Biodiversity and Citizen Science – the EduMar project
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1
Escola Superior de Educação de João de Deus, Portugal
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2
Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Portugal
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3
Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Politécnico de Leiria, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Portugal
The project EDUMAR (Educating for the Sea) aims to educate for the preservation and sustainability of the sea and its resources through citizen science. In a context of climate change it is important to aware the community for the need of maintaining biodiversity and marine species sustainability. To respond to these community emerging problems this project aims to create, implement and evaluate interdisciplinary science activities, focusing on the causes and consequences of climate change on the rocky intertidal zone ecosystems. These activities are directed at children (elementary and middle school) and will have the participation of their teachers, Superior Technical Professional Courses (CTSP), undergraduate and master students, and researchers. The activities format is varied and designed to be implemented in the classroom and out of school contexts (science museums, field work and research laboratories), to encourage students’ participation in citizen science. To achieve these goals the Association of Jardins-Escolas João de Deus (AJEJD) promotes a consortium with the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPLeiria) through the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology (ESTM), the National Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Lisbon (MUHNAC) and public and private schools. Among the activities already carried out, the children learned to quantify several physical and chemical parameters of water (salinity, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen concentration, and nutrient concentration: ammonia, phosphate, nitrite and nitrate) in two consecutive moments: first in their classrooms (January and February 2018), with the use of a thermometer and test kits, and later in ESTM laboratories (March and April 2018), using specific probes for each parameter and test kits of nutrient quantification in water. Eight schools were involved in this activity, comprising eleven 1st cycle classes and three 2nd cycle classes, with a total of 350 students, 26 teachers and 26 master's students. At the end of this activity, students learned how to monitor some physical-chemical parameters of seawater (e.g. temperature), and how such monitoring can help scientists to record climate changes and analyse its effects on marine biodiversity.
Acknowledgements
Financial support by Centro 2020 program, Portugal 2020, European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund through project "EduMar - Educating for the Sea" (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-023480/CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-023480), and the Integrated Programme of SR&TD “Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate” (Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018).
Keywords:
Climate Change,
citizen science,
Rocky intertidal,
Marine Biodiversity,
sustainability of the sea
Conference:
IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management
Citation:
Boaventura
D,
Neves
A,
Ponces De Carvalho
A,
Colares Pereira
P,
Caldeira
M,
Santos
J and
Maranhão
P
(2019). Biodiversity and Citizen Science – the EduMar project.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00053
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Received:
05 May 2018;
Published Online:
07 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Paulo Maranhão, Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Politécnico de Leiria, MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Peniche, Portugal, pmaranhao@ipleiria.pt