Fifth and sixth grade students from the State College Area School District (Pennsylvania) participated in a 5-day resident outdoor education program to investigate the effectiveness of such a program on the development of cognitive learning processes. Students were divided into experimental and control groups of one fifth and one sixth grade class each. The experimental group attended the outdoor school, while the control group experienced regular classroom instruction. A picture test in which subjects were asked to identify objects and relationships within a picture of a natural community, depicting a variety of plant and animal species, was administered to both groups at the beginning and end of the experiment, with a time interval of 10 days. Data indicated: (1) experimental students were able to identify a significantly greater number of natural objects and relationships after the experience than they could before; (2) experimental students did not demonstrate a significantly greater increase in identification and relationships over control students; and (3) sex and academic achievement in the classroom, as evaluated by classroom teachers, had no relationship to the identification of either objects or relationships. Copies of the counselor-teacher training manual, experimental program, testing procedures, data, and the instrument are appended. (CM)