Supervised exercise training might be associated with beneficial effects on disease control and quality of life in asthmatic children. These data suggest an adjunct role of physical conditioning on clinical management of patients with more advanced disease.

A movement has begun recently to involve nonscientists in scientific investigations through projects in which a range of individuals gather data for use by scientists to investigate questions of research importance. These projects are frequently referred to as citizen‐science projects, and the benefits are assumed to extend beyond the production of important large databases. Those who argue in support of citizen‐science projects assume that participants will increase their understanding about the process of science through this engagement in authentic science, in contrast to traditional, tightly scripted school laboratory investigations. However, very little research on the impact of participating in such projects has been carried out. This article examines the letters written by more than 700 participants in a citizen‐science project conducted by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Of these letters, which were unsolicited and not connected with a formal evaluation, nearly 80% revealed that participants had engaged in thinking processes similar to those that are part of science investigations. We cannot state that participation in a citizen‐science project caused this thinking, but we can say that participation provided a forum in which participants engaged in these habits of thought. The letters also raise some issues about some misunderstandings of science that citizen‐science projects should strive to address. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 84:265–275, 2000.

Background-Aerobic training has a number of well known beneficial eVects in both normal and asthmatic children. However, the impact of training on the clinical management of the underlying bronchial asthma remains controversial, particularly in the most severe patients. Methods-Clinicalevaluation, spirometric tests, symptom limited maximum exercise testing, and exercise challenge tests were performed in a group of children with stable moderate to severe asthma. Forty two patients (24 boys) aged 8-16 were evaluated twice: before and after supervised aerobic training (group 1, n = 26) and two months apart (untrained group 2, n = 16). Results-Spirometric and maximal exercise variables in the initial evaluation were significantly reduced in group 1 (p<0.05) but medication and clinical scores and the occurrence of exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB) did not diVer between the two groups. Aerobic improvement with training (maximal oxygen uptake and/or anaerobic threshold increment >10% and 100 ml) was inversely related to the baseline level of fitness and was independent of disease severity. Although the clinical score and the occurrence of EIB did not change after training, aerobic improvement was associated with a significant reduction in the medication score and the daily use of both inhaled and oral steroids (p<0.05). Conclusions-Aerobic improvement with training in less fit asthmatic children is related to a short term decrease in the daily use of inhaled and oral steroids, independent of the severity of the disease.