Co-Leader Chris Williamson of Girl Scout Troop 2761 in Morganton says his girls were so excited when the new Journeys came out, and immediately began to choose which one they would do first. After a majority vote, they picked the Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey, which he says was the perfect choice since the girls "not only love science experiments, but have a natural curiosity about the world and how to make it a better and safer place for all living things."

Getting started was easy thanks to resources in the Volunteer Toolkit that helped the girls learn about the Scientific Method and what exactly it means to be a citizen scientist and why it's important for our communities. They also spent time learning what it really means to observe, putting their observation skills to practice in games and by creating their own observation notebooks. 

Things began to get exciting when the troop created an account with SciStarter. The staff connected the girls to several videos about citizen scientists and then it was time to vote on the project they would participate in with SciStarter. 

"The girls had a little trouble picking a project to start with (they wanted to try them all!), but in the end, they choose the Cloud Observer project," said Williamson. " We watched the videos and learned what our Citizen Science project was: to collect data for NASA! We downloaded and set up a troop account for the NASA Globe Observer app and the girls were so excited to be connected with NASA." 

The troop's job was to observe the clouds and sky in their area, record their observations, add pictures and send that information to NASA. 

" We had to learn about clouds: cloud types, cloud structures, how they form and how to identify certain clouds. We used estimation math to decide cloud coverage percentages. We used the Cardinal Directions to decide which direction clouds were traveling and where they were located. The girls also had to decide how much sky was covered, what clouds were there, different specifics based on each cloud type, what type of water was close by, how long it had been since it rained or was raining. The Globe Observer app was user friendly and the girls easily and readily navigated it during the whole process," said Williamson. 

After two weeks of observation and several entries in their notebooks, the troop met to discuss the data they had collected. 

"When we came back to discuss our research, we first had to decide, "Why is this important?"  Discussions covered everything from cloud formation, weather, rain forests, deserts, hurricanes, blizzards in the Alps, to morning fog car wrecks and smog. As the girls made connections from previous Journeys and activities, they remembered that polluted air and water can have a huge impact within the environment. We spent some time researching water and air pollution. The girls, being animal concerned, researched water pollution in the oceans and fresh water effects on animals," said Williamson. "The girls then decided to "take action" by creating posters educating others about fresh water, water conservation, water pollution and purification. Several girls were so excited, they chose to make many different posters, which were posted all over the community, as well as within our meeting location and schools."

Through the Journey process, the girls (and adults) learned a lot says Williamson. The project gave the girls a chance to become more inquisitive and observant about the world around them, and also gave them an opportunity to educate the community about making our world a better place. Some girls continue to add reports using the Globe Observer app and some even chose to go on and complete other citizen scientist projects after the troop project.

" The fact that they were able to collect real life data, that NASA really used, made them feel empowered and important. It really boosted self esteem and confidence levels of our more introverted girls," said Williamson. "Not only did they learn about what a citizen scientist is, they became actual citizen scientists!"

You can learn more about resources for the

Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey here- along with a photo featuring
Troop 2761 in action!