From Class Research to Personal Inquiry 

This is the story of a student we will call Daniel (a pseudonym), who participated in a citizen science project together with his class and found the project's subject matter so close to his heart, and his connection with the lead scientist so easy and natural, that he expanded the research on his own initiative and in his free time.

As part of the inquiry project in their science lessons, ninth-grade students at Kadoorie School embarked on a citizen science study in collaboration with ecologist Assaf Ben David from Tel Aviv University. Their goal was to learn about the composition of the small mammal population in various areas within and around the school, and about the environmental factors that influence this population. The research method involved monitoring wildlife using track plates, which is a special device that can be self-built from simple materials, used to document the footprints of animals present in a given area.

Among his various interests, Daniel is an amateur nature photographer who regularly goes out with a friend to photograph wildlife in their natural habitat. It is therefore unsurprising that Daniel's curiosity about the class project was sparked the moment his teacher first told the students about it. Shortly afterward, the students met with Assaf the ecologist, who came to their school to explain the research and the track-based monitoring method. Immediately after the meeting, Daniel approached Assaf to speak with him. He told Assaf about his photography hobby and his experiences searching for animals in the field. At the end of the conversation, Assaf gave Daniel a copy of a track identification guide and told him he could keep it.

Daniel continued working with his class on the project. Quickly, they learned how to build the track plates and how to place them in the field to document footprints. Daniel realized this was a task he could carry out independently, and he began thinking about what he could learn using the track plates about the environment around his own community. With his teacher's support, he made direct contact with Assaf, and together they agreed on running the research in the areas he was interested in. Daniel borrowed track plates from the school and placed them in these areas in his free time, reporting the results back to Assaf.

Within the class project as well, Daniel was a key figure in leading the research, and he was chosen along with two other students to present the project at the regional science fair held that year.