You don’t need to be a scientist to take part in real research. Citizen science projects welcome people of all ages to help by counting, observing, measuring, and recording what they see around them. Whether it’s tracking wildlife, exploring patterns, or logging everyday data, these projects all rely on simple maths skills to bring together individual observations into meaningful discoveries.
Here are a few inspiring ways you can get involved this year:
Join thousands of other schools for the RSPB’s Big Schools Birdwatch, to find out which birds visit your school grounds. This data helps provide a snapshot of how birds across UK schools are faring.
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. Every year, hundreds of thousands of nature lovers take part, helping to build a picture of how garden birds are faring.
Bumblebees are in crisis. Become a bee walker and help to monitor the abundance of bumblebees across Britain with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Collected data helps scientists understand the reasons why they are declining, so we can work towards stopping and reversing this.
Carry out a FIT Count during the warmer months, to collect data on the total number of insects that visit a particular flower. Every count helps make the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme’s data more meaningful.
Twice a year, these week-long surveys run by The Rivers Trust help to build an important picture of river health across the UK and Ireland. The collected data helps help identify any issues, influence policymakers and hold polluters to account.
Support the work of the Bat Conservation Trust, by carrying out a Sunset Survey. Look for bats and other nocturnal wildlife from your window, balcony, garden or nearby green space anytime from April to October and submit your findings.
The Big Butterfly Count is a nationwide citizen science survey aimed at helping to assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world's biggest survey of butterflies.
The Great British Beach Clean is a week-long citizen science event run by the Marine Conservation Society, where hundreds of beach cleans take place up and down the UK. Litter data collected on beach cleans drives conservation work, and helps to campaign for change.
Join other plant spotters of all ages and abilities to record which wild plants you can find in bloom at the turn of the year. The gathered data helps the Botanical Society of Britian & Ireland gauge how our wild or naturalised plants are responding to a changing climate.
80% of marine litter comes from land-based sources finding its way into streams, rivers or drains and ending up in the ocean, where it causes problems for ecosystems and sea life. If you don't live near the sea, you can still make a difference to the health of our ocean by recording the litter you see in your local area.
We love science festivals here at Maths Week Scotland, as there's always lots of maths involved! To help you keep up to date with all the science festivals happening in Scotland this year, we've made a list of the ones we know about and we'll update the list throughout the year.
Maths Week Scotland is back for 2026 with the theme Maths Matters. To celebrate our tenth year, we will have an extended gala week running over two weekends, from Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 September.
