This week in our inquiry unit, sixth grade learned about “citizen science”.  Citizen science involves amateur scientists, young and old, collaborating with professional scientists by helping to collect and analyze data for a specific project.  Caira found a project centered on helping scientists collect data and specimens of a destructive, invasive species of beetle called the bark beetle.  You can learn more about the project by clicking here.

Thursday, students explored the numerous conifer trees on Discovery School’s property.  While no bark beetles were observed, students did find possible signs of bark beetles, such as boreholes and bore dust.   Next week, we will follow the procedures of the backyard bark beetle project to see if we can help professional scientists determine if there are in fact invasive bark beetles in our area.