At Battelle, we believe through partnerships with organizations such as the PAST Foundation, STEM students are presented with opportunities to have personal experiences that teach them how science and research is applied. Field studies that involve exploring caves, underwater shipwrecks, buried crime scenes and ghost towns are a few of the engaging and exciting learning experiences – and many of them offer high school or college credit.

Language and cultural field studies allow students to immerse themselves in unfamiliar traditions, scenery, history, food and conversation in areas of the world they might never have had an opportunity to visit.

During summer 2009, students from across the Battelle-managed Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN) participated in trips that included visits to Chesapeake Bay for an anthropological cultural landscape study; a week in Kentucky’s Carter Caves State Resort Park; and trips to Costa Rica and China. Lined up for fall 2009 is a visit to the Biosphere 2 facility at the University of Arizona.

Fiscal constraints limit the number of students that participate in any given experience, but each school develops its own unique curriculum complemented by immersive learning experiences such as these and makes every effort to ensure every student has the opportunity to participate. For STEM learners, the world is their classroom!