Field Trips and Tours

Since 2004, The Longhorn Project has provided the STEM-based lessons to over eighty thousand (80,000) of students. In the 2018-19 school year, over 5,000 students from the Clear Creek, Dickison. Galveston, Houston, Santa Fe, Pasadena, and Pearland school districts and several private schools visited the project site and participated in a “hands-on” genetics lesson utilizing the Texas registered longhorns for data and visual evaluation. In addition, students learned about animal husbandry, fruit and vegetable cultivation, pond management, aquaculture, soil research and recycling technologies, and how this knowledge relates to the future of human space flight.

Educational Curriculum
Field trips are offered to school age students from third to twelfth grade. The field trip curriculum, based on the TEKS (Texas Education Knowledge Skills), was developed through a collaborative effort between the Clear Creek ISD Elementary and Secondary Level Science Coordinators and The Longhorn Project. Although the curriculum was designed based on the educational requirements for the third and seventh grade history and science program, the curriculum can be tailored to meet the needs of the student audience.

Field Trip Educational Components and Objectives

Animal Science - Students will:
• learn about the history on the longhorns and lessons on the distinct characteristics of the longhorn and basic genetics;
• have the opportunity to tour the longhorn barn and feed the animals, as well as, learn about the basic daily and medical care required to raise longhorns;
• about the various agricultural programs offered by their local county extension 4-H club, high school FFA chapters, and competitive showing opportunities offered.

Horticulture and Aquaculture Science – Students will:
• tour the garden area that includes twenty (20) beds with a variety of flowering plants, fruits, vegetables, herbs and cactus;
• receive lessons on the ponds where they will learn how to identify various fish and how the minnows are introduced to the water without help from a human.

Sustainability - Students will learn about the basic principals of sustainability and have the opportunity to:
• observe four composting containers; one natural environment composting container and three in-bed containers;
• learn about reusable recycling programs and the basic principles of technologies as related to agriculture and farming in space;
• incorporate the various elements from the garden area into the lab lessons where they can view everyday things in the science lab through the microscope

Saturn V Mission and Rocket Park - This lesson is taught in the NASA Rocket Park, where students will:
• observe one of the original Saturn V Rockets;
• learn about the history of the rocket, as well as, the first missions into outer space and lunar landings.

Field Trip Schedule & Operating Hours
Monday – Friday during the school year and by appointment during holiday and summer months. The field trips are generally conducted for 3.0 hours as follows:
9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
12:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Food/Beverages:
Students may bring their lunch and enjoy a picnic in the garden patio, on the grounds, or in the open style Western Heritage Pavilion. The Longhorn Project provides water.

Attire:
Students should wear comfortable clothes appropriate for the weather, closed toe shoes, a hat and sunscreen.

Capacity:
The Longhorn Project can accommodate small groups or large group of 100 – 140 guests per field trip.

Audience: Public, private, & home school students and youth and adult organizations

Location:
NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058

For information on group rates and/ or to schedule a field trip, please contact Susan Parker, Lead Science Teacher & Field Trip Coordinator, at (832) 755-8165 or thelonghornproject@yahoo.com. For other inquiries, please click below on Contact Us.