A local citizen science project on biodiversity: At the crossroads of science and environmental education

Citizen science (CS) projects are becoming an increasingly popular method for engaging students in science and environmental education. This study examined the effectiveness of participation by primary school students (aged 8-11) in a French local CS project. We investigated changes in naturalist knowledge and awareness raised of biodiversity issues through pre- and post-test questionnaires. This project involved field trips and the participation of an ecology researcher inside and outside the classroom. The results suggest that it enabled students to develop better naturalist knowledge of the project’s sentinel species (tits and honeybees). Students also seem more aware of the importance of biodiversity and the issues involved. In discussion, we highlight three levers for implementing a CS project to develop biodiversity education: two through our research (field trip, direct involvement of the researcher) and a third that comes under the institutional context (integration of CS into the curriculum).