

Keywords: citizen science, schoolchildren, data collection, education materials, marine litter

O potencial para projetos de jovens cientista cidadão: um estudo de caso de alunos jovens chilenos recolha de dados sobre o lixo marinho

RESUMO
Uma grande variedade de questões ambientais e ecológicas são respondidas com a ajuda de cidadão cientistas de todas as idades, mas os alunos (<18 anos) raramente participam nestes projetos. Isto é surpreendente, considerando que muitos projetos científicos de cidadania idealmente complementam os modernos currículos escolares, que vão desde ciência, matemática, leitura e artes. Aqui apresentamos um projeto de ciência e cidadania apoiada por alunos que investigam o problema do lixo marinho ao longo da costa chilena. Os alunos receberam materiais de educação especialmente concebidos, instruções cuidadosamente testadas e kits de amostragem. Sempre que possível, os alunos foram acompanhados por jovens diplomados, que apoiaram o professor na supervisão do processo de amostragem. Após as recolhas, os alunos estavam entusiasmados e manifestaram interesse em participar em futuros projetos ambientais. Com base na nossa experiência, apresentamos sete passos para a conceção de um projeto de ciência e cidadania bem sucedido com alunos. Sugerimos que envolver alunos em projetos de ciência e cidadania irá não só aumentar a escala espacial e temporal da recolha de dados, mas também apoiar currículos escolares, a compreensão pública do processo científico, e as decisões de gestão ambiental.

Palavras-chave: Ciência cidadã; alunos; recolha de dados; materiais de educação; lixo marinho

 

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