The Jim Dunlap Living Materials Center
The Jim Dunlap Living Materials Center began as an experiment. In 1976, biologist Jim Dunlap was looking for a way to interest his high school students in biology. "I found that you cannot teach if students do not listen. They will not listen unless you hold their attention. Animals hold their attention." The popularity of his class grew so steadily, he had to relocate the class to bigger quarters every few years. In 1979, they moved to the basement of Plano Senior High School. In 1983, the class was relocated to four classrooms on the high school's second floor. Four years later, it was time to expand again. This time a bond proposal was passed to cover the construction of the center and create a home base for both the Living Materials Center and the Outdoor Learning Center as they exist today. In December 2010 Jim Dunlap retired as the curator of the Living Materials Center. At that time, the Living Materials Center was rededicated as the Jim Dunlap Living Materials Center to honor his many years of service to the students of Plano ISD.