In a context of climate change it is important to increase awareness in society of the need to conserve biodiversity and marine species sustainability. Here we present results of the project “EduMar/EduSea – Educate for the Sea” (SAICT-POL/23480/2016) which aimed to educate students for the preservation of the sea and its resources through citizen science. It is posed the problem of evaluating the effectiveness of the school community involvement in citizen science activities, both for scientists use of data and for children learning. More than 300 primary school students (ages 9 to 11) with the help of their teachers, participated in interdisciplinary science activities focusing on the causes and consequences of climate change in the ocean, learning to identify rocky shore marine species and acquiring ICT skills to insert photographs, with a tablet, in a biodiversity mapping application (Biodiverisity4All/iNaturalist). The analysis of data from the online platform enabled assessment of the percentage of correct species identification by students. From the perspective of a scientist the following items were analysed regarding the image quality and use: not usable/usable, adequate with high/low quality, with information on target/other species. Students recognised the importance of their participation as citizens in monitoring the effects of climate change and scientists also validated their data in the platform. We will discuss the importance and appliance of this action for future projects.

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Climate change,Citizen Science,Intertidal,School Children