Texas is home to some of the largest cities in the United States, including the Dallas Metroplex—the largest inland metropolitan area in the United States. The Dallas Metroplex is a city that encompasses 13 counties and gives students the opportunity to explore STEM in a unique and exciting city.
Museums & Zoos
The Perot Museum of Nature and Science strives to be a catalyst for learning through experiences that broaden understanding of our world and improve achievement. This museum offers hands-on discovery and adventures through topics such as life science, physics and astronomy. During field trips, students will expand their knowledge through auditorium- or lab-based programs, hall exhibits and more. Students and their schools also have the option to sleep over and get a behind-the-scenes look at the Museum as well as participate in an interactive science show.
After opening to the public in 1992, the Dallas World Aquarium provides an in-depth look at species from five continents and contains over 85,000 gallons of saltwater. Adventuring through the canopy of a South American rainforest or the massive 22,000-gallon walk-through tunnel provides students with an in-depth study of conservation, habitats, animal anatomy and more.
Credit: Fort Worth Zoo
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History engages its diverse community through creative, vibrant programs and exhibits that illustrate science in Texas and the American Southwest. The field trips change seasonally and give students the opportunity to explore the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and experience STEM with unique curricula through many exhibits, the Omni Theater, planetarium and more. The museum offers many exhibit options for students to explore including a 9/11 tribute exhibit, space exploration programs and more.
Boasting the title of the number four zoo in the nation, the Fort Worth Zoo is a place that encourages the strengthening of bonds between humans and the environment through its main principles of conservation, education and entertainment.
Credit: Fort Worth Zoo
Explore the legacy of President John F. Kennedy from the very spot that Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed him. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, formerly the Texas School Book Depository, serves as an impartial, multi-generational destination and forum for exploring the memory and effects of the assassination of President Kennedy through his legacy and its impact on society. Engage, connect and inspire students through the various educational programs offered at the Sixth Floor Museum. Through these programs, students can explore a variety of programs such as the many myths and conspiracies that surround the Kennedy assassination, conduct a crime scene investigation of the Texas School Book Depository or even learn about President Kennedy’s life before his presidency and campaign.
After expanding from the main terminal building of the Dallas Love Field Airport, the Frontiers of Flight Museum serves as an interactive chronological experience of the history of human flight. As an affiliate with the Smithsonian Institute, this museum creates a unique learning environment for students to explore STEM and flight through guided tours and classroom programs among a variety of programs. Take your students to new heights in exploring the challenges of flight, the importance of weather, the history of flight and more.
Credit: Frontiers of Flight Museum
The National Videogame Museum serves as a place to preserve the history of the video game industry, both physical and the stories and information of it. This interactive museum lets visitors play the games on display in order to help them learn about video games in an educational and exciting way.
Credit: National Videogame Museum
The field trips that the museum offers allow students to get a first-hand look at video games and their history. They also help to give students a look at STEM within the video game industry.
Universities and Academia
As part of Navarro College, the Cook Center Planetarium provides a close look at astronomy and science-themed programs in its large theater with a 60-foot diameter circular screen and 200 seats. Although primarily used by the college, the Planetarium is a great space for all students.
Industry & Technology
As the first nuclear power plant in Texas, the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant gives visitors the opportunity to learn about the history of electricity. The Comanche Peak Visitors Center is located just a few miles from the nuclear power plant, but the visitor center offers the opportunity to research the history and process of energy production in the form of interactive exhibits, group tours and more. These tours give students an up-close view of the power plant itself and a control room simulator.
Nature/Outdoor Activities
After initially opening to the public in 1984, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is home to over 60 exotic species throughout its open range 2,700-acre space. It’s the first facility of its kind to be accredited by the American Zoos and Aquariums Association and offers a wide range of programs such as safari trips, behind-the-scenes tours, educational tours and more. Fossil Rim’s many workshops allow students to learn about conservation, animal nutrition and wildlife. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center also invites students for a variety of camps, such as a mini-camp or an overnight camp, to get an in-depth look at the center and all that is has to offer.
Trinity River Audubon Center
Credit: Trinity River Audubon Center
Sitting on what once was an illegal dump site, the Trinity River Audubon Center is part of the 6,000-acre Great Trinity Forest and is the largest urban hardwood forest in the United States. The center is one of the National Audubon Society’s flagship environmental education centers in the Central Flyway and serves as a reclaimed haven for a vast array of birds and other wildlife in an increasingly urbanized metropolitan area. Advertising a “natural education with a twist of STEM,” this adventure will be a fantastic opportunity for students to explore hands-on programs through guided or self-guided tours and even overnight adventures about ecology, math in nature, animal adaptations and more.
