EXPLORING

CITIZEN SCIENCE

INFINITY WEEK - WEDNESDAY - C1

Lesson One

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

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• DEFINE CITIZEN SCIENCE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
• IDENTIFY EXAMPLES OF CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS
• ENGAGE IN A CITIZEN SCIENCE ACTIVITY

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What does ‘Citizen Science’ mean to you?

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Discuss with a partner..... you have 5 minutes!

QUICK QUIZ -

READ THE QUESTIONS AND CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER

You have 15 minutes to find and discuss your answers -

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You may use your phones

DISCUSS WITH A PARTNER -

• Do you think studying science is important? Why or why not?
• Who do you think are the world’s most famous scientists? What did they discover or invent?
• Can you name any famous scientists from your country or from the UK?
• Do you think girls and boys have equal opportunities to study science at school and at University?

(10 mins)

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT FOR MODERN LIFE?

(1=MOST IMPORTANT, 10=LEAST IMPORTANT)

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• ATOMIC BOMB
• WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY
• COMPUTERS
• CLONING
• PENICILLIN/ANTIBIOTICS
• SOLAR POWER
• AIR TRAVEL
• PLASTIC
• ELECTRICITY
• ROBOTS

Compare your answers with your partner.

Are there any other discoveries that you would add to the list?

(10 mins)

WHO IS THIS AND WHAT SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH HAPPENED WITH HER?

You have 10 minutes to research and discuss your findings with the class.

FEEDBACK

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VOCABULARY

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PRONUNCIATION

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GRAMMAR

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ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

(10 mins)

Lesson two - Put this text in the correct order.... (10 mins)

• However, Dolly who was born in the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, Scotland in 1996 died at only 6 years old.
• Since Dolly was cloned from an adult sheep that was also 6 years old, investigators are researching into whether this may have had something to do with her early death.
• Dolly the Sheep, the first animal cloned from an adult cell, died in 2003. It had taken hundreds of attempts to produce Dolly and since many people believed that it was impossible to clone something as complex as a sheep, Dolly was a real scientific breakthrough.
• Dolly’s death has sparked off further debate into the safety of cloning, and the ethics of cloning humans.
• Sheep normally live between 10 to 16 years so dolly was quite young when she died.
• They believe there is a strong possibility that the fact that Dolly’s genetic material came from a 6 year old sheep may have caused her to age faster than normal.

NOW ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS....

(5 mins)

AFTER READING THE TEXT, DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS IN PAIRS...

(10 mins)

• DO YOU THINK HUMANS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE CLONED?

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• WHAT BENEFITS DO YOU THINK CLONING CAN HAVE?

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• WHAT NEGATIVE ASPECTS DO YOU THINK THAT CLONING CAN HAVE?

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• DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR COUNTRY’S POLICY ON CLONING IS?

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• WOULD YOU LIKE TO CLONE YOURSELF OR ANYONE ELSE?

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• IF YOU COULD CLONE SOMEONE FAMOUS, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

TO CLONE OR NOT TO CLONE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

TO CLONE OR NOT TO CLONE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

TO CLONE OR NOT TO CLONE? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

(15 mins)

PUT THE WORDS BELOW IN THE CORRECT CATEGORY - SOME MAY APPEAR IN MORE THAN ONE.

(5 mins)

ADDITION PLANT LIQUID CHEMICALS LEAF PROGRAM EXPERIMENT

ROOT EARTH EQUATION INPUT HARD DRIVE ACID SUBTRACTION SOLUTION NETWORK DIVISION MOUSE TEST TUBE HABITAT VIRUS EXPERIMENT

Words used in biology

words used in computer science

words used in maths

words used in chemistry

• WHAT LANGUAGE ARE MOST SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTS IN YOUR COUNTRY WRITTEN IN?

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• DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR SCIENTISTS TO BE ABLE TO READ AND WRITE IN ENGLISH? WHY/WHY NOT?

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• CAN YOU DESCRIBE IN ENGLISH A RECENT SCIENCE EXPERIMENT YOU HAVE DONE IN YOUR SCIENCE CLASS AT SCHOOL?

(10 mins)

FEEDBACK

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VOCABULARY

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PRONUNCIATION

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GRAMMAR

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ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

(5 mins)

LESSON THREE

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IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND CITIZEN SCIENCE?

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IF SO...WHAT?

CITIZEN SCIENCE INVOLVES THE PARTICIPATION OF THE PUBLIC IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH PROJECTS.

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ANYONE REGARDLESS OF THEIR BACKGROUND CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES.

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CITIZEN SCIENCE ENABLES SCIENTISTS TO COLLECT VAST AMOUNTS OF DATA ACROSS VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND TIMESCALES, CONTRIBUTING TO RESEARCH IN FIELDS SUCH AS ECOLOGY, ASTRONOMY AND PUBLIC HEALTH.

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(5 mins)

• WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF INVOLVING THE PUBLIC IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH?

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• WHAT CHALLENGES MIGHT ARISE IN CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS?

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• HOW CAN THESE CHALLENGES BE ADDRESSED?

(5 minute discussion)

NOW COMPARE YOUR ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING SOLUTIONS

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HOW WELL DID YOU DO?

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ARE YOU A FUTURE CITIZEN SCIENTIST?

CAN YOU THINK OF ANY DIFFERENT SCENARIOS?

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IF SO, WHAT WOULD YOUR SOLUTION BE AND WHY?

FEEDBACK

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VOCABULARY

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PRONUNCIATION

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GRAMMAR

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ANY OTHER QUESTIONS?

(5 mins)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!