Mosquito! Using NASA Citizen Science to bring Global Goals to Local Learning and Action

In June 2018 the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) released Mosquito! Community Research Guide, a freely available international module for elementary-secondary levels that uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework for actions that are student-defined and implemented. It was field tested internationally at nine sites, including schools in Reston, VA, and Leominster, MA. The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) partnered with SSEC to incorporate NASA's GLOBE Observer Mosquito Habitat Mapper (GO MHM) and participated on the curriculum development team as part of IGES's NASA SciAct award - the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC). NESEC is a partnership between IGES and Earth science divisions at three NASA Centers: Goddard, Langley, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In Mosquito! NASA GO MHM training and educational resources are linked to relevant sections within the curriculum. These resources are being used by SSEC trainers in professional development workshops being piloted where the curriculum module and citizen science is introduced to teachers. SSEC is also translating GO MHM education resources (currently available in English and Spanish) so that they will be available in all languages in which the curriculum will ultimately be available. The module is part of a series - Smithsonian Science for Global Goals - designed to be region- and grade-level-agnostic, provide an opportunity to learn first-hand from researchers, engage students in inquiry-based experiences in their local community, and present problems through multiple perspectives (social, ethical, economic, and environmental). This innovative partnership between IGES and SSEC is enabling NASA Earth science to be incorporated into a broader "ecosystem" of educational modules, thus ensuring sustainability, and engaging young people to develop STEM identities.