Semantics aside, the world wide web has transformed the world of citizen science by enabling the general population to actively contribute to ongoing professional scientific research. The video below explains it all very nicely.
For schools, I think the real appeal of citizen science projects is getting students involved in genuine scientific research. This is far beyond the use of simulation, and engages students with the scientific community. Students can contribute to a field's scientific community, just see the example mentioned in the video above.
Finally, I think the biggest advantage of citizen science is the opportunity it provides to those students interested in science. It might only be one or two students in your class, but for those students these programs provide them with a opportunity to continue their interest in science outside of the classroom.
The options for citizen science is continuously expanding. Below are some resources to find citizen science projects.
Zooniverse
Zooniverse is one of the best know sites for citizen science projects on the web. It's ever increasing collection currently hold 37 projects covering such fields as zoology, archaeology, astronomy, climatology, art, physics, modern history, ancient history, meteorology, genetics, botany, biology, oceanography. Each project has a strong community, and a number of them also have resources for educators.
Atlas Of Living Australia
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is a collaborative, national project that aggregates biodiversity data from multiple sources and makes it available and usable online. Much of this data is collected through citizen science projects. ALA has a citizen science project finder, which currently lists 95 active projects. The search filters helps to find projects to suit your situation, and many of the projects have mobile applications.
Wikipedia
It is amazing the things you can find on Wikipedia. In researching this blog, I found that it has a list of citizen science projects. The list is broken into active and completed, and, thankfully, identifies the relevant location for each project.
Citizen science games
Some citizen science projects are provided as games. Some of these games are window dressing on top of the project, but other, like Foldit, and Eyewire, use the power of crowd sourcing to achieve amazing results. You can find more citizen science games at the Citizen Science Center.
Local Universities
I hope the links above provide you with enough options to explore. However, don't forget your local Universities when considering getting your students involved in genuine science. Contact them and see if there are any project which you class can participate in.
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