Earn your Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey badge with a free online module about Colorado’s cutest alpine mammals!
Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador girls can now earn their Think Like a Citizen Scientist Journey award badges through a free online module created by national leading scientists and educators focusing on Colorado’s most adorable mammal, the pika, and its changing habitat.
Pikas are small rabbit-like creatures that live in rocky environments in high alpine environments across the American West. They are threatened by warming climates and habitat loss – but you can help! Through this online module, girls will get to know this keystone species, learn to track them in the field through the Colorado Pika Project, and embark on a mission to document the environments around them with the NASA GLOBE Observer program. The data you collect during the course will help real scientists better understand how pika populations and their habitats are changing across the American west!
All materials to complete the journey are housed in an easily-accessible Google Classroom, with videos and reading material, links to download the apps, and even the opportunity to interact personally with the course leaders, wildlife biologist Dr. Johanna Varner, environmental educator Sarah Johnson, and engineer Sarah Wilson. The online materials also feature Girl Scouts from Colorado’s Western Slope, who participated in an intimate and exciting field exploration session on the Grand Mesa in 2021 while helping to develop the content for the Journey.
Because pikas live under the snow in winter, girls may have to wait until spring or even summer to complete the pika aspects of this project; however, it’s never too early to start exploring the program materials, collecting land cover data, and planning a Take Action project!
To learn more about the program, you can watch this short promotional video: https://youtu.be/FGdCGurNV6k
To join the Google Classroom module on GSCO On The Go, use classroom code dsmcvzj
This IF/THEN® She Can Change The World Project was made possible with the support of Lyda Hill Philanthropies as part of the AAAS IF/THEN® Ambassadors Program. Additional STEM learning resources are available through the IF/THEN platform.