Outdoor Exploration Research Articles

Picture a Scientist—Diverse Role Models Show that Science is for Everyone

Who do you picture when you think of the word “scientist”? Do you fit that image? Although science should be for everyone, some groups, including girls, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and more are often discouraged from becoming scientists. Research shows that girls in particular start to lose interest in pursuing science careers during middle school. But part of the problem for every group is that you cannot be what you cannot see. So how do we change who students picture as scientists? We tested whether a playful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) program that uses comic books, trading cards featuring a variety of female role models, games, and outdoor exploration could change students’ minds. Our data shows that after the In Their Eyes: Conservation + Comics program, more students think that girls can be scientists, too!

Three-Dimensional Documentation and Virtual Web Navigation System for the Indoor and Outdoor Exploration of a Complex Cultural Heritage Site

Three-Dimensional Documentation and Virtual Web Navigation System for the Indoor and Outdoor Exploration of a Complex Cultural Heritage Site

On your mark, get set, explore! Promoting outdoor exploration for early learners across settings

On your mark, get set, explore! Promoting outdoor exploration for early learners across settings

Animals in Environmental Education: Assessing Individuals' Emotional Reactions to Interactions with Wildlife

Environmental education (EE) programs, when combined with human-wildlife interactions (HWI), can trigger emotions, an essential part of attitudes that influence pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). We used participant observation and a post-event evaluation survey to investigate emotional response to HWI among participants from marine educational programs at the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium, Savannah, GA. We found that during HWI participants demonstrated positive (e.g., empathy) and negative emotions (e.g., frustration) with animals, including misconceptions and negative perceptions toward snakes and horseshoe crabs. In addition, outdoor exploration, contact with wildlife (direct or indirect), biofacts exhibitions and live animal presentations were the practices that most engaged participants in the programs, indicating that animals (e.g., turtles and crabs) can increase participants’ interest in educational activities. By incorporating wildlife in EE practices, educators can engage individuals in activities and stimulate their emotional attachment to animals, which can encourage changes in perceptions, leading to PEBs necessary for environmental conservation.

Body Ecology and Emersive Exploration of Self: The Case of Extreme Adventurers

ABSTRACT Body ecology by cosmosis refers to the experience of immersion, or the incorporation of the elements of nature through a body practice, leisure or sport. In this article, we propose comprehensive understanding of corporeal practices that become emersive when new emotions are produced. Considering the background of emersiology proposed by Bernard Andrieu, we first explore the notions of immersive leisure, ecologisation, cosmosis, and body ecology. Next, we investigate the relationship of the human body to nature while experiencing wilderness adventures over the course of outdoor sport or exploration. In doing so, we present different levels of ‘emersion’, from reflex activation to awareness, by studying diaries kept by adventurers who have experienced extreme environments. Body ecology produces modifications and adaptation in the living body, supporting multiple motives for participating in adventure sports and leisure in nature. Furthermore, immersion in extreme environments helps us to better understand cosmosis and may support an ecological understanding of our belonging to the world.

The Effect of Outdoor Exploration on the Scientific Attitude andPerception of Elementary Pre-Service Teachers - Focused on Birdwatching and Lagoon Exploration -

The Effect of Outdoor Exploration on the Scientific Attitude andPerception of Elementary Pre-Service Teachers - Focused on Birdwatching and Lagoon Exploration -

Meaning-making of student experiences during outdoor exploration time

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to gather the thoughts and opinions of students and their teachers around the benefits of outdoor exploration time. Students within three grade 3 classes in one western Canadian province were afforded opportunities to connect with the outdoor elements and each other in designated forested areas near their school, while also enjoying free outdoor learning time. Semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted for participants to share their experiences. Using a thematic approach, four key findings emerged from these interviews: expanding perspectives, connection to nature, sense of choice, and enjoyment. According to the findings, affording an outdoor space and the opportunity for students to spend time outside on a consistent basis may be an important way to give students the chance to learn in an organic way from nature, form deep connections to nature, develop within themselves a sense of choice, and find enjoyment in the natural environment.

Trail Formation Using Large Swarms of Minimal Robots

Due to the recent advances in robotics, large numbers of robots can be created that exhibit ‘swarm-like’ behavior. These robots, typically small and low-cost with restricted sensing, often exhibit Brownian motion similar to micro-particles. The development of algorithms that create collective behavior that is robust to external pressures has applications in outdoor exploration, search and rescue operations, and nanomedicine. Here, we outline how a swarm of minimal robots, exhibiting only Brownian motion and with limited sensing capabilities, can form trails using mechanisms inspired by diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA). We demonstrate how the trail is robust to obstacles and efficient at finding the closest target. We validate this algorithm both in simulation as well as in reality, using a swarm of up to 100 robots, and highlight the optimum requirements for trail formation.

