“I didn’t choose the bug life, the bug life chose me.”
In a lifetime of coding, you’ll hopefully grow into an adept bug hunter. You’re inevitably going to encounter bugs, so why not embrace the ‘bug life’ and develop an appreciation for them? Bugs reveal the coding habits that are holding you back or tripping you up.
Code errors aren’t the end of the world they just remind you when you’ve forgotten to close a } or insert a ; or they force you to step through your logic and understand your code’s structure. Bugs are great teachers, by learning to love them, we can use them to improve our work.
STEM & Citizen Science - Appreciating Bugs in Nature
This is a special bug indeed - the Christmas Beetle (Genus Anoplognathus), a uniquely Australian species. It’s an iconic shiny symbol of Australian summer.
In the past decade, there have been several anecdotal accounts and media reports about a decline in Christmas Beetle sightings. There’s a Citizen science project using the iNaturalist app that helps people identify, track, and count these cool holographic bugs. I encourage you to participate it’s fun.
Check out Christmas Beetle Count — Invertebrates Australia for more information.
Share Your Projects for Citizen Science
Let’s use technology to better understand our environment by combining coding, hardware, and science. This approach helps us appreciate the world’s richness and diversity.
Do you have a citizen science or STEM project that you would like to share with us?
Need inspiration?
Take a look at this Raspberry Pi kangaroo counter: Rooberry Pi - Tutorial Australia and a pic!
