Other activities that replaced in-person field activities
Four of the eight field projects did not incorporate online
participatory science projects. Two of these activities were short
online research projects. The activity on California soils and geography
asked the students to research a Superfund site
(https://www.epa.gov/superfund) in their hometown or place of residence.
The activity on land management asked students to research a California
land trust active in their hometown or place of residence (e.g.,
California Council of Land Trusts; https://www.calandtrusts.org/).
Two other activities involved outdoor field observations not linked to a
participatory science project. One of these was the first day’s
introductory activity of an urban ecology scavenger hunt in which
students ‘collected’ ecological interactions in their backyard or
neighborhood (e.g., an interaction between an animal and a plant; a
mutualistic interaction, etc.). Many students completed this activity
without leaving their yard; indeed, the smaller spatial scale inspired
additional creativity for some of the more uncommon scavenger hunt
‘items.’ The second of these activities was an audio identification
activity for local birds. This activity was developed specifically
because several students had commented in their first sit spot
observation that they heard birds they could not identify. The
instructor brought in a guest speaker who has experience in teaching
‘birding by ear’ to help students practice describing bird calls and
identifying common birds solely by their sounds. The activity for the
week then focused on audio recordings from the student’s sit spot in
which they identified bird calls, other biotic sounds (e.g., squirrels),
and anthropogenic sounds (e.g., cars, construction).