Much has been written about developing outdoor classrooms or how to generate effective and integrated learning using the outdoors. However, with the release of the "Next Generation Science Standards," teachers need to consider how they are going to design their science curriculum to include opportunities for students to learn about core…

Teachers may use apprenticeships and collaboration as instructional strategies that help students to make authentic scientific discoveries as they work as amateur researchers in academic field studies. This concept was examined with 643 students, ages 14-72, who became proficient at field research through cognitive apprenticeships with the…

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 investigations are not characterized by randomized and manipulated control group experiments; however, most school science and high-stakes tests recognize only this paradigm of investigation. Scientists in astronomy, genetics, field biology, oceanography, geology, and meteorology routinely select naturally occurring events and conditions and…

Every year the JASON Foundation for Education produces an interactive year-long curriculum to culminate during a two-week voyage of exploration that is broadcast live to students at special receiving sites. The curriculum covers everything from the state-of-the-art technology used in the voyages to the geology, ecology, archaeology, and biology of…

The origins, development, and influences of James McKeen Cattell's research on the conditions, performance, traits, and other characteristics of preeminent American scientists are discussed. Cattell's role in the development of academic quality rankings is noted. (MSE)