Identification
Video tool
RAPID APPRAISAL MAPPING
Video tool
Type of tool: Event
Phase: Identification
SCHOOL TECH-DAY EVENT
How to integrate citizen science in schools
The Challenge
Participating in citizen science projects is a great way for school kids to experience what it is like to be a scientist and for teachers to show the kinds of questions scientific research can solve.
However, finding appropriate citizen science activities to be included in the school curriculum can be challenging.
How can we incorporate citizen science into the school curriculum?
The Tool
School Tech-Day Event is a didactic unit for integrating citizen science activities on the topic of noise exposure and health at a primary school into the school curriculum. By means of different hand-on activities carried out in a single day, pupils are involved in all the different phases of a research study, from formulation of research questions, to data collection, analysis and presentation of results. The final aim of this event is to introduce pupils and their children into the research topic, identifying their concerns and interests while getting fun and nurturing your community skills and curiosity.
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School Tech-Day Event on noise exposure and health
CitieS-Health Ljubljana Pilot
What
The School Tech-Day Event took place in March 2020 at the Spodnja Šiška primary school in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as part of the school’s curriculum involving pupils, ages 7-8. The pupils were involved in identifying noise-related issues and translating the selected topics into research questions. Next, together with mentors, they participated in the process of hypothesis formulation and the designing of data collection protocols. Finally, they participated in three focussed noise measurement experiments, as well as data analysis and presentation.
Why
To trigger pupils’ interest (as well as of their teachers) in research in general and foster their participation in other project activities.
To teach pupils about sound, noise and the impact of noise on health.
To identify noise and health related concerns of children.
To improve scientific literacy of pupils and their teachers.
How
Pre-event questionnaire.The questionnaire aimed to identify noise-related issues that are relevant to pupils and in this way help formulate the research questions
Introductory lesson. The introductory lesson, My sound environment, was conducted to raise awareness and empower pupils about the importance of sounds and hearing in everyday life.
Noise demo-experiments. Three experiments were selected and demonstrated to teach pupils about sound’s physical properties: ‘dancing rice’, ‘bell jar’ and ‘Let’s Get Loud’ experiment
Co-design of experiments. In order to address the three research questions identified previously, respective research hypotheses were defined and experimental work designed with pupils, including the tools to be used.
Measurement experiments. Pupils collect data on noise exposure according to the protocol defined in the previous step. The NoiseCapture App, an open-source Android application designed to measure and share the noise environment, was used, along with the pre-calibrated external microphone.
Mini-symposium. The results obtained within separate groups of pupils during the measurement campaigns were presented in the form of a ‘mini- symposium’.
Final quiz. Knowledge that pupils obtained during the STDE was assessed through an interactive learning game prepared within Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform. Check out the final quiz!