Summer Science Activities

We had SO MUCH FUN sharing our love of science, cheer, and dance at the 2021 Pop Warner National Cheer & Dance Championships!

If you love cheer and science as much as us, check out these fun summer science activities!

Presented by NASA

Fireflies are commonly seen during twilight between May and October. This project will determine when fireflies begin to appear, reach their peak, and decline in frequency during the summer months. Count sightings during twilight and record number of flies seen

Location: global
Ages: all

Presented by the Rob Dunn Lab

Inform scientists about global food preferences of ants! Prepare 6 food types for ants to learn more about what they prefer to snack on, tell us a little about the environment where you set up your ant picnic, count the ants that came to each food type, take a picture of your experiment, collect the ants to confirm your count and report the results.

Location: global
Ages: all

Presented by Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution

Identify and locate tree species using an iPhone or iPad. The free mobile app identifies tree species from photographs of their leaves, and contain beautiful high-resolution images of leaves, flowers, fruits, petioles, seeds and bark. Leafsnap turns app-users into citizen scientists, automatically sharing images, species identifications, and geo-coded stamps of species locations with a community of scientists who will use the stream of data to map and monitor the ebb and flow of plants.

Location: US
Ages: all

Presented by Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution

Wildlife Watch is a national, nature-watching program created for people of all ages. When you record your observations, National Wildlife Federation and Wildlife Watch partners collect and review your findings to track the health and behavior of wildlife and plant species. In return, the Wildlife Watch website keeps you up-to-date on wildlife news and facts, and they provide new ideas for attracting wildlife to your backyard and community.

Location: US
Ages: all

Presented by FAU Harbor Branch

Take photos of dolphins from land and let us know when you spot them.

Photo identification is a safe and fun way to collect information about wild dolphin populations.Submit your photos of dolphins and where you saw them to help researchers track the day-to-day habitat of dolphins.

Location: Florida
Ages: all