Citizen Science: Sensing the World (FutureLearn)

Citizen Science: Sensing the World (FutureLearn)

Learn about sensing, including how to use a soil sensor and how to monitor the changing climate, by joining the GROW Observatory. Improve your soil and monitor the changing climate as a citizen scientist. Did you know satellites are constantly monitoring soil moisture, even in your garden? Monitoring the moisture in soil can help predict floods, fires and droughts. On this course, you will learn about the ESA’s Sentinel-1 Missions, and how citizens can validate satellite data locally with sensors.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

You’ll discover sensing, and become part of the GROW Citizen Observatory. You will collaborate with other growers and scientists to learn about soil sensors and make sense of the data to improve your growing practice.
Now is the time to make a difference! Join us and become a citizen scientist.

What topics will you cover?

  • Earth Observation
  • Citizen science
  • Climate monitoring
  • Climate and moisture
  • Satellites
  • Soil sensors
  • Remote sensing
  • The GROW Observatory

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Investigate the relationship between climate monitoring, remote sensing and Earth Observation
  • Explore how soil sensors can be used to improve your food growing and soil health
  • Discuss the potential of participatory culture, citizen sensing and citizen science
  • Identify the relationship between European Space Agency’s satellites and low cost soil sensors and how they can help us predict floods, droughts, fires and the changing climate’s impact on food production.
  • Engage with basic technical information about soil sensors, their limitations and their potential
Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Virtual Work Experience and Exploring the Veterinary Profession (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
The University of Nottingham

Virtual Work Experience and Exploring the Veterinary Profession (FutureLearn)

Learn what it takes to become a vet and explore the challenges of the vet profession to decide if it's the right career for you. Get virtual vet work experience before embarking on a veterinary degree. The COVID-19 pandemic means that many potential vet students cannot undertake animal handling work experience. On this course, you’ll get insight into the reality of life as a vet so that you can make an informed decision before embarking on a veterinary degree course.

Feb 1st 2021
2 Weeks
Snow: What It Is and Why It Matters (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Luleå University of Technology

Snow: What It Is and Why It Matters (FutureLearn)

Explore the science of snow – how it forms, its different types, and how it can best be used. Learn all about snow from cold weather experts in Sweden. Snow can affect every aspect of life, from transport systems to business operations; that’s why it’s crucial to understand what exactly snow is, how it forms, and how we can manage it.

Oct 25th 2021
2 Weeks
The Brain and Space (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University

The Brain and Space (Coursera)

This course is about how the brain creates our sense of spatial location from a variety of sensory and motor sources, and how this spatial sense in turn shapes our cognitive abilities. Knowing where things are is effortless. But “under the hood,” your brain must figure out even the simplest of details about the world around you and your position in it.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Structuring Values in Modern China (Coursera) Coursera
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Structuring Values in Modern China (Coursera)

This sequence of four courses will propose a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Chinese cultural history conceived of as a succession of modes of rationality (philosophical, bureaucratic, and economic). The focus will be on the moments of paradigm shift from one mode of rationality to another. For each of these moments, cultural facts and artifacts—thought, literature, ritual—will be examined in relationship to changing social, political, and economic systems.

Nov 9th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Humphry Davy: Laughing Gas, Literature, and the Lamp (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Lancaster University,Royal Institution - RI

Humphry Davy: Laughing Gas, Literature, and the Lamp (FutureLearn)

Discover Humphry Davy and his contribution to science and the arts. Before culture was divided into the sciences and the arts there was a chemist who was also a poet. Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) is one of the best known men of science of the nineteenth century: he was the first person to inhale nitrous oxide; he isolated nine chemical elements; and he invented the miners’ safety lamp known as the Davy lamp. This course will consider Davy’s life and career using manuscript sources held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

Oct 9th 2023
4 Weeks
The Science Behind Forensic Science (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
King's College London

The Science Behind Forensic Science (FutureLearn)

Get an introduction to the science of forensic science and discover how it's applied in the real world. Discover the biology and chemistry behind forensic science. How does forensic science really work? How are scientific principles applied in crime scenes? Answer these questions and more with this course from the team who teach the longest-running forensic science programme of its type in England.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Citizen Science: Living Soils, Growing Food (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Dundee,Grow Observatory

Citizen Science: Living Soils, Growing Food (FutureLearn)

Learn about approaches to food growing that can help regenerate soil and solve environmental issues. Use regenerative growing practices in your own garden. Soil loss and degradation are serious issues all over the world. We need to find effective regenerative practices to solve many local and global environmental challenges. On this course, you’ll discover interesting things about your own soil and become part of the new GROW Citizen Observatory European-wide community.

No sessions available
3 Weeks
Teaching for Home Learning: Secondary Science (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
National STEM Learning Centre

Teaching for Home Learning: Secondary Science (FutureLearn)

Ease the transition to teaching science to secondary pupils during the COVID-19 pandemic with online and offline approaches. Overcome the challenges of teaching science remotely to your secondary students. Due to COVID-19 related school closures around the world, many teachers are having to adjust their teaching. Whilst teaching remotely may be new, this course will help you to develop new online and offline teaching strategies for supporting learning at home and at a distance.

No sessions available
2 Weeks
Myths and Realities of Personalised Medicine: the Genetic Revolution (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
UNSW Sydney - University of New South Wales

Myths and Realities of Personalised Medicine: the Genetic Revolution (FutureLearn)

Learn about personalised medicine and the impact that our enhanced understanding of genetics has on modern medicine and society. Personalised medicine. Precision medicine. Individualised medicine. Customised medicine. Targeted medicine. All buzzwords of recent years that excite, confuse and infuriate the public, researchers and healthcare professionals. Broadly speaking, these terms all refer to the idea of tailoring treatment to individual patients based on their genetic code.

No sessions available
5-12 Weeks
Understanding Ramon Llull: Philosophy, Arts and Science through the Ars Combinatoria (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
Universitat Pompeu Fabra,Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona - CCCB

Understanding Ramon Llull: Philosophy, Arts and Science through the Ars Combinatoria (FutureLearn)

Explore the fascinating work of philosopher Ramon Llull and its impact with this free online course. Ramon Llull, born in Majorca in the 13th Century, was an influential philosopher, writer and pioneering thinker. This controversial man was admired and scorned alike by some of the most enlightened minds in European culture. He was also one of the leading lights in the intellectual circles of the late 13th century, in which Arab, Jewish and Christian philosophers and scientists participated.

No sessions available
2 Weeks
UFOs: Scanning the Skies Teach-Out (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
University of Michigan

UFOs: Scanning the Skies Teach-Out (FutureLearn)

Explore possible explanations for UFO sightings as you delve into fascinating accounts of unidentified flying objects. Unpack the myths and facts surrounding UFOs. Following the release of the U.S. Pentagon UFO report, there has been a surge of interest in unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). People across the world are gripped by the history of UFOs and the stories told by those who have witnessed them.

Feb 7th 2022
2 Weeks