This year, we’re celebrating play at the library! Everyone knows how beneficial play is for kids, but did you know that it is equally important for adults? It can be a wonderful stress reliever, boosts creativity, alleviates boredom, and may even lower your blood pressure. To that end, every month in 2024, we’re highlighting a different form of play. Each month we’ll have a bingo-style fun card. If you complete all the activities for a blackout on your card, you’ll receive a special prize. The more of the 12 monthly fun cards you complete this year, the better chance you have to win the grand prize and be crowned our annual play champion!
For April, we’re celebrating citizen science! It’s a way for everybody to encounter, interact with, and even participate in science. Basically, it just means that you can help conduct scientific research. Citizen science helps ensure everyone has more scientific knowledge, interest, and awareness, and it also helps professional scientists conduct much more extensive research.
Did you know Scistarter.org is one way you can get involved in citizen science? The organization was founded in 2011 by a University of Pennsylvania grad student named Darlene Cavalier.
Did you know Scistarter can connect you with research opportunities related to bees, water quality, and redbuds? And that’s just a small sample of what’s available! When searching for projects, filter for your location. For us, you’ll see opportunities ranging from reporting white squirrel sightings to helping measure chlorine levels in local streams.
Did you know being a citizen scientist doesn’t have to be a big commitment on your part? Most activities only take a few minutes of your time, and you’ll be helping yourself, your community, and science!
Did you know you can get free solar eclipse glasses at the library? Stop by and get as many as you need, so you and your family can safely enjoy the solar eclipse on April 8th! [Psst, Scistarter also has some really cool projects you can participate in during the eclipse, including recording soundscapes to help research how solar eclipses impact local wildlife.)
Did you know that after this month, we won’t see another solar eclipse again in Arkansas until 2045?
Here’s your fun card for April. We can’t wait to hear what fun you have playing around with science this month!
What’s your favorite branch of science? What Scistarter project have you participated in? Do you have any ideas for additional citizen science activities to do in Berryville and Carroll County? Tell us in the comments!
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