This project enables Franklin Pierce College to introduce "Discovery Laboratory Exercises" to 47% of its undergraduates. Our working definition of a "Discovery Laboratory", which is compatible with Pierce's newly implemented interdisciplinary curriculum plan, includes: exercises to encourage the induction of principles by experiment and not merely verification; a forum for students to investigate scientific processes at a level consistent with their own intellectual development; experiments with instruments that offer state of the art laboratory experiences to emulate the future workplace; generating the excitement of discovery in science to attract undergraduates to careers in science; opportunities for both science and non-science majors to experience the capabilities of technologically advanced instrumentation. The twenty-four discovery laboratory exercises cited in this work will be applied to Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Integrated Science courses. These labs are designed to improve the scientific and technological literacy of both the science and non-science major students and to convey that the study of science is an active process - not a reactive one.
