Student Research Reports
Drones are an Effective Way to Identify Mosquito Breeding Habitats
Organization(s):Medford Memorial Middle School New Jersey
Country:United States of America
Student(s):Kai Polidori, Ethan Wassersug, Laura Finelli
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Teacher:Victoria Gorman
Contributors:
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:Mosquitoes
Presentation Poster:
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Optional Badges:I make an Impact, I work with a STEM Professional, I am a STEM Storyteller
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Date Submitted:04/07/2019
Identifying potential mosquito breeding habitats using drones was inspired by the GLOBE Mission Mosquito Campaign. The research team learned about it from the GLOBE website at the beginning of September 2018. The immediate goal was to figure out ways to identify mosquito breeding habitats. After doing some background investigation, it was decided to try to use drones to locate these sites. The research question is “How effective are drones in identifying potential mosquito breeding habitats surrounding schools in Medford, NJ?” This research project has two parts. This report only contains Part One. In Part One, the first step was to locate the Medford schools using latitude and longitude coordinates. Coordinates chosen had to be around the school buildings, as well as some of the surrounding area. Some of the schools had small ponds or playgrounds that could collect water, and the drones had to take pictures of them as well as the buildings that had flat roofs. The main reason surrounding areas were included in the drone images was because of a GLOBE webinar stating that mosquito breeding sites are affected by the surrounding area more than scientists originally thought. The next step in collecting data was to meet up with a professional drone operator to take the images. The images were analyzed and potential breeding sites were identified. This concluded Part One. In Part Two, the research teams will create mosquito traps, collect mosquito larvae and identify species. The final step of the entire research project will be to inform the Medford Board of Education of the research findings and encourage them to take action to prevent the breeding sites from reappearing, in an attempt to lessen the mosquito population. With the first part of the research experiment it was confirmed that drones are very effective in identifying possible mosquito breeding habitats.