Abstract
In the modem science curriculum, students should learn science knowledge or "facts"; they should develop science skills, strategies, and habits of mind; they should understand the applications of science to technology, society, and the environment; and they should cultivate appropriate attitudes - positive ones, we hope - toward science. While science knowledge may be taught through traditional lecture-and-textbook methods, theories of learning (and extensive experience) show that other aspects of the curriculum are best taught by doing science - not just hands-on activities, but "minds-on" engagement. That means more than the usual "cookbook" practical activities in which students use a predetermined procedure to achieve a predetermined result. The activities should be "authentic"; that is, they should mirror the actual scientific process.