SciTrek Secondary Sign-Up Information

Thank you for your interest in bringing SciTrek Secondary to your classroom! We are currently fully booked for the 2024-25 academic year, but we will begin accepting bookings for the 2025-26 academic year in late summer. Please check back or reach out at that time for available dates and booking information.

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 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 on a journey of discovery, guiding them in small groups through scientific phenomena via observations, experimental trials, and data analysis. Students conclude the experience by sharing their findings through a structured reporting project that emphasizes critical thinking and problem-solving. We currently offer middle-school-aligned programs on topics including wave physics, cell respiration, germ growth and inhibition, and conservation of mass in chemical reactions.

Teacher Collaboration & Commitment

Teachers play a key role in SciTrek Modules, serving as expert leads while undergraduate mentors facilitate small-group learning. Each group of 3-6 students takes ownership of their investigation, while undergraduate mentors inspire engagement by modeling scientific curiosity, commitment to learning, and the pathway to higher education at a leading research university.

SciTrek provides:
✔ Training, support, and a stipend for participating teachers.
✔ In-class mentorship from UCSB undergraduates.
✔ Fully NGSS-aligned, hands-on science programming.

Teacher commitments include:

  • Attending brief preparatory meetings (15-30 minutes, held at your school) and engaging in pre-Module communication to ensure smooth execution.
  • Teaching and overseeing Module-specific activities on Days 1, 3, and 5 (when undergraduate mentors are not present).
  • Providing active classroom leadership and management on Days 2 and 4, when SciTrek mentors are in the classroom.
  • Assisting with data collection on student attitudes and learning to help improve our programming.
  • Attending two 1.5-hour orientations at UCSB with the undergraduate mentors who will be in your classroom (parking provided; orientations take place on the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding the Module).

Contact Us

For questions or more information about booking for the 2025-26 academic year, please contact the SciTrek Secondary Program Manager at chem-scitrekmanager@ucsb.edu.

If you are interested in SciTrek's Elementary Program (grades 2-6), please email scitrekelementary@chem.ucsb.edu for more details and signups.

We look forward to working with you!