I have never done a major project, let alone a MWEE. I think the background content and activities would help to set the tone and the purpose of a project before getting started. MWEE are meant to be meaningful and impactful and I think giving students purpose and defining an issue is important, in terms of WHY students should care about a MWEE. By the time they are doing their outdoor field experience, it should be a matter of collecting data. 

I think an investigative question that my students could work on would be how to measure water quality, so that perhaps we could try to formulate solutions on how to improve water quality.