The greenhouse team has a bold idea. Every outpost crew could send in its own tomato readings.
"Twelve greenhouses, one big list," Wren says. "We could compare how tomatoes grow everywhere."
Comet is already sketching. "Most of those crews are not scientists. Is their data still useful?"
Nova projects a map of glowing dots, one for each outpost. "I found a pattern," she says.
"When many people each add a little, the list can grow far bigger than any one crew could make."
Wren nods. "Then we need everyone to measure the same way."
Crowdsourcing is getting input or information from a large number of people over the Internet.
Citizen science is scientific research done in whole or in part by many people, many of whom are not scientists.
They contribute relevant data to the research using their own computing devices.
In Beacon's story, each outpost crew would add readings to one shared list.
| Idea | What it means | Beacon story example |
|---|---|---|
| crowdsourcing | Input from many people over the Internet | Crews suggest names for new alert sounds |
| citizen science | Research with data from many non-scientists | Crews send tomato readings for one study |
| Thinking it through | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Citizen scientists use their own computing devices to contribute data. | ? |
| Only trained scientists can take part in citizen science. | ? |
| A shared list is easier to use when everyone measures the same way. | ? |
| Week review | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Each element of a list has a unique index. | ? |
| On the AP reference sheet, an index greater than the list length is an error. | ? |
| FOR EACH visits the elements of a list in random order. | ? |
| Finding a maximum and computing an average are common list algorithms. | ? |
| A linear search must check every element even when the first one matches. | ? |
What a week, developer. Tomorrow is Mission Quest: a list game with your family.