Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard. Written by Loree Griffin Burns. Photographs by Ellen Harasimowicz. Henry Holt and Company 2012.
An essential nonfiction photo book for parents, homeschool families, and other educators engaging children in citizen science is Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard, by Loree Griffin Burns. Ellen Harasimowicz’s gorgeous photos of kids engaged in citizen science in the natural world help to bring the text to life for readers. From tagging monarchs to learning frog sounds, birding, and hunting for ladybugs, all of the seasonal projects in this book are appropriate to introduce preschool, grade school, and middle school kids to the world of science right outside their windows. Although the text itself is targeted to intermediate readers, the featured projects are age-appropriate for younger kids as well.
Teachers, here’s a complete standards-based lesson plan based on the book from the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
This book is a must-have for kid citizen science. It was one of the texts that inspired me as a writer and a parent to start this blog, to learn more, and to write my own picture book on the topic. If you read it, please reach out and let me know if the kids in your life are inspired by the book to become citizen scientists as well.
