🔭 Science, nature and the world
Zooniverse
By Zooniverse (Adler Planetarium, University of Oxford and partners). Visit Zooniverse
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
The largest platform for people-powered research, where volunteers help real scientists sort data. A child might count penguins in camera-trap photos, spot galaxies, transcribe old handwritten records or mark animals on the seafloor. Each project gives a short tutorial, then the volunteer classifies images, and results feed real studies. Volunteers can earn a certificate for service hours. Projects run on the web and in iOS and Android apps, and discussion boards called Talk sit alongside.
Our take: A meaningful way for kids to do real science; parents should pick projects together and supervise any use of the Talk boards.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 4 out of 5 | No ads; sign-in and register prompts and links out to social media and app stores. |
|---|---|
| Data: 4 out of 5 | Only Google Analytics and Tag Manager loaded, plus an embedded YouTube video; no ad networks. |
| Ease: 4 out of 5 | A clear 'Explore projects' path with big picture cards (Chimp&See, SquirrelMap); reading is needed. |
| Cost honesty: 5 out of 5 | Free, with no paid prompts. |
What we found
- 5 third-party sites contacted: Google Analytics, Tag Manager, jsDelivr, Google Fonts, YouTube thumbnails
- 4 cookies set, none from third-party domains
- 0 ad frames; 6 outbound link sites (social media, app stores)
- Sign-in, register and download-app prompts detected
From the test: A free, ad-free citizen-science site where kids help real researchers, with only Google Analytics running.
| Ages it suits | about 8 and up |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | No minimum age. Parents must explain the user agreement to children under 16 when signing them up and must supervise any use of the message boards. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Free (Oct 2026); run by universities and museums. |
| Works on | Web, iPhone and iPad, Android |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI for volunteers; some projects pair human classifications with machine learning, under an AI ethics framework. |
What's good
- Kids help with real research
- Free, no ads, no account needed to start
- Huge range of topics
- Service-hour certificates
Watch for
- Talk message boards are public and open to adults
- Usernames show publicly with contributions
- Tasks can be repetitive
- Some projects suit older kids better
Data and privacy
Registration needs a username and email; the username appears with classifications and Talk posts, which are public. Usage is tracked with tools like Google Analytics, and data is never used for commercial purposes, under UK GDPR. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
A 2016 study in the Journal of Science Communication found that more active Zooniverse volunteers scored higher on project science quizzes; it surveyed mostly adult volunteers.
In the Big Index
- On the list 12 weekend AI projects for families
- On the list 16 best science games and simulations for kids
- On the list 20 best sites for STEM projects at home
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Where these facts come from
- https://www.zooniverse.org/
- https://www.zooniverse.org/about
- https://www.zooniverse.org/about/faq
- https://www.zooniverse.org/privacy
- https://www.zooniverse.org/youth_privacy
- https://www.zooniverse.org/about/publications
- https://jcom.sissa.it/archive/15/03/JCOM_1503_2016_A07
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1601.05973
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.