“…As curriculum authorities across the world try to increase numbers of students studying science beyond compulsory years (Millar and Osborne, 1998;Schreiner, 2006; USA National Academy of Science, 2007), inspiring strategies for motivating young people in science are important. Traditionally, many school curricula have placed importance on hands-on out-of-classroom activities such as fieldwork in subjects such as geography, environmental science, history and science itself (Brookes, 2002;Hart, 2002;DfeS, 2004;Braund and Reiss, 2006;Scharfenberg, Bogner and Klutke, 2008). Moreover, authenticity afforded by such opportunities has shaped some innovative approaches to science curricula in countries (for example, Canada and Australia) with a tradition of promoting the importance of cultural relevance and 'real-world' experience for meaningful learning (Roth, van Eijck, Reis and Hsu, 2008).…”