Citizen Science

There are lots of examples where schools can be involved in "real" research in the form of citizen science projects.  There are lots of examples online and in Wagaman's case they were able to be a part of a project monitoring the impact of cane toads on urban reptiles.  This involved the students being present when the Frill-necked Lizards in the school ground were being captured and microchipped as a part of mark recapture study.

The wow factor of this project element was very high but we have seen similar things with much more ordinary animals and plants than frill necks!.

As a part of the projec the acaptured animals have an identification number painted on their side so they are not captured again unnecessarily by the research team.  This allowed the students to make and record observations about speciifc animals.  We have also been able to add photos to the knowledge bank of the citizen science project.