When most people think "King Island," they think of a place synonymous with premium Australian dairy products. But hidden away from the lush, green pastures of grazing cows is an island teeming with invertebrate and plant species. You could probably eat some of those too, but that wasn't the intent of the Bush Blitzers who set off to…

Ethnography as a methodological approach presents the fieldworker with many ethical crossroads throughout the research process. This is because of the unique position that ethnographers find themselves in, the environments that they research and the relationships which are formed. This paper presents four confessional vignettes from a broader…

Across many of the middle- and low-income countries that have participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) or are potential new participants, significant proportions of 15-year-olds are not enrolled in school or are in school but in grades below PISA's target sample (Grade 7 and above) and thus not eligible to sit for…

This article describes a field course in Cornwall looking at mineral processing with the focus on the chemistry involved. The course was split into two parts. The first looked at tin mining based around Penzance. This involved visiting mines, hunting for mineral samples, carrying out a stream survey and visiting the Camborne School of Mines…

We describe a field-based lizard project we did with high school students as a part of our summer Herpetological Research Experiences. We describe data collection on lizards captured, identified, and marked as a part of our mark-recapture study. We also describe other lizard projects that are ongoing in the United States and provide resources for…

Through the materiality of fieldwork at a high-achieving high-poverty high school, I discuss how the collision between practices of feminist methodology and the materiality of fieldwork forced me to rethink the "feminist" in feminist research. Using the work of Karen Barad, this material-discursive account of methodology as ontology…

Students learn science best with activities that mirror the way scientists work. This article describes how geologists investigate groundwater flow systems in areas of karst topography--geologic formations shaped by dissolving bedrock--and provides a way for students to replicate this research. Students also use electric current to model water…

Field research offers students true scientific practice opportunities and experiences that cannot always be achieved in the classroom. Though research suggests the importance of incorporating field-based research into science curriculum, classroom constraints make it difficult to incorporate true research opportunities into general science…

This article describes how a university and a museum have worked together to create a "How science works" workshop entitled "What's in our water?" The workshop teaches students about the continuing pollution from a disused coal mine, how the pollution is cleaned up using a state-of-the-art treatment works and how scientists…

About 20 years ago, a number of Yukon schools took a different approach to outdoor education and outdoor pursuits. During the 1970s and 1980s, most Yukon high schools and junior high schools offered a course called Outdoor Education. These courses fit into the conventional blocks in a school timetable. Outdoor activities longer than these blocks…

In this study, we argue that in order to understand the underlying causes of inequities in education, we need to look outside specific educational settings to the larger social, historical and political structures behind those inequities. Therefore, in this work we take a social justice perspective to look at the relationship between environmental…

Field studies are an excellent way for students to learn ecological concepts and practice doing science. This article presents an approach for the secondary science classroom that permits students to ask and answer their own questions, a prerequisite for truly experiencing the process of science. Students explore a local natural area and, in…

Rooted in graffiti culture and its attitude toward the world, street art is regarded as a postgraffiti movement. Street art encompasses a wide array of media and techniques, such as traditional spray-painted tags, stickers, stencils, posters, photocopies, murals, paper cutouts, mosaics, street installations, performances, and video projections…

Long Island Sound is an estuary of national significance and provides important economic, recreational, and aesthetic value to the citizens of Connecticut and New York. Investigations have been conducted regarding living marine resources and nutrient loading. However, Long Island Sound is often overlooked as an educational resource. This guide is…

A school-based environmental field project "What Happens Around You and Your School Area?" was designed under the School-based Curriculum Project Scheme (2001-2002) supported by the Hong Kong Education Manpower Bureau (formerly the Education Department). This school-based environmental field project, with heavy inclusion of environmental…