By Katie Brodeur, Community Program Naturalist
Seacoast Science Center seeks to drive positive change through science education that is interactive, personal, and fun. For the naturalists and educators that teach there, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect place to inspire and cultivate appreciation for our big blue planet than Odiorne Point State Park. Seacoast Science Center is fortunate to have access to this beautiful and varied “living laboratory,” with 135 acres and seven distinct habitats to explore. Containing rocky tide pools and forests, sandy beaches and salt marshes, there is sure to be a species or system in the park to spark everyone’s curiosity.
Community science, also known as citizen or participatory science, is one vehicle the Seacoast Science Center uses to engage this curiosity. Community science enlists the help of scientists and non-scientists alike to make observations, collect data, and participate in scientific research and environmental monitoring. Through the power of crowdsourcing, visitors can help to answer questions like: How abundant are invasive species in the tidepools? How much rockweed is there in the Gulf of Maine? When are migratory bird species traveling through the area? What time of year do green crabs have soft shells, so we can easily harvest and eat the little buggers? Utilizing community science programs to address these questions allows participants of all ages to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of our local ecosystems.
Seacoast Science Center’s Community Science programs are designed to expose participants to the stages of the scientific method, tools and practices for field science, and novel educational resources.
Our Observation programs focus on how we experience, focus on, and record phenomena as scientists. Programs like nature journaling, birding walks, and bioblitzes are easy, low-barrier opportunities for participants to look deeper at the natural world and begin to ask questions about what they observe.
Inquiry programs highlight the vital, and often challenging, science skill of forming a hypothesis. These programs challenge visitors to ask questions and craft hypotheses, and then think about how to test them. A habitat exploration program that compares and contrasts ecosystems and poses the question “why here and not there” is one inquiry program on offer.
I
nvestigation programs include the formalized field science protocols that allow participants to practice field skills and data collection. The exploration of data and findings after the program also allows students to frame their contributions within the context of a large scientific study. Green crab studies, seaweed research, and invasive species monitoring fall into this category.
Developing these Observation, Inquiry, and Investigation programs allows Seacoast Science Center to engage visitors of every age, desired time-commitment, and skill level in the scientific method. The transformative power of these personal, placed-based experiences and local investigations helps learners of all ages develop the knowledge and skills required to tackle the challenges ahead.
To learn more about Seacoast Science Center’s work in Community Science and summer programs, click here.
