Choosing a participatory science project
The participatory science projects used in Wild Davis in 2019 and 2020 are listed in Table 1 , along with some important traits for consideration when choosing a project. The most important traits were that the students could complete the activity from an urban location (especially a backyard) without special sampling equipment or training and with limited guidance from the instructor. The lack of in-the-moment, one-on-one guidance led the instructor to select projects that assisted users with identifying the organisms or structures in their observations. Additionally, the constraint of using backyard or neighborhood locations led the instructor to select projects whose website allowed for viewing and visualizing previously-reported observations. In this way, even if a student’s backyard was not conducive to making new observations in the project, the student could still participate in the activity by summarizing other user’s observations from their region or comparing nearby regions. This secondary option for participating in the field activities was only necessary for the Debris Tracker activity, in which not all students were able to find litter or debris in their neighborhood.
Two participatory science projects were used in traditional instruction in Wild Davis in 2019 but were not used in 2020: CALeDNA, and School of Ants. CALeDNA involves collecting soil or sediment samples to mail into the project for environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis. This project has a particular sampling protocol and requires some sampling and sample storage supplies. The timeline between the shift to remote instruction and the schedule for this activity meant there was not enough time to mail individual students the supplies and so this activity was replaced. School of Ants involves setting outdoor baits and collecting the ants that are attracted to the baits to mail into the project for identification. While the sampling protocol is simple and could easily be completed in a backyard, and the supplies needed are minimal, the project does not include identification of ant species during collection (only after the samples are mailed in). When completed in traditional instruction, the instructor invites an ant expert guest speaker who can identify the ant species and share some interesting ecological, biological, or life history facts with the students. While this activity is frequently described as the students’ favorite on course evaluations, the instructors did not believe it would translate well to remote instruction in this particular case and chose to replace it.