Breadcrumb

UC Santa Barbara
K-14 Science Education and Outreach Programs

MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: OCEANS-TO-CLASSROOMS (O2C)

msi.ucsb.edu/education

Oceans-to-Classrooms provides an ocean view of the world in an effort to increase science literacy for students of all ages. Multi-faceted programs immerse participants in marine science to explore the mysteries of the sea and its critical role on the planet, while seeking solutions to its most pressing challenges. Oceans-to- Classrooms delivers innovative local and global learning to K-14 institutions, educators, community groups and the public. O2C takes advantage of the rich resources of MSI, and is uniquely positioned to link marine research and education. UCSB is home to dozens of leading marine scientists conducting cutting edge research from the coral reefs of Polynesia, to the kelp forests of the Pacific and to Antarctica. O2C taps into this expertise to provide pioneering education programs based on the latest marine science research.

The Research Experience & Education Facility (REEF): The REEF is UCSB's interactive aquarium facility and is equipped with state-of-the-art touch tanks and aquaria, from 2 to 2,000 gallons. Our primary destination program, the REEF is located just down the road from MSI, and in addition to hosting visits from over 20,000 students of all ages, it sponsors the Mobile REEF, a traveling experience that visits classrooms throughout Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. The REEF is also open to the campus and general public on Fridays and Saturdays.
Floating Lab Program: Provides students the opportunity to explore the Santa Barbara Channel aboard the Condor Express.
Marine Science ScOutreach: Developed in collaboration with the local and regional Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Girl Scouts of America (GSA), this program consists of specifically aligned marine science content that supports BSA/GSA Oceanography Merit Badge fulfillment.
Family Science Night: Provides support for local schools through education and outreach that highlights the role and resources of UCSB and MSI to local and regional communities.
LTER Schoolyard: The Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research (SBC LTER) education program is organized around a theme of kelp forest/watershed ecology. SBC also serves as a cross-site education research program led by KBS SLTER and in collaboration with the SGS and BES Schoolyard programs to examine science literacy in middle and high school-aged students. Program Research Experience for Teachers and Professional Development components.
Science of MPAs: Program is organized around a theme of temperate marine ecology. Similar to the Schoolyard, this thematic approach utilizes the science, conservation and policy, developed through PISCO, of marine protected areas, that informs an integrated program for K-12 students, K-12 teachers, undergraduate and graduate students.

Materials Research Laboratory (MRL)

www.mrl.ucsb.edu/mrl/outreach/educational

The Education Programs at the Materials Research Laboratory provide professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers, research experiences for undergraduates as well as community college students and educational experiences for K-12 students. The Materials Research Laboratory (MRL) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was established in September 1992 with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and became an NSF Materials Research Science & Engineering Center (MRSEC) in 1996. Its primary role is to support interdisciplinary research, training and education through the study of materials with chemical and structural complexity. These materials range from self-assembling polymers to atomically layered semiconductor materials and have the common theme that multiple length-scales play an important role in their physical properties.

