We are at the halfway point in CSI (last day: 18 August). Here are the latest team standings (as of this morning). Collectively you have completed 43,000 image analyzes since the start, with some very remarkable performances both by teams and individuals. Congratulation on these accomplishments and thank you for this major contribution to the research! With effort like this, you might break the esteemed milestone of 100,000 image categorizations during CSI – Summer 2013.
Although the live video from Tuesday’s field webinar came across in good form, the quality of the archived version was poor. We are therefore not posting it.
We were delighted to have Amy Coan and Lin Schroeder, both from the “Connecticut Counting Crows,” and Joe Jankowski from “The Invasive Species” take part on Tuesday. These three participants are shown here with Nicole Evancha, Trinity ’15 and Billy Watts Trinity ’13, who are both contributing to the scavenger ecology research.
There are two more opportunities for CSI participants to take part in the field work: Monday, 29 July and Friday, 16 August, both at 9:30 a.m.
As you see from the comments on the Facebook page and blog, there are differing opinions regarding the number of crows present in this challenging image provided by Joe Jankowski:
http://REINDEER.cc.trincoll.edu/CompostResearch/Actual/R9/MIX_R9S_101017_12-15-12_V_06_10.JPG
Ron Miller in his comment mentions the limitations imposed by looking at a single image out the context of its consecutive images. Very good point! I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but use of the consecutive images for each and every categorization is the best route to accurate analyses. Okay, use this video to simulate the consecutive image feature and see what you think.
challenging crow MIX R9S 101017 12-15-12
Joe Jankowski from “The Invasive Species” team has kindly submitted the following.
Challenging Image -How many crows in this picture?
To view the image in a hi-res, enlargeable format, use the following link.
http://REINDEER.cc.trincoll.edu/CompostResearch/Actual/R9/MIX_R9S_101017_12-15-12_V_06_10.JPG
Let’s hear your thoughts.
Here are the latest team standings. Altogether, you have analyzed 35,000 images! THANKS for this big contribution to the project.
About this time of the summer, great white sharks are spotted off the southern New England coast, particularly that of Cape Cod. The frequency of great white sightings has increased in recent years due, at least in part, to growing populations of gray seals, a favorite prey item. While these sharks are certainly impressive predators, recent research (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2013/04/10/rare-glimpses-of-great-white-sharks-scavenging-surprise-researchers/#.UemeIxabHfj) highlights the role they play as scavengers of whale carcasses. So just like T. rex and many of the species that you are observing in the compost pile images, great white sharks are facultative scavengers: part-time scavengers/part-time predators.
A just-released study indicates that neolithic European farmers began using manure to fertilize their crops 8000 years ago. Composting has ancient roots. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130716134740.htm
As you study images of contemporary scavengers, it’s important to realize that scavenging is an ecological strategy that goes back a long ways. There has been heated debate among paleontologists as to whether Tyrannosaurus rex was really a predator or a scavenger. This new study (http://www.npr.org/2013/07/16/202294091/om-nom-nom-t-rex-was-indeed-a-voracious-hunter) provides fossil evidence of this dinosaur’s predatory behavior. Most likely T. rex was a facultative scavenger, at times wearing the hat of a predator and at other times that of a scavenger. In this regard, T. rex is very similar to many of the species that you are analyzing in this study. A raccoon that you view at one moment scavenging from the pile, a few minutes later could be feasting on a live frog or crayfish that it captured in a nearby stream.
During her recent analysis of this image http://reindeer.cc.trincoll.edu/CompostResearch/Actual/R9/CON_R10S_110308_09-59-42_V_05_10.JPG, CSI-Summer 2013 contributor, Nancy Schoeppner of “The Jack Sparrows,” spotted a well-hidden bird behind the pile. Take a minute to look at the image. Do you see it? To make your life easier, use this video (CON R10S 110308 095039 challenging image) to take advantage of the Consecutive Image feature that the image database provides you in Research Mode. You can freeze the video to focus on a particular image, by using the pause function of your video player. This illustrates the importance of using Consecutive Images when analyzing all focal images – likely the best approach to enhance your accuracy.
To get us thinking about how to incorporate the citizen science tools from this ecological research into your teaching, here is a recent post (and my response) from CSI–Summer 2013 participant Amy Coan. Please share your thoughts regarding this particular aspect or the CSI program in general as they relate to teaching.
I have a suggestion for something that you might want to add to the Compost Pile main page: a link to a quiz containing extremely challenging (but not impossible) images. My high school students (especially the boys) would LOVE this. It could be similar to the quiz that we first took at the beginning. There should be a score at the end, and maybe a guide with the answers circled within the images. High school kids love to challenge themselves (and each other) and prove how smart they are!
Response
I like your idea! This summer we are hoping to do a revamp of the Quiz Mode, which would tie into creation of what we would call “Practice Mode.” We will improve Quiz Mode by basing it entirely on near-video images. As it stands now, the quiz is based on still images. Thus, you can’t take full advantage of the consecutive image feature, like you do in Research Mode. So we will revamp our pool of quiz images this summer. As you know, once you pass the quiz you can’t tap into again, since your log-in sends you directly to Research Mode at that point. Practice Mode, would allow you to take advantage of the direct feedback of Quiz Mode (as shown in figure accompanying this post), even after passing the quiz. This sounds like what you’re suggesting that your students would enjoy.
We need to think about how to handle the logistics of Practice Mode. Since people like direct feedback, I agree that this would be popular. What we need to do is ensure that Practice Mode would help contributors improve their identification skills, while having some fun, but not compete with Research Mode (what you’re using for your database entries), as we obviously depend on people’s contribution via Research Mode to advance our research program. Perhaps we can limit the number of times per day that a given user can access Practice Mode.
