Citizen Science 
BudBurst at the Refuges for Educators
Whether you're at a National Wildlife Refuge or your schoolyard, in K-12 or college, part of formal or informal education, Project BudBurst was designed to help educators and their students reach educational objectives and outcomes. Teachers can use Project BudBurst to address a variety of science, geography, and other objectives while getting their students outside to observe the environment around them. Students can use Project BudBurst protocols to develop their own inquiry based investigations. All of the activities on the Project BudBurst educator pages are aligned with national education standards (science, math, and geography). Project BudBurst focuses on making scientific observations and provides content on plant life cycles, ecosystem interaction, phenology and climate change. By participating in Project BudBurst, students are part of a continental scale ecology research effort in which scientists use their data for research. Students can access their Project BudBurst data too (from their My BudBurst page) and do their own analyses. We invite educators to share their stories of PBB in their classroom or ask us questions at budburstinfo@neoninc.org.
Q. We don't have the resources to take our students to a wildlife refuge. Can we still participate?
Yes! Your students can participate in Project BudBurst by making observations of plants in your schoolyard, at a nearby park, at home, or wherever you know they can find plants to observe.Q. We don't have any plants on our school yard. Do you have other suggestions for how my students can get involved?
Your students can participate in Project BudBurst by making observations of plants at a nearby park, at home, or wherever you know they can find plants to observe. You can also contact us via email to talk with us about other creative ways to get your students involved with Project BudBurst.
Q: It isn't safe for me to take my students outside during the school day. Do you have any other suggestions for how my students can get involved?
If this is the case, please contact us via email. We'd like to talk with you one-on-one about other creative ways to get your students involved with Project BudBurst.
Q. How do we use the PBB mobile phone app?
This is a great tool to use if your students have access to smart phones. Learn more about our app for use with Android smartphones.
If you think of interesting ways to implement Project BudBurst at your Refuge or find yourself with additional questions, send an email to budburstinfo@neoninc.org.Photos courtesy of John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (top) and Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (bottom)