I have enjoyed taking observations and have made it a part of my life. I have taken a few day trips to Reading, Philadelphia and walks on my local trails. It has been fun sharing my project with family and friends but also other people I have encountered. I was taking a photo of a tree in Philadelphia when I was asked why I was taking a picture of weeds. I was able to share what the Biodiversity project is and also a little about invasive species. that ‘weed’ I was taking a photo of was Ivy. I was able to explain why Ivy is a problem in areas and how it compares to other invasive species.
The people wanted to take their own pictures so I showed them where the app was and they wanted to download it for themselves. In recording biodiversity, noting areas where invasive species are found can be important as well.
My family have also joined in my project. My younger daughter takes photos on her phone. She does not have the app and she uploads the pictures from Google Photos to the iNaturalist site from her Chromebook. She is able to type in the location and edit the time to when she took the picture. She has a smaller area to observe but she is also starting to notice more things to take pictures of and she is beginning to identify more on her own.
Citizen Science Project 