Presenting extensive background material on the development of shopping centers, this paper includes elementary and junior high school outdoor education activities centering upon shopping center studies. Background material includes analysis of the following: shopping center types (architecture, regional location, etc); land use (guidelines for successful center development, capital costs and services, locational considerations, problems restricting land use, conditions affecting development, and area required for retail stores); transportation and communication (transit system and shopping center parking requirements); consumer behavior (determinants of store choice, store layouts and displays, motives for shopping preference, percentage of sales by retail group, public appeal, and consumer and grocery shopping); how the residential area can affect the growth of shopping centers; advertising related to shopping centers (exterior and interior sign display and printed advertising). The activities section of this paper includes activities directed toward parking lots; people; consumerism and comparative studies, advertising; service, security and design; residence and area can affect capital costs and transportation; and the classroom. Each activity is defined in terms of objective and method. For example, the third activity in the activity section on parking lots is titled "Parking Spaces Available"; objectives include determination of the number of parking stalls available and the number available for customer parking; method involves counting, multiplying (rows), and subtracting skills. (JC)