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Citizen Science with the Cullowhee Kids Creek Club

Citizen Science with the Cullowhee Kids Creek Club


Randi Neff, Project Coordinator of The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative, partnered with Cullowhee Valley School in Cullowhee, North Carolina to promote citizen science education and activities for fifth grade students. The group, called Creek Club, was led by Karen Kandl and met after school in February 2022 to study macroinvertebrates in their habitats and document data that reflect stream health. On May 4, 2022, the students presented the data they collected and were awarded citizen scientist certificates for their contributions to stream ecology. Place-based education projects like this are important, because they promote the process of science at a local level while encouraging the development of data collection and literacy in young learners.

The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB87A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Please visit https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/smsc to learn more.

Student comparing macroinvertebrate they found with a picture chart.
Student comparing macroinvertebrate they found with a picture chart.

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Last Updated
Jul 23, 2023
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NASA Science Editorial Team

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