Secondary Sign-Up Information

We are now accepting SciTrek Secondary Module requests for the 2024-5 academic year.  Click here to submit your request for a Module.

SciTrek brings immersive, interactive, NGSS-aligned 5-day science experiences– SciTrek Modules– to middle school (and soon, high school) classrooms in Santa Barbara and Goleta. SciTrek is free to participants, and stipends are provided for participating teachers. Our science programs are designed and overseen by PhD staff and faculty and facilitated by a diverse, trained cohort of UCSB undergraduate students.  A SciTrek Module takes students gradually, in a small-group format, from the introduction of a scientific phenomenon through a series of observations and experimental trials to a data analysis and reporting project where students’ critical thinking, problem-solving and journeys of discovery are shared with peers.  We currently offer middle-grade aligned programs on topics that include wave physics, cell respiration, germ growth and inhibition, and conservation of mass in chemical reactions.

Teachers are true facilitators and collaborators in these Modules, taking the role of expert lead while our undergraduate mentors guide, facilitate, and encourage students in small groups of 3-6 students.  Small groups of students take shared ownership of the production of new knowledge on a specific question, and our undergraduate mentors take the experience to the next level for the middle school students we serve, modeling a passion for science, a commitment to learning, and a personal path that includes a place at a globally renowned Research university.

We provide support, training, and a stipend to the teachers we work with. We require a commitment from teachers, as well:

  1. To attend a series of brief preparatory meetings (our coordinators can come to you at your school for these 15- to 30-minute meetings) and engage in pre-Module communication to ensure that Modules are executed smoothly,
  2. To teach and oversee Module-specific activities on Module days when our undergraduate mentors are not present (Days 1, 3 and 5 of the 5-day module), and
  3. To provide active and engaged classroom management and leadership when our undergraduate mentors are in the classroom with students. 
  4. We also require assistance with data collection on student attitudes and learning to help us with the continual monitoring and evaluation of our programming, and
  5. Attendance at two1.5-hour orientations at UCSB with the undergraduates who will be in your classroom (parking is covered; orientations run late afternoons the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding the Module).

We are now accepting SciTrek Secondary Module requests for the 2024-5 academic year.  Click here to submit your request for a Module.

You can also reach out any time with questions by contacting our Senior Manager, Charlotte Zeamer (czeamer@ucsb.edu). If you are interested in SciTrek's Elementary Program (grades 2nd-6th), you can email scitrekelementary@chem.ucsb.edu for more information about their program and signups.