DITOs

A BioBlitz in Leopold Park 

On June 2nd 2018, around twenty citizens (aged 7 to 72), guided and trained by four of our scientists, inventoried insects and other invertebrates in the Leopold Park. The sampling was conducted in two phases: in the afternoon for diurnal insects and freshwater invertebrates, and in the evening for nocturnal insects. The equipment used for collecting, observing, and identifying the specimens was provided by the Museum. Combining an introduction to entomology and citizen science, this project enabled the monitoring of the biodiversity in this Brussels park since the establishment of a flower meadow (in 2013) and the revegetation of the pond's banks (in 2016). The collected specimens—several hundreds!—have joined the Museum's collections. 

The Do-It-Together Science Bus 

In the fall of 2017, families and students aged 8-12 discovered how blue tits nest and how soap and yogurt are made. The Science Bus made a stop in Brussels, on the Esplanade of the European Parliament and at the Museum, after touring all of Europe. Its goal: to introduce its experiments and workshops to everyone, and to help better understand the world around us. The public could follow everything on Instagram, Facebook et Twitter.

The stuffed animals Workshop 

The DITOs team created a short documentary about budding taxonomists. During a holiday camp in April 2017, children aged 7 to 9 discovered the principles of taxonomy through the Classific’Action exhibit-workshop. They then applied these principles by classifying... their teddy bears and other stuffed animals!!

Impact Surveys 

The DITOs team develops and publishes surveys to measure the impact of certain activities on our school audience. 

• Evaluation questionnaire for the Classific’Action exhibit-workshop for teachers. 
• Evaluation questionnaire for the BiodiverCity exhibit-workshop for teachers. 
• Evaluation questionnaire for the XperiBIRD.be citizen science project.