Did you know students can do citizen science just by playing a game?

Some citizen science projects are structured as video games where players (like you!) can help scientists analyze all types of data.

SciStarter’s Project Finder hosts engaging citizen science projects for students of all ages that can be done online across a wide variety of topics. Dig through online historical records, identify animal images from drone footage and camera traps, or take part in online quizzes — you can even contribute by completing puzzles or social simulation games.

SciStarter is the place to find, join, and contribute to science through more than 3,000 formal and informal research projects, events and tools. The community of citizen science projects enables discovery, organization, and greater participation in science.

This is also the place to track your contributions, bookmark things you like, and network with others.

Join SciStarter to get started.

NEW STEM Writing Contest Announced for Middle and High School Students

For this contest, The Learning Network invites you to bring that same spirit of inquiry and discovery to finding a STEM-related question, concept or issue you’re-interested in, and, in 500 words or fewer, explaining it to a general audience in a way that not only helps us understand, but also engages us and makes us see why it’s important.

The contest is open to students ages 13 to 19 in middle and high school anywhere in the world.

Your submission must be 500 words or fewer.

At least one of the sources you cite must be from either The New York Times, Science News or its

sister site, Science News Explores.

Please submit only one entry per student.

The deadline for this contest is Wednesday, Feb.15, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

Visit https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/04/learning/our-4th-annual-stem-writing-contest.html for more information.

My Favorite College Admission Book for High School Students and their Families

The popular college ranking systems are highly unscientific and biased. Each year, many talented students are doomed to be rejected from colleges they falsely believe will make or break their future. In this book, award-winning journalist Frank Bruni reminds us that this is different from how an educational system should work. A student can be successful wherever they enroll at the undergraduate level. And there is a downside to any institution, even an Ivy League, if it does not match the interests, needs, learning style, and community ethos appropriate for the student.

Share this book with students and families alike so they can discover how a student plans to spend their time in college, such as taking advantage of all resources and connecting with professors and peers, matter most instead of the ranking or name of the college.