BEST APPS FOR NATURE LOVERS
Click to watch KUSI segment
Best Apps for Nature Lovers
Do you wonder which species of bird it is that you keep seeing at your bird feeder? Are you curious about what butterflies are visiting your garden? Would you like to be a part of a community helping researchers? Thankfully there are plenty of smartphone apps that help you quickly and easily identify flora and fauna, record your findings, and get you and the family outside more. Not only that, but you will be a part of the solutions in helping our wildlife as a citizen scientist. (Hint: the last one is my favorite)
For Kids:
PBS Plum's Photo Hunt
PLUM'S PHOTO HUNT sends kids outside on photo missions to capture pictures of the nature around them.
Children can take photographs of awesome things out in nature and organize and save their observations all in one place!
MEET THE INSECTS: FOREST, VILLAGE, and WATER/GRASS Edition
“Meet the Insects Series” is a multimedia encyclopedia of insects living in different habitats such as forest, village, water and grass. This series offers a variety of photos, videos, illustrations, and animations that deliver vast amounts of insect-related information for kids. Unlike any other existing insect encyclopedia in the market, ‘Meet the Insects Series’ takes full advantage of the iPad’s technology by allowing children to touch, drag and move each insect, solve interactive quizzes, and write their own observational journal.
iPad only
App Link
TAPPITY-SCIENCE FOR KIDS
Spark your child's curiosity with Haley, Tappity's science expert. Developed by educators and storytellers, Tappity offers fun interactive lessons on more than 100 science topics!
Created with the Next Generation Science Standards in mind
►What topics do we cover?
• SPACE SCIENCE: Mars, the Moon, the Sun, and more!
• LIFE SCIENCE - Dinosaurs, Ocean Animals, Human Body, Plants, Pollination, and more!
• EARTH SCIENCE - Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, and more!
• PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Force, Energy, Friction, Magnets, and more!
App Link
MERLIN BIRD ID CORNELL LAB
Merlin Bird ID helps you solve your bird ID mystery in 5 questions, or with a photo of a bird.
First, Merlin asks you a few simple questions. Then, almost like magic, it reveals the list of birds that best match your description. Pick your bird, then delve into more photos, sounds, and ID tips about your bird!
If you have a photo, Merlin can help there as well. Take a photo, choose from your camera roll, or snap the viewfinder of your zoom camera, and Merlin's powerful AI will suggest an identification almost instantly.
• Enjoy more than 40,000 photos of birds, including males, females, and juveniles.
• Listen to beautiful bird sounds, including 18,000 songs and calls for each species curated by the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
• Identification tips are available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, German, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, depending on the range of the species.
Best of all, it’s free and helps researchers!
App Link
iNATURALIST
iNATURALIST
One of the world's most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 400,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What's more, by recording and sharing your observations, you'll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society
KEY FEATURES
• Record your own observations and share them with the community
• Receive suggestions and crowdsourced identifications of what you've seen
• Follow projects comprised of smaller communities and fellow citizen scientists passionate about a particular place and/or species
App Link
INSIGHT CITIZEN SCIENCE
INSIGHT CITIZEN SCIENCE
In 2015, Insight Citizen Science was created as a tool to empower citizens to learn about North America’s essential pollinators and participate in observation-based research. The concept and app design was carried out by Campbell as his undergraduate thesis project at Emily Carr University. Over two years, Border Free Bees engaged various community organizations in the design process through focus groups, educational workshops, and app testing sessions. Scientists and community experts, including Dr. Elizabeth Elle and Dr. Lora Morandin, played a key role in informing and validating the scientific aspects of the design. In 2018, Border Free Bees partnered with Pollinator Partnership to develop the Insight Citizen Science iOS app. The free iOS app was launched in North America in 2019.
SEEK by iNATURALIST
OPEN THE CAMERA AND START SEEKING!
Found a mushroom, flower, or bug, and not sure what it is? Open up the Seek Camera to see if it knows!
Drawing from millions of wildlife observations on iNaturalist, Seek shows you lists of commonly recorded insects, birds, plants, amphibians, and more in your area. Scan the environment with the Seek Camera to identify organisms using the tree of life. Add different species to your observations and learn all about them in the process! The more observations you make, the more badges you’ll earn!
This is a great app for families who want to spend more time exploring nature together, and for anyone who wants to learn more about the life all around them.
PROJECT NOAH
I saved this one for the grand finale because it’s one of my faves. Although the mobile app is being redeveloped, I couldn’t resist highlighting it . Noah is a mobile phone app that allows nature lovers to document local wildlife and add their observations to a growing database for use by ongoing citizen-science projects. ... In addition, users can see what kinds of organisms are nearby by searching through a list or exploring a map of their area, all on a mobile phone. You can still visit the website to chat with rangers, earn patches, and create your own backyard adventures!!