In our third Thoughts From the Classroom post, Ellen explains what citizen science is and how she liked using it during Ms. V time.

My name is Ellen, I’m 12 years old, and I just moved up to Phoenix class. I read about Citizen Science in a magazine article and thought it sounded really interesting.

With Citizen Science, you can help sort important data that scientists will use to help them study things like the ocean floor and space, find out what animals are living in Africa and where, or even by doing something as simple as taking pictures as lady bugs or taking a video of you playing with your dog, help them discover rare ladybug species and understand how humans and animals interact. Computers can’t do these things, so scientists need your help!

I was really excited to learn we would be working at a Citizen Science website for Ms.V time.  (That’s what we call our teacher’s class.)  So far I really like it, and I’m looking forward to learning more about Zooniverse. In Radio Galaxy Zoo, you help scientists find black holes (by looking for their jets) and their sources by looking at pictures of different radiation levels. My class has seen incredible shapes that makes it seem like the Universe is talking, such as a smiley face and bee made out of bright blobs of infra-red light. You’ll see huge pieces of light that look like you’re staring right into a star and streaks of infra-red radiation across space. So what are you waiting for? Check it out!