Looking for a way to get students into the field to observe nature and help document local and global biodiversity? Check out the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Global Biodiversity Observations project on iNaturalist.org: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/encyclopedia- of-life-global-biodiversity-observations.
Each month we choose a theme, and challenge project members to document organisms that fit into that theme. Once verified on iNaturalist.org, your images will be added to EOL species pages. EOL is a free resource of biodiversity information with contributions from scientists, citizen scientists and the general public. This is a foundational exercise for building science skills and encouraging students to ask questions about the natural world. Getting started is easy! Here’s how: Step 1: Visit iNaturalist.org and create an account. You can download the iNaturalist app on your smartphone Step 2: Visit our EOL Global Biodiversity Observations project page and click “Join Project” Step 3: Get outside to take pictures of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms. Then upload to iNaturalist and add them to our project. December Challenge: Help our Project Grow! We invite you this month to add at least 3 new observations to help us build our project and get to know iNaturalist. These can be of anything you like! You may want to document the birds at your feeder, or take a closer look at plants in your area. Maybe you are traveling - show us what lives there. If you have any questions about this project, using iNaturalist with students, or the connection with EOL, feel free to contact Amy Lorenz at [email protected].
