http://www.aprh.pt/rgci/rgci507.html

Lucas Eastman, Valeria Hidalgo-Ruz, Vivian Macaya, Paloma Nuñez, Martin
Thiel
The potential for young citizen scientist projects: a case study of
Chilean schoolchildren collecting data on marine litter
Journal of Integrated Coastal Zone Management, 14(4):###-### (2014)
Submission: 21 APR 2014; Peer review: 20 MAY 2014; Revised: 9 JUL 2014;
Accepted: 26 JUL 2014; Available on-line: 16 SEP 2014

DOI: 10.5894/rgci507

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