Think like a citizen scientist

Think like a citizen scientist
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Welcome to SciStarter!

You're on your way to becoming a citizen scientist and helping a scientist with their research!

You'll learn to

OBSERVE

like a scientist.

You'll learn to

ANALYZE DATA

like a scientist.

Be a citizen scientist with SciStarter!

Girl Scouts and SciStarter have partnered to bring a unique opportunity to Girl Scouts of all ages. As part of the Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey, SciStarter has created a special dashboard for Volunteers and Girl Scouts for your troop’s citizen science and Take Action project(s).

SciStarter has almost 3,000 citizen science projects to choose from — so the dashboards include a handful of citizen science projects that are well suited for Girl Scouts. There are projects that can be done in any season, keeping in mind that some parts of the country have 70-degree days in February, and some have blizzards!

Take Action!

Once you complete your citizen science project, it’s time to Take Action! When Girl Scouts do a Journey, they learn about something new (like citizen science), then do a Take Action project to help others. Once you’ve helped a scientist by gathering the data she needs for her research, you can take that a step further with your Take Action project!

Maybe you'd like to share what you've learned about citizen science with other people. Or maybe, by doing a citizen science project, you found out that something in the natural world (like bees or a local stream or animals) need your help. Remember, think big — Girl Scouts can do anything!

Your dashboard will also help you and your Troop Leader to record your Take Action project and share how your project made a difference in the world!

Return anytime to your Journey to check your progress and upload your Take Action project.

Getting Started:

You’ll need a special SciStarter account (your account will be connected to your Troop’s account!). If you’re under 13, ask an adult to set up a SciStarter account for you.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

What to expect:

After creating your account, you’ll be directed to your Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey dashboard on SciStarter.

If you see one citizen science project, that’s the one you selected with your troop! Follow the project instructions found on your dashboard to learn how to make observations, collect data, and share what you've learned with scientists! Your troop volunteer will log data and upload the Take Action project on your behalf.

If you see several citizen science projects, that means you can choose a citizen science project, log data, and come back to your Journey page on SciStarter to upload a Take Action project through your own account. Return anytime to your Journey to check your progress and upload your Take Action project.

After you complete the Journey, come back to SciStarter to find more projects to do as a family or with your friends!

For Girl Scout Families:

  • Each Girl Scout's SciStarter account will be linked to her troop volunteer's SciStarter account. That helps the troop volunteer keep track of girls' progress.
  • Your troop volunteer will also be able to easily communicate with each Girl Scout through private messages.
  • We take privacy seriously. All Girl Scout-SciStarter accounts are marked as private. No one outside of your troop can see the accounts. Remember, if your girl is under the age of 13, you’ll need to create a SciStarter account for her.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP