The Science Resource Center provides support to science teachers and students throughout the district and at all grade levels with:

Volunteers help prepare these labs for the teachers to check out.

Volunteer Opportunities
Some projects can be taken home, others must be done at SRC

Animal Lab – cleaning animal cages and feeding

Fossil Making – making "fossils" for second grade students

All of the Special Events occur for every school, so a volunteer contact is a must for the SRC.  

1 st Grade Chick eggs – Delivery about October 12 th. The SRC will contact each school to send a volunteer to pick up the eggs to be delivered.

2 nd Grade Butterflies – Delivery about March 28 th. The SRC will contact each school to send a volunteer to pick up the caterpillars to be delivered. There may be some preparation work to be done before delivery can take place. Also available will be a short discussion on the life of the butterfly that the volunteer may do in the classroom.

3 rd Grade Nature Trails –Simple Machines - Every 3 rd grader visits the nature trails to learn about simple machines and participate in environmental activities. Each group will have hands on activities with inclined planes, levers, pulleys and wheel and axle, and then also learn to use the compass and to navigate through 6 stations. Volunteers are needed to help facilitate many of the activities.

5 th Grade Nature Trails – Every 5 th grader visits the nature trails to participate in a variety of environmental activities.

Special Events  

These events are to be booked with the SRC by each school’s Assistant Principal. Once the dates are booked, the VIPS Coordinator may then take over and coordinate the volunteers for the activity.

Animal Odyssey - Each school may schedule a volunteer led 120-minute field trip for kindergarten students. The students visit stations to learn  characteristics of fish, reptiles, birds and small mammals and will see live examples of each. Volunteers are trained to present the information at the station of their choice.

Gulf Mysteries – A field trip for the 1 st graders run by trained volunteers in which students explore the Gulf of Mexico and learn about its inhabitants. Plants and animals living in this ocean environment have many interesting adaptations that allow their needs to be met. Students will also identify various ways living organisms depend upon each other and the environment.

EcoAdventure - A field trip for the 2 nd graders run by trained volunteers to teach the students about different habitats and the plants and animals found in each one. The students will make a variety of plant and animal models to take home with them and will even act in a play about life in a salt marsh!  

Demo Training

Volunteers are needed to learn the different demos offered by the SRC. A demo is a presentation centered on a particular animal or scientific concept. The volunteer is trained in content and any specific handling skills needed for the animals. Demos are scheduled at all levels of instruction and can be targeted, if possible, to schools of preference for volunteers. Demos generally last one class period (40 – 50 minutes) and are presented to no more than 50 students at a time. Multiple demos may be needed in one day in order to accommodate all students in a grade level.

If you are interested in being a demo volunteer, check out our calendar for the next training class that interests you. The following lists current demos. If you are a volunteer with a particular area of expertise and have an idea for a new demo, contact either Alice Flood (281) 897-4007 or Denise Martin (281) 897- 4695. We are always looking for new ideas for our students and teachers!

Guinea Pigs: Kindergarten (30 minutes).  A story, Guinea Pigs Don’t Read Books, is read and discussed.  Live guinea pigs are shown.

Hedgehog Demo: Kindergarten (30 minutes).  The Hat by Jan Brett is read and discussed and a live hedgehog is shown.

Chinchilla: 1st grade (45 minutes).  A live chinchilla is used to demonstrate its characteristics, behaviors, and adaptations to the environment.  The students may touch the chinchilla and then watch as it rolls in its dust bath to clean itself.

Body Coverings Demo: 1st grade (45 minutes).  A combination of live animals and teaching aids are used to describe the body coverings of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.  This is designed to go with the Undercover Lab.

Reptiles: 2nd grade (45 minutes).  A selection of live reptiles will be available for close examination by the students with a discussion of their various characteristics and interesting behaviors.

Insects: 2nd grade (45 minutes). The insect's place in our ecosystem will be discussed.  A sample insect collection will be shown along with live African Hissing Cockroaches.

Amphibians: 3rd grade (45 minutes).  A selection of live amphibians is available for close examination by the students.  Various characteristics and interesting behaviors of amphibians are discussed.

Snakes: 3rd grade (45 minutes). Students view a combination of 35-mm slides and observe several live, non-venomous specimens to discover the snake’s unique adaptations.

Aquatic Bird Study Skins: 4th grade (45 minutes). Students study different aquatic bird skins to discover their adaptations for life in or near the water.  This fits nicely with the Galveston Bay demo presented at the fourth grade level.     

Arthropods: 4th grade (45 minutes). Live and preserved specimens are used to compare and contrast characteristics of different classes of arthropods.

Bird Study Skins: 5th grade (45 minutes).  Study skins will be used to illustrate the many unique characteristics and adaptations of this class of animals.

Mammal Skulls: 5th grade (45 minutes).  The volunteer discusses traits such as eye placement and tooth arrangement to provide clues for the students to guess the identity of common skulls. They will then be given the correct answer with a discussion of similarities and differences and identifying characteristics.  Students need paper and pen or pencil.

Food Chains/Food Webs:  6th grade (50 minutes).  The volunteer brings a variety of live animals to link as a food chain, ultimately creating a food web.  A power point presentation accompanies the lesson.

Biomes:  7th grade (50 minutes).  The volunteer brings a variety of plants and animals indigenous to several of the biomes studied:  tundra, desert, grassland/savannah, deciduous forest, rainforest. 

Microbiology: High school biology.  Presentation requires 2 days and access to gas jets and bunsen burners.  Safety, a demonstration of sterile technique, and student demonstration of proper technique are covered the first day.  On the second day, students pour their own sterile petri dishes and inoculate them. 

Dangerous Plants & Animals: Environmental Science classes.  Brief discussion of plants with emphasis on invertebrate and vertebrate animals of our area which students should know about before participating in outdoor labs or field trips.

Animal Adaptations:  Environmental Science classes.  Various vertebrates and invertebrates are presented during a discussion of the special adaptations they have for survival.  Both live animals and bird study skins are presented.