← All tools

iNaturalist & Seek

Photo ID of plants, insects, fungi and wildlife from computer vision trained on community observations. Seek is the no-account, kid-safe app version.

How CTE teachers use iNaturalist

• Run a weed, insect or biodiversity survey on the school farm or land lab, with every observation logged on a map.
• Practice identifying plants, insects and wildlife for natural resources, forestry or entomology units.
• Use the free Seek app for students under 13 or anyone without an account. It gives on-screen IDs without posting anything.

Watch out for

• iNaturalist accounts require age 13+ or parental permission. iNaturalist recommends Seek for younger students and doesn't sign district privacy agreements.
• iNaturalist observations record a photo, location and time. Don't let students post observations from their homes, and check every AI suggestion against your state's lists.

Try this prompt

Paste into ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Copilot to plan around iNaturalist. Replace the [BRACKETS] and review the output before students see it. Never paste student names or personal info.

Plan a 3-day weed survey of our school farm using iNaturalist (or Seek for students under 13). Day 1: transects and photo rules. Day 2: identify the plants and check the app's suggestions against our state's noxious weed list. Day 3: a short report with a control recommendation. Include a rubric.

Quick answers

How can CTE teachers use iNaturalist?

Run a weed, insect or biodiversity survey on the school farm or land lab, with every observation logged on a map. Practice identifying plants, insects and wildlife for natural resources, forestry or entomology units. Use the free Seek app for students under 13 or anyone without an account. It gives on-screen IDs without posting anything.

What should CTE teachers watch out for with iNaturalist?

iNaturalist accounts require age 13+ or parental permission. iNaturalist recommends Seek for younger students and doesn't sign district privacy agreements. iNaturalist observations record a photo, location and time. Don't let students post observations from their homes, and check every AI suggestion against your state's lists.

Related tools

Prompts for Agriculture & Animal Science →