Small cooled CCD cameras with wide-angle lenses and a portable control computer is used to increase student participation in outdoor, nighttime sky observations as an integral part of astronomy and physics laboratories. Currently available technology makes it possible to assemble portable micro- observatories that even a novice can setup and operate. The unguided images obtained in this way can be used for astrometry, photometry, and spectroscopy of bright stars, planets, and comets to red magnitudes of 6.5. The micro- observatory concept can be used at any site where weather and lights normally render outdoor activities ineffective for producing useful scientific results in large class sections.
