Environmental Education Centers

Eco-Researchers High School Programs

The Eco-Researcher Program is designed to engage students in real world environmental concerns, hands-on application and data analysis. Provides an interdisciplinary field experience open to all high school science content teachers and students in our district to support schools with the implementation of both the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and the Florida Standards. The high school Eco-Researchers Program is available at any of the DSBPC environmental centers: Energy and Marine Center (EMC), Starkey Environmental Education Center (SEEC) and Crossbar Ranch Environmental Education Center (CREEC).

Our high school programs webpage has a large variety of field lab experiences for teachers to choose from. Lab activities taught at our centers correspond with the Florida Standards taught in the classroom. Additional curriculum will be added and suggestions and development of new curriculum is always appreciated. If you don’t see an activity you like or want to try something new or different please don’t hesitate to ask.

We are reserving 3 days for each school to support science education with hands-on applied scientific activities. More days for each school will be made available 2^nd semester as well. The max number of students per day is 40, group numbers above 30 will be divided into two groups and the teacher will be responsible for teaching one of the activities.

All centers are managed by the school board, treated as a school and therefore do not require board approval (and the associated paperwork) to set up a visit. All that is required is approval from your school administration. We provide a bus that picks up and returns to school anytime before school ends (usually at least 30 minutes before the last bell) at no cost to school. With the help of our programs staff, you and your students can conduct a variety of research activities related to any science course offered in the district.

Labs/Activities are organized by quarter according to the latest district timeline for each high school level course.

Please select a Program: https://pasco.instructure.com/courses/76650/pages/eco-researchers

Please contact Josh McCart, Environmental Resource Teacher, for any questions or scheduling at jmccart@pasco.k12.fl.us

schedule a trip

Planning High School Field Experiences

Elementary & Middle School Programs are on a prearranged schedule. To plan a high school field experience at one of our environmental education centers follow these 6 simple steps.

Scheduling a trip

Contact Us! – Contact Josh McCart to determine what dates and locations are available.
School Approval! Make sure you submit an Activity Request form to your administration.
Schedule your visit– Choose dates and activities, determine pick up and drop off time and provide other useful information so we can ensure a successful experience.
Permission Slips! – Have your students get permission from their parents by filling out permission slip. (*Note: if you travel in any vehicle other than a school bus, you will need a different form)
Pre/post test Have your students take a pretest prior to their visit. This data is extremely important to those who fund our program.
Use the following helpful forms below to give to your students and parents.

Download HS visit packet to share with parents and students.

HS visit packet

Teachers: Please access additional resources on this canvas page