By Egle Marija Ramanauskaite, Citizen Science Coordinator at EyesOnALZ December 21st, 2017, just might enter the history books as the first day a citizen science trophy was ever awarded to a school. The trophy, bestowed to 250 students for contributing to Alzheimer’s research, is now proudly displayed next to sports trophies & special achievement awards at a middle school in Boise, ID.
The world’s first citizen science trophy, awarded to Lake Hazel Middle School students in December 2017, prominently displayed in the school’s trophy case. The trophy was custom built at Technarium hackerspace and is open source. Photos by Vi.Zo, Human Computation Institute and Erin Davis, Lake Hazel Middle School (CC BY-NC SA 4.0). But the story really begins back in May, 2017. By a happy coincidence, Erin Davis, a technology teacher at Lake Hazel Middle School in Boise, Idaho, saw the first episode of a public television mini-series about citizen science, called The Crowd & The Cloud. Episode 1 featured Stall Catchers, a citizen science game by the EyesOnALZ project that is speeding up Alzheimer’s research. As it happens, the game was launching its first team competition to #CrushALZ, and, knowing how competitive her students are, Davis immediately signed up. “It fit right into several of the current lesson curricula in my classes,” she said. “I organized a team, challenged my computer students to design the logo, and did a quick tutorial in my class after we finished the daily assignment. It spread from there!”
Ms. Erin Davis and her students accepting the Stall Catchers trophy. The event was covered by a local TV station, KIVI-TV (ABC). Starting with 116 students, their team, “Middle School STEM,” grew to a staggering 250 members by the end of the month, and finally triumphed over other Stall Catchers teams from around the world. Institute director Dr. Pietro Michelucci traveled to Boise to award the trophy in person during a schoolwide assembly. In his award speech Dr. Michelucci emphasized “the historic significance of coming together, not just as a classroom, but as a school-wide team to demonstrate the collective cognitive power of middle school students.” “The 250 students at Lake Hazel Middle School, who continue to play Stall Catchers today, have effectively mainstreamed citizen science, showing that anyone and everyone can make a difference in the world today through direct scientific engagement,” Dr. Michelucci said.
Dr. Michelucci and his team hope this Citizen Science trophy will begin a culture of rewarding volunteer science achievements at schools everywhere. In fact, holders of the first ever citizen science trophy are already thinking about organizing a competition just for schools in Stall Catchers, and establishing a Citizen Science Club at their school.
Looking for ways to get your classroom involved in citizen science? Check out the SciStarter’s Project Finder
! Here you can find activities in the “at school” category; filter by indoor/outdoor, topic, location and more.
