Don’t take your surroundings for granted. You can observe change wherever you are. “The nature in cities is definitely different than the nature in very wild spaces, but there are pockets of wild that happen in cities,” she says. The concrete jungle is wild with bugs, bees, flowers and trees to notice too.

Get up close…and when in doubt, borrow a child. At least their eyes, she says. “They’re good at noticing things low to the ground because they’re lower to the ground. Really, you just need to put them in a space outdoors and let them start making observations.” she says.

Find your reference point. One of the things scientists do when looking for things is use a search image, Higgins says. “You don’t know what to look for unless you know what to look for!” She suggests looking up local guides before your next walk, or checking with your local Audubon Society for references. Your own smartphone can give you a reference point, if you snap a picture in the same spot more than once.

Practicing observation: So here’s a little experiment in observation that you can try:

Take a picture out your window or front door, or anywhere you have the same view everyday.  Try taking that photo around the same time, but on different days – so maybe 3 photos spread across a week, or even once a week at the same time.  Note the date, time and temperature. Check out what looks different – is the snow melting? what’s going on with the trees? did it rain any day?  We’ll be doing this too over at iseechange.org, so check out how our experiment works from places including Los Angeles and New Orleans.

And bring your stories and observations to iseechange.org.  If it’s a snail, we promise to forward it over to Lila and the gang at NHM.