Model-Based Coordinated Control of Four-Wheel Independently Driven Skid Steer Mobile Robot with Wheel–Ground Interaction and Wheel Dynamics

Four-wheel independently driven mobile robots are widely used in industrial automation, intelligent inspection, and outdoor exploration. The traditional kinematic control is usually applied for them, where only the chassis kinematics is taken into account and the robot dynamics (especially the wheel dynamics) is normally ignored. It may lead to some performance limitations such as the chattering phenomenon during robot rotating, because of the overactuation characteristic by four driving wheels. To address these problems, the integrated dynamic model is proposed, which includes chassis kinematics, chassis dynamics, wheel–ground interaction, and wheel dynamics. Subsequently, different from kinematic control, a model-based coordinated adaptive robust controller is developed, which generally consists of three-level designs for different parts of robot dynamics, and directly generates the motor driving torque commands for four wheels. The stability and tracking performance are theoretically guaranteed. Comparative experiments are carried out, and the results show the better performance of our proposed scheme.

A feasible, portable and convenient density measurement method for minerals via magnetic levitation

This work proposes an improved magnetic levitation (IML) method for measuring the density of minerals in outdoor exploration by horizontally setting the magnetic levitation device. The measuring characteristic of the method is analyzed and verified by a series of beads with known densities. Combined with the usage of different paramagnetic media, the method obtained a measuring range from 1.094 g cm−3 to 9.949 g cm−3, which could cover all common minerals. The method was then applied for measuring different minerals with densities from 1.828 g cm−3 to 6.742 g cm−3. The densities of the minerals were also measured using the pycnometer method and the densitometer method for comparison. The results showed that the IML method is more applicable for measuring single mineral particle with high accuracy (with a maximum of 1.08% relative error), while the other two commonly used methods have a significantly larger mean square error (0.076 g cm−3–0.331 g cm−3, 3–10 times larger approximately) and required samples of a much larger volume to achieve the same accuracy. Compared with the two common methods, the IML method consumes the least time of 22 min for 3 trials, which may save at least 55.1% in terms of time consumed in the measuring process. To our best knowledge, this is the first time that magnetic levitation has been employed in the characterization of minerals in outdoor exploration. Compared with the common methods, the IML method was found to be portable, convenient, and low-cost for outdoor exploration.

ICT and home-educating families: a qualitative multiple case study

Abstract While education is being increasingly permeated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the current school is considered outdated and hardly capable of responding to the challenges of our time. Home Education emerges as a growing alternative, especially in developing countries, where it is not yet properly regulated and developed. This article presents a qualitative multiple case study focused on exploring the use of ICT by 70 Colombian families who educate at home. Data analysis was conducted following Grounded Theory’s steps from human, educational and technological dimensions. The results show that, within a context of constant social pressure, parents conceive ICT as mediators that allow them to access open support communities and resources, in order to develop their own guiding skills, enhance the development of their children’s talents, mainly through gaming, collaboration, research and outdoor exploration. This becomes a lifestyle that ends up changing their relationships and family dynamics.

Seeing creativity in an augmented experiential learning environment

In recent years, augmented reality (AR) technology has opened up new opportunities for building more attractive and pedagogical learning settings and is regarded as a type of “next-generation” pedagogical media for promoting learning quality, especially for outdoor exploration activities. This study develops a new learning paradigm in outdoor co-space and implements a mobile AR system for a creative design course unit. Based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory, we develop an innovative teaching scheme and implement a learning system consisting of a mobile app designed for use with Google Glass, an Android-based smartphone, and a web-based platform. The Remote Associates Test (RAT) is used to assess critical thinking skills for problem solving. The proposed system implements a game-based learning activity consisting of RAT question generation and answering. Experiments were conducted with 36 students to assess system usability and learning effectiveness. In post-activity interviews, the students suggested that the use of “real” stimuli in the authentic environment improved learning effectiveness. Results also indicated that the question generation process had a more significant impact than question answering. Moreover, more than 90% of participants indicated that they were more likely to employ associative strategies and expose themselves to novel experiences after engaging in the associative training. It is expected that the proposed system can provide improved accessibility to other subject domains, such as language learning, eco-education, and social science education.

