Seek Guides and Challenges
Seek is a free, child-safe app developed by iNaturalist to help people discover the natural world by identifying plants and animals, while earning badges along the way! Learn more about Seek and our monthly National Geographic challenges here.
Guía Básica Para Usar Seek
Aprenda a usar la aplicación Seek en su teléfono.
Getting Started with Seek by iNaturalist
Learn how to use the Seek app on your phone.
Retos de Seek
Participa! Utilice estos retos para descubrir más sobre la naturaleza.
Seek Challenges
Get involved! Use these challenges to discover the habitats and ecosystems that exist all around you.
What is a National Geographic BioBlitz?
A National Geographic BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get a snapshot of an area’s biodiversity. These events can happen in most any geography—urban, rural, or suburban—in areas as small as a backyard or as large as a country.
Smartphone technologies and apps such as iNaturalist make collecting photographs and biological information about living things easy as part of a BioBlitz. High quality data uploaded to iNaturalist become part of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, an open source database used by scientists and policy makers around the world.
Plan a National Geographic BioBlitz
Get inspired with these BioBlitz Guides and videos to create an event at a school, in a park, or anywhere. Use the planning sheet to organize your ideas. During the event, collect observation data using the iNaturalist app or on paper with these data sheets: BioBlitz Observation Guide, Species Identification Cards, or Data Chart.
Guide to BioBlitz
Use this guide to help organize a BioBlitz. Also available in Spanish.
Guide to BioBlitz for Afterschool Programs
Use this guide to help organize and lead BioBlitzes for afterschool and other informal education programs.
Video: Schoolyard BioBlitz
Plan a Bioblitz for your school, class, or afterschool program.
Video: Do-It-Yourself Bioblitz
A Bioblitz is easy when you know what you need and where to start!
BioBlitz Activity Guides
Learn about BioBlitz activities you can implement in a shorter time frame, virtual or in-person, using apps, or no additional technology.
Adopt a Spot Activity Guide
Use this guide to help learners deepen their connection to the natural world in their communities.
BioBlitz Tips and DIY Tools
Use this guide to help make the most out of you and your learners' BioBlitz experience.
Discovering Biodiversity Anywhere Guide
Use this activity to help learners notice the nature around them and play bingo at the same time!
Noticing Species Activity Guide
The best way for learners to develop a love and connection for the natural world begins with the species around them. Use this activity to help learners see the unique world they live in and how you don't have to travel far to see it.
Webinar Step-by-Step: iNaturalist for Afterschool Programs
Use this activity to help learners make observations and notice the details of plants, animals, and other livings things.
Explorer Journaling Guide
Use this guide to help learners develop an explorer mindset through creative sketching that incorporates careful listening and observation.
Exploring Movement in Nature Guide
Use this guide to help learners exercise their explorer mindsets through nature-inspired stretching and breathing exercises.
Social-Emotional Learning Outdoors Guide
Use this guide to help learners build an explorer mindset while developing and applying the mindfulness practices of noticing, observing, and questioning.
Webinars
Follow along with these three webinars for a better BioBlitz experience using these apps, games, activities, and guides.
BioBlitz Activities
Engage students before, during, and after a BioBlitz event.
Introducing Biodiversity and BioBlitz
Students prepare for BioBlitz by defining biodiversity and examining the characteristics of various plants and animals as examples of taxonomic groupings.
Conducting a Class BioBlitz
Students use observation, identification, and mapping skills to conduct a local BioBlitz.
Analyzing BioBlitz Data
Students investigate and analyze local biodiversity using iNaturalist observations.
Setting Up Your BioBlitz in iNaturalist
These videos will help you set up an iNaturalist project so you can collect and share your BioBlitz observations.
Create an iNaturalist Project
Join 2019 National Geographic Education Fellow Anne Lewis as she explains how to set up a project in iNaturalist for your BioBlitz.
Create an iNaturalist Place
Join 2019 National Geographic Education Fellow Anne Lewis as she explains how to set up a place in iNaturalist for your BioBlitz.
Collection and Umbrella Projects
Join 2019 National Geographic Education Fellow Anne Lewis as she explains the difference between collection and umbrella projects in iNaturalist.
BioBlitz Collaborators
iNaturalist
Record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world.
Encyclopedia of Life
Create a collection of your schoolyard BioBlitz results and generate a field guide to share with the community.
City Nature Challenge
Cities around the world will be competing to see who can make the most observations of nature, find the most species, and engage the most people in the City Nature Challenge.