Contemporary Science Center

Welcome! 

We will be moving from the Contemporary Science Center's website to the new Research Triangle High School website at www.researchtrianglehighschool.org. Please visit the new site to learn about our proposed charter high school.  

The Contemporary Science Center (CSC) offers field studies for math, science, or technology students ranging from middle school to high school. Our Field Studies are created for teachers to bring their students to the center of science and technology in North Carolina - Research Triangle Park. At the CSC, students experience a day of authentic science that enriches your regular lessons. These are field trips designed for high schoolers - in-depth, authentic, tied to the Standard Course of Study and cutting-edge.

Each Study guides the students through a five hour problem-based experience, with cutting-edge science from local companies being the 'relevance' that kids respond readily to (and meets the Standard Course of Study). Each study divides the day into three parts. Initially the students learn or review important concepts, in very active, social and creative hands-on ways, so they have enough knowledge to address the day's 'problem'. Then they take on the role of researchers and are guided to brainstorm possible solution paths, truly 'inquiring' into the problem at hand. Additionally, each Field Study has a strong data gathering, analysis and modeling section, where kids experience first-hand how much math is truly the language of science. Computational modeling is often used in order to speed up the results the class needs for the day. Each day ends with the students presenting and discussing their recommendations for how this company's discovery should be used, as company scientists are required to do.