MPTCA 2021

Anyone can be a citizen scientist, which is a non-professional scientist that contributes real scientific research data. Citizen science fosters scientific literacy by engaging students in meaningful science research that addresses real-world issues and leads to scientific advancement. Through direct participation in scientific inquiry and exploration, students develop critical mindsets about the nature of scientific discovery. Citizen science engages many students that might not otherwise care by having them contribute to meaningful research. Teachers will get an introduction to citizen science, access resources to find projects that fit their curricula and go through an exercise to help integrate these projects into their classroom. Teachers will also leave with a digital toolkit that will enable them to take the lessons learned and apply them to their learning objectives in their classroom.
Ideally, participants would bring their own laptops but the session will be doable without them.