Evidently, this is gaining a lot of popularity in the traditional school setting... found this on an education site.

Chard defines project learning as an "in-depth investigation of a real-world topic worthy of children's attention and effort." She advocates a three-phased approach: Phase 1 involves an initial discussion of a project topic, including children's firsthand experiences related to the topic. Phase 2 involves fieldwork, sessions with experts, and various aspects of gathering information, reading, writing, drawing, and computing. Phase 3 is the presentation of the project to an audience.

If schoolchildren are given the gift of exploration, society will be the beneficiary, both in practical and in theoretical ways, scholars say. "This is the way that mathematics started," notes MIT's Seymour Papert. "It started not as this beautiful, pure product of the abstract mind. It started as a way of controlling the water of the Nile, building the pyramids, sailing a ship. And gradually it got richer and richer."

Kids who are excited about what they learn tend to dig more deeply and to expand their interest in learning to a wide array of subjects. They retain what they learn rather than forget it as soon as they disgorge it for a test. They make connections and apply their learning to other problems. They learn how to collaborate, and their social skills improve. They are more confident talking to groups of people, including adults. And, as a number of research reports suggest, project-based learning correlates positively with improved test scores, reduced absenteeism, and fewer disciplinary problems.

Examples of projects applicable to the here and now abound:

• At Mountlake Terrace High School, in Mountlake Terrace, Washington, teams of students in a high school geometry class design a state-of-the-art high school for 2050. The students create a site plan, make simple architectural drawings of rooms and a physical model, draw up a budget, and write a narrative report. They present their work to real architects, who judge the projects and "award" the contract.
• At Newsome Park Elementary School, in Newport News, Virginia, second graders curious about the number of medicines a classmate takes and her frequent trips to the doctor investigate -- with the classmate's permission -- the causes of cystic fibrosis. They invite experts to tell them about the disease, write up their research, use graphs and PowerPoint to tell the story, sell pledges to a cystic fibrosis walk-a-thon, and participate in the event.
• At the Mott Hall School, in New York City's Harlem district, a fifth-grade project on kites involves using creative writing skills in poems and stories with kite themes. While designing their own kites on the computer and then making them by hand, students learn about electromagnetism and the principles of ratios and proportions. A casual remark by one student leads to an in-depth study of the role of kites in various cultural celebrations.

Useful Websites:
http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning
http://www.projectapproach.org/
http://kidswhothink.blogspot.com/

Ex. of Elementary Using Project Based Learning:
http://www.edutopia.org/newsome-park
http://www.edutopia.org/hula-high-tech-video
http://www.edutopia.org/beginning-journey-five-year-olds-drive-their-own-pbl-projects