Science in the Sunshine!

How to Build and Teach From Outdoor Science Learning Labs

By Petra Woolf

Troop 635

For my Eagle Project, I designed and built an Outdoor Science Lab for an elementary school. This project can be replicated by any other Scout or any school and will become a great addition to science learning. I decided to make this project open source, because I hope to encourage more teachers and students to explore science.

The outdoor science lab is intended for PK-5 grade students. Outdoor learning labs are a great way to bring more science into the curriculum and a way to increase students’ interest in science and to provide fun, hands-on learning. Unfortunately, math and science are intimidating for students, and I want to make it more fun for them to learn. An outdoor lab provides students the opportunity to study all branches of science, including biology, chemistry, physics and even astronomy, outside in a fun setting. The lab can be used by teachers as part of their regular lessons. But it can also be used by curious students during recess, with self-guided experiments.

This outdoor science lab curriculum and activities are governed by the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format; and remix, transform, and build upon the material. However you must give appropriate credit to Petra Woolf, provide a link to the original material, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. For more information see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.

This curriculum was developed using my own research, experience and interviews with teachers. However, I used Gemini 2.5 Flash and ChatGPT o3 to figure out which Common Core Science Standards fit each of the Lessons.