ScienceLine: ScienceLine is an internet-based question and answer service that connects MRL researchers with K-12 schools. Students and teachers submit questions online and receive a response from one or more UCSB scientists within a week. Approximately 50 volunteer scientist responders participate each year and are recruited from Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Life Science and Earth Science departments at UCSB. All the questions and responses are entered into a searchable online archive, which itself is a curriculum supplement for science teachers. ScienceLine receives approximately 300 questions per year, and currently, over 5000 questions are archived on the ScienceLine website. The program is designed primarily as a resource for local Santa Barbara County students and teachers; annually, 75% of the questions come from local schools, with the rest coming from students throughout California, the nation and internationally. The ScienceLine program has evolved to include MRL Multimedia Highlights, which includes video interviews, answers and presentations, and YouTube-style videos on topics in Materials Science.
Build a Buckyball Workshop: The "Build a Buckyball" workshop is based on a molecular model kit of the Carbon-60 molecule first developed by Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the Buckminsterfullerene (Buckyball), to provide K-12 students with a hands-on way to share in the discovery of the structure of this unique molecule. Students, ranging from elementary to early high school, are given a brief PowerPoint introduction focused on Materials science and the scale of the nanometer, different forms of carbon and the relationship between molecular structure and material properties. As part of the workshop, students build their own six-inch Buckyball models with instruction by UCSB graduate student volunteers. The workshop is flexible enough to adapt to different environments including summer programs, school year classrooms, after-school programs and special events.
It’s A Material World: Five different hands-on activities inspire inquiry into Materials Science related topics and emphasize the fascinating nature of science. This program is available for elementary school science nights. Students and parents explore the world of materials presented by MRL graduate students while learning about present and future applications of the materials.
ScienceLine: ScienceLine is an internet-based question and answer service that connects MRL researchers with K-12 schools. Students and teachers submit questions online and receive a response from one or more UCSB scientists within a week. Approximately 50 volunteer scientist responders participate each year and are recruited from Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Life Science and Earth Science departments at UCSB. All the questions and responses are entered into a searchable online archive, which itself is a curriculum supplement for science teachers. ScienceLine receives approximately 300 questions per year, and currently, over 5000 questions are archived on the ScienceLine website. The program is designed primarily as a resource for local Santa Barbara County students and teachers; annually, 75% of the questions come from local schools, with the rest coming from students throughout California, the nation and internationally. The ScienceLine program was also evolved to include MRL Multimedia Highlights, which includes video interviews, answers and presentations, and YouTube-style videos on topics in Materials Science.
Research Experience for Teachers (RET): Secondary school teachers participate in laboratory research, under the mentorship of graduate, post-doctoral and faculty researchers. During their second summer in the program, teachers work collaboratively to translate their research experiences into curriculum resources. All of the curriculum projects are archived on our website in a database.
Models and Materials: Models and Materials is a three-year teacher professional development program that brings together teams of local teachers from junior high and high school art and science. The teachers develop integrated curriculum modules that bring visual art concepts to the science classroom and science concepts to the art classroom. The program introduces materials science and provides a new way to communicate scientific concepts to students.
Research Interns in Science and Engineering (RISE): Science and engineering students from UCSB and other universities acquire research experience in a variety of exciting fields through these internships. Interns meet regularly to share their experiences and report on their progress. Our research interns often present at conferences such as at the annual Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Cooperative International Science and Engineering Internships (CISEI): The Cooperative International Science and Engineering Internships program, sponsored by the Materials Research Laboratory and the International Center for Materials Research, sends US science and engineering undergraduates to international partner institutions for a 10-week summer research experience. Internships are available at research centers in Santiago-Chile; Eindhoven-Netherlands; Dublin-Ireland; Cork-Ireland; Oxford-England; Shanghai-China and Saarbruecken-Germany.
California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP): The California Alliance for Minority Participation provides resources and opportunities to under-represented students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The program is sponsored by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation at the National Science Foundation, and is part of the statewide CAMP program. The Summer Research Program provides a 10 week intensive research experience for CAMP eligible students interested in a career in science, engineering, technology or mathematics. CAMP participants work in a UCSB laboratory with a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher mentor. Mentors provide one-on-one training and support for the research project. In addition to research, the interns also participate in weekly group meetings to develop oral presentation skills, attend special seminars and present their results at an end-of-summer poster session. Students also present their research at the statewide CAMP symposium the year after completing their internship.

Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP)

csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu

CSEP Education Programs seek to increase science literacy by engaging the broadest range of learners in science and engineering education opportunities. We collaborate with educational partners at UCSB and in the community, bringing together students, educators, and researchers to develop activities which motivate, recruit and retain students in science and engineering fields. These programs also create new social networks and include mentorship as a particularly powerful resource to engage more students from disadvantaged and/or under-represented backgrounds.

Our Education Programs Seek To:
    * Recruit a wide range of students as research interns in science and engineering
    * Establish partnerships with science teachers to promote innovative k-12 programs
    * Create hands-on science activities and resources that raise the profile of science and engineering in the local area
    * Engage graduate researchers in supervision and instruction that enables them to be mentors to younger recruits to science and engineering

Family Science in the Community (FUSE): Family Science in the Community began in Fall 2008 with a program for underrepresented students and their families to gain familiarity with the practice of science, its importance in education, and its promise of exciting career options. Biannually, Family Ultimate Science Exploration (FUSE) nights, will be offered at all four junior high schools in the Santa Barbara School District. At FUSE events, students and their families rotate in 30-minute sessions through 3 distinct science activities related to physics, chemistