Hands on Science Opportunities for Kids and Adults
Project Frog Watch FrogWatch USA is a frog and toad monitoring program where volunteers learn the calls of local frog species, identify them by song in the field and record their findings online. No formal training is required, except a willingness to learn the frog and toad calls in your area. http://www.aza.org/frogwatch/
Tagging Monarch Butterflies-Why tag Monarchs? Many questions remain unanswered about the fall migration of the monarch population east of the Rocky Mountains. How do the monarchs move across the continent, i.e. do they move in specific directions or take certain pathways? How is the migration influenced by the weather and are there differences in the migration from year to year? We need data to answer these questions and scientists need your help! Only through the cooperative efforts of volunteer taggers are they able to obtain sufficient recoveries and observations of the migration to answer these questions. Because monarchs have a certain "charisma" and a fascinating biology and because its fun to have an excuse to collect butterflies, this project is also a good way to introduce students to science and have them contribute to a scientific study. Through participation in this project we also hope to further interest in the conservation of habitats critical to the survival of the monarch butterfly and its magnificent migrations. (Taken from www.monarchwatch.org website which has great information about how you can get involved) (This year we tagged over 100 monarchs)
Tagging Horseshoe Crabs-Project Limulus What is Project Limulus? Project Limulus is a horseshoe crab research project that relies heavily on data gathered from physically tagging and recapturing the crabs. Participating in Project Limulus is fun and easy. More information about about the project and Menunkatuck's role in Project Limulus can be found at www.menunkatuck.org/index.php/biodiversity/citizen_science/project-limus More information about the research can be found on the Project Limuluswww.projectlimulus.org
Observing and documenting Native ladybugs Across North America ladybug species distribution is changing. Over the past twenty years several native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare. During this same time ladybugs from other places have greatly increased both their numbers and range. Some ladybugs are simply found in new places. This is happening very quickly and we don’t know how, or why, or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity or the role that ladybugs play in keeping plant-feeding insect populations low. We're asking you to join us in finding out where all the ladybugs have gone so we can try to prevent more native species from becoming so rare. visit www.lostladybug.org to learn more Project FeederWatch Project feeder watch is a Cornell University research project, thousands of people keep data on the birds they see at backyard feeders and submit online from November to April. This helps scientists monitor changes in bird populations. More information is at their website www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/ www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/
Project NestWatch- Help monitor nests in your backyard and submit data online. Scientists are able to monitor bird populations and changes throughout the country using data submitted by thousands of participants. More information can be found on their website http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nest/home/index