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Program

BioBlitz Education

Connect Students with Citizen Science and Community Geography

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Photograph by David Braun

Engage Students in Community Geography and Citizen Science

A BioBlitz can happen in most any geography—urban, rural, or suburban—in as large an area as a national park or small as a schoolyard. Biologists often measure the population of particular species or study an environment’s biodiversity, but a BioBlitz brings together the expertise of multiple scientists and naturalists with the power of citizens, including students, willing to take a snapshot of an area’s biodiversity in about 24 hours.

Field Learning Resources

Whether you’re participating in this year’s National Geographic/National Park Service BioBlitz or one in your own backyard, schoolyard, or local park, help students prepare to study biodiversity firsthand by practicing skills that scientists use in the field. The activities below will help students make observations, record data, understand classification, and map their findings. Show a video and read from the blog to find out what happens at an actual BioBlitz.



Saguaro NP 2011 BioBlitz Educator Resources

The guides and instructional resources below will help you introduce your students to interactive mapping and other technologies to help dig into the concept of a BioBlitz. The activities are appropriate for students in grade 5 and above.

BioBlitz Media

  • Photo: A scorpion glows in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light of a specific wavelength.

    BioBlitz Blog

    Read stories from the field in these posts on BioBlitz from the NatGeo News Watch blog.

  • Santa Monica Mountains

    Watch teachers, students, and scientists conduct species inventories at the 2008 BioBlitz.

  • Rock Creek Park

    See the first National Park Service/National Geographic BioBlitz, held in 2006 in Washington, D.C.

  • Biscayne National Park

    Watch a segment from PBS highlighting discoveries and new experiences at the Biscayne National Park BioBlitz in 2010.

Program Partners

Get Involved with BioBlitz

  • BioBlitz_100X75.jpg

    NatGeo BioBlitz

    Find out more about this 10-year partnership with the National Park Service.

2011 National Geographic BioBlitz

Check out these online tools and technologies from the 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park.

  • Photo: The National Geographic Saguaro National Park FieldScope project.

    FieldScope

    Explore the park and data collected at the event on an interactive map.

  • Photo: Cactus in Saguaro National Park, AZ.

    Electronic Field Trip

    Watch a video of the BioBlitz 2011 Electronic Field Trip from the National Park Foundation.

  • Image: Encyclopedia of Life logo

    Encyclopedia of Life

    Dig into biodiversity in Saguaro National Park in the EOL BioBlitz Community.

What is a BioBlitz?

  • Photo: Two boys with backpacks write down information while observing a sapling.

    bioblitz

    You have 24 hours to identify every species in a specific area. Go!

    Encyclopedic Entry