The following research idea has not been fully developed into an activity but has been tried in some workshops and classrooms. Science is pretty much taught as an assembly of facts.
Science can be great fun when students become engaged in the excitement of scientific discovery.
Restorations at school sites provide convenient outdoor laboratories where students can observe, ask questions, and conduct experiments. In this activity students are asked to delve into the scientific process by developing a question and designing an experiment to answer the question. Use prairie seeds to generate ideas. There are no constraints, except that the experiment should be one that could be carried out in a school setting. Encourage the students to be creative, inquisitive, and have fun.