Citizen Science at the World Science Festival

What does an elderly couple, a four-year old, a teacher, and a group of students have in common?

This is the story of how a community came together to create something magical.

Last month, teachSTEM hosted a Mobile Citizen Science Corner at the World Science Festival in Brisbane. The installation, codesigned by Park Ridge State High School students, changed the lives of many people in our community.

100 biodiversity clues were hidden and, over two days, participants were asked to take part in uncovering every single one and write it on a tablecloth. The search sparked conversations where participants were invited to look beyond the obvious and think like scientists, and it all stemmed from one question.

What do you see? – Data collection

The stand was a petri dish for data collection. Over the two days we saw how thousands of people could look at the same ecosystem and see over 100 different things.

For something as simple as a bird feather, everyone saw something different. Whether it was the elderly couple who knew exactly what bird the feather belonged too, or the parent who questioned why there was a bird feather but no bird, or the school kids who were asked what could be done to bring the bird back to balance the ecosystem, participants of all different levels got to see what everyone was seeing and thinking.

They realised it was more than what we see in a place, but it can be about what we don’t see, what is missing and how we can change it.

What do you see? – Patterns

When asked the same question, a four-year-old answered it in a way completely different to everyone else. He saw a bee, a lizard, then a dragonfly, and a feather. He spent about five minutes running around pointing at all the different things he could see. Then he yelled “there’s another bee”. Woah. He came to the conclusion that the bees liked it there and when asked why might that be he said, “the flowers.” While this may seem small, realising the bees and the flowers have a relationship is a huge part of science. He discovered a pattern that he could apply in a different situation. He was a citizen scientist.

If someone as small as four years old could do this in a small room, who knows what he could spot in his backyard, at the local park, in our world.

What do you see? – Community

But not everyone looked for what was in the ecosystems. The installation was more than that. It showed how something as easy as asking questions can make meaningful change.

It was clear when a teacher came to the stand and asked about how she could use citizen science to engage her community. She saw the conversations that were happening and how easy the skills that were being used and wanted to share it with more people. She knew citizen science had the potential to bring people together.

What do I see? – Future

I saw how citizen science made waves in the community: how people realised that science is not confined to a laboratory but exists in questions anyone can ask.

I saw the students running the installation who are going to change their world. The corner was not just about the participation, but the students that shared their love of science with their community over the two days. I had the privilege to watch students from Park Ridge State High School share the amazing things they were doing at their school with the wider public, see how young people, who are so a like but communicate so diversely, spark curiosity.

And lastly, I see a future where asking, “what do you see?” becomes second nature, where everyone is a citizen scientist.