During our pre-Zooniverse days, Laura and I both worked with students.  I worked as a museum educator and Laura as a math teacher.   Being  educators in an office of developers and designers is wonderful because of the opportunities to engage in great conversations about marrying technology and educational opportunities within the wide world of Zooniverse.  Sometimes though, you miss the smell of school lunch and want to get in front of a group of kids.  Thus Laura and I thought it would be fun to go on the road and make ourselves available for classroom visits.  Sadly no fancy tour bus for us, just the CTA or my old Volvo 850s.

Would your students like to discover an exoplanet?  How about explore the Serengeti?  Zooniverse educators (aka Kelly & Laura) want to come to your classroom and share the exciting world of citizen science with your students.  Let us show your students how they can contribute to scientific research via Zooniverse’s collection of online citizen science projects.

We are reserving a limited number of days in February, March, and April to visit schools in the Chicago area (City of Chicago and immediate suburbs).  Requests will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.  Participation will also be determined by educator date availability and location of school (we need to be able to get to you).  Preference will also be given to schools requesting more than one session on a day.  Sessions can range from 20-45 minutes depending on the topic.

We’ll work with you to tailor a presentation and related activity to fit the needs of your class.  We can speak about citizen science as a research method or speak about specific projects. If like to request a classroom visit, please register your interest by answering the questions below.

UPDATE:  Thanks for your interest in Zooniverse education classroom visits.  As of February 21, we have reach capacity for visits this spring.