Exploratory Sciences

Animal Science and Oceanography

History

The Exploratory Sciences were offered to Carroll ISD Middle School students for the first time during the 2000 / 2001 school year.  At that time Dr. Robin Ryan was the principal of the only middle school in CISD.  His vision and support gave rise to the establishment of three science elective courses that were intended to not only support the core Sciences but also to allow the students high interest topics and continuous hands-on experiences.

In addition to Animal Science and Oceanography / Geology now being taught, there was a third course titled Environmental Science.  All three courses were designed to last 12 weeks and were written by David Allison.  The program was an instant success and due to the high level of student interest, a second teacher, Shawnda Powers, was hired.  Much of the Oceanography course was rewritten by Ms. Powers.  A second middle school, George Dawson, was added to the District in ’02-’03 and the Exploratory Sciences Program was made available to students at both schools.  In 2005, the Environmental Science course was incorporated into the other two Exploratory Sciences courses.  The remaining two courses were extended to become semester-long courses.

Major support from the Carroll Education Foundation and specific donations from individuals in the Southlake community have allowed for the development of an outdoor Research Center that consists of  an extensive research garden and a solar powered outdoor classroom.  By the end of the ’07 – ’08 school year there should be a wind generator erected in the Research Center to power the waterfall and filtration unit in the garden pond.

Purpose

The Exploratory Sciences Program was developed to stimulate student interest in science through interactive field and laboratory investigations.  Major concepts such as scientific method and data analysis are taught to help students learn to make informed decisions.   The use scientific tools and equipment as well as computers and technology are employed to support scientific investigations.