Performance-boosted triboelectric textile for harvesting human motion energy

Developing flexible, lightweight and sustainable power sources is an important route to provide electricity for portable electronics. Here, we demonstrate a high-performance double-layer–stacked triboelectric textile (DTET) for harvesting human motion energy. Both the Ni-coated polyester conductive textile and the silicone rubber were adopted as effective triboelectric materials. A high output open-circuit voltage of 540V and a short-circuit current of 140µA can be obtained from the DTET with the size of 5 ×5cm2, corresponding to a high peak surface power density of 0.892mW/cm2 at a load resistance of 10 MΩ. The output peak signal of the DTET can be used as a trigger signal of a movement sensor to design movement monitoring equipment. With only the energy harvested from walking, running or flapping, the DTET can directly light up 100 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) connected serially, and drive portable electronics, such as competition timer, digital clock and electronic calculator, which indicate the potential and broad application prospects in biological health monitoring, outdoor exploration, troop marching and portable electronics.

Performance-Oriented Coordinated Adaptive Robust Control for Four-Wheel Independently Driven Skid Steer Mobile Robot

Four-wheel independently driven skid-steered mobile robots are widely used in the fields of industrial automation and outdoor exploration. In most of existing controllers of skid-steered mobile robots, the wheel velocities are controlled independently to track the desired velocities from the high-level kinematic controller. However, this kind of control method may lead to chattering phenomenon of skid-steered mobile robots in practice, when the desired velocity commands of four wheels are not matched under different ground conditions. In this paper, the coordinated control problem is investigated for the four-wheel independently driven skid steer mobile robots, so as to solve the chattering phenomenon and also achieve good control performance under different ground conditions. Since the mobile robots are over-actuated and lack of suspension systems, a coordinated adaptive robust control scheme integrated with torque allocation technique is proposed. First, an adaptive robust control law is developed to attenuate the negative effects of load variations and uncertainties. Second, instead of directly giving the desired velocity commands, a torque control and allocation algorithm is developed to regulate the driving torque of each wheel motor. A coordinated control law with considering the wheel slip compensation is also proposed. Comparative experiments are carried out, and the results show the proposed scheme can avoid the chattering problem and achieve the excellent performance under different ground conditions.

Playing with power: an outdoor classroom exploration

ABSTRACTIn this ethnographic research, discovery of how preschool-aged children use play to wield their individual power in the outdoors is documented in a single classroom. Embedded as a participant-researcher and working from constructivist and critical theory orientations, the researcher seeks to understand how children use their play to construct the shared classroom cultural understanding of what it means to hold and wield power. Children age two and a half through five years old engage in a number of activities to experiment with what it means to be powerful. Imaginative play, physically risky play, as well as solo play are all explored. In light of the findings, various theories of power as expressed through the lens of critical theory will be used to analyse student and teacher voices.

'We're a little bit lost aren't we?': outdoor exploration, real and fantastical lands, and the educational possibilities of disorientation

'We're a little bit lost aren't we?': outdoor exploration, real and fantastical lands, and the educational possibilities of disorientation

Create a sensory garden

The summer is a great time for outdoor exploration. Angela Youngman provides some ideas for using your garden to stimulate the senses of all the children in your care.

MULTI-AGENT SWARM BASED LOCALIZATION OF HAZARDOUS EVENTS

Swarm robotic concept has become a topic of extensive research in hazardous environments where fault tolerant, robust and energy ecient approach is needed. In this paper we present behavioral based algorithm for outdoor environment exploration. This work is inspired by ant colony and honey bees behavior models. Our goal is to control agent's motion using simple rules and not to rely on wireless com- munication. Agents perform random walk combined with simple heuristic pheromone based rules which prevent frequent visits of previousy visited locations. In order to determine heuristic parameters which maximize area coverage, we optimize parameters by simulating swarm behavior in Matlab. Furthermore, we take into the account agent limitations, such as battery lifetime and we model a probability success of a mission with respect to that parameter.

Climbing mountains, hugging trees: A cross-cultural examination of love for nature

Developing a renewed love for nature is – some argue – a crucial component of addressing the environmental crisis. However, the connection between emotional bonds to nature and effective environmental action is not always straightforward, especially given vastly different notions of “love” and “nature” in different cultures. This article evaluates different models of “loving nature” in terms of their relationship to action and the inclusivity of their scope. In Norway, several philosopher-mountaineers advocate loving nature through friluftsliv, or outdoor exploration; while this approach has promoted change in a wealthy, sparsely populated country, its wider applicability and its approach to gender is questioned. In India, the Chipko movement, which aimed to save trees by hugging them, seems to provide a more inclusive form of loving nature. On closer examination, though, some Chipko advocates rely heavily on a vision of nature that is highly feminized and divorced from social realities. Alternatives to friluftsliv and Chipko are then examined, including Sigmund Kvaløy’s political ecophilosophy and varkari movements in India. Those movements that have a more practical, less idealized, view of nature-love are more likely to effect lasting, positive ecosocial change.

Points of View: A Survey of Survey Courses: Are They Effective?

Points of View: A Survey of Survey Courses: Are They Effective?