This qualitative study investigated non-guided applications of school science by high school youth in Ontario in non-school contexts. Although science education (in Ontario and elsewhere) mostly focuses on the meaningful learning of science, learning that can lead to knowledge application, non-guided application of acquired knowledge is rarely documented. The data were obtained from demographic questions and focus group discussions, based on sociocultural theory of learning and complex cognitive processes. The findings demonstrate that youth had the sociocultural and cognitive knowhow to serve as a springboard for independent knowledge application through problem solving, and noted the youth's apparent affinity for personal relevance, absence of initiative for societal problems and collaboration, and lack of integration of indigenous knowledge.