We are big fans of citizen science! Of course, science is always cool, and STEM/STEAM projects are an increasing part of everyone’s work and school experiences. So understanding how science works is not just fun, but a good way to understand what is going on in the world around us all.
So we are sharing some neat science you can do, contributing toward large projects, and learning new things. Maybe you can use this today; maybe you will save it for later. As long as you enjoy some exploration and learning new things – citizen science is for you! And it is definitely something you can use to bring some good programming to your library.
Check out this project from SciStarter:
| Goal | Raise awareness about and contribute to language science |
|---|---|
| Task | Play online games to identify languages and language features |
| Where | Online |
| Description | LingoBoingo is a web portal for language games. Gamers and language lovers can choose from a number of challenging games that are both fun to play and provide useful material for language science and technology. ** NEW WEBSITE DESIGN! |
| How to get started | Go to https://lingoboingo.org and select a language game to play! |
| Social Media | Find LingoBoingo on Facebook |
| Total expense | 0.00 |
| Ideal Age Group | Seniors, College, High school (14 – 17 years), Graduate students, Adults, |
| Spend the time | Indoors |
| Ideal Frequency | Unspecified |
| Average Time | |
| Topics | Computers & Technology, Social Science, |
| Media Mentions & Publications | Linguist ListPLOS BlogsDiscover Magazine |
| Tags | games, gaming, language, linguistics, machine learning, technology, |
| Sustainable Development Goals | Relevant Sustainable Development Goals, identified by  ?:Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure Sustainable Cities and Communities |
| Website | LingoBoingo |
And if you want to bring in a few of these ideas to your library, it is useful to have a variety of different program strategies to help share this project. We have a few suggestions to help you get started:
- Write a story about your favorite video game
- How many words can you say in other languages? Find websites to help you learn to count to ten and say hello and goodbye in five other languages
- Find another online video game you can play that helps contribute to science, and set it up on your computer or phone
- Sign up for a word-a-day email, and work on using these new words in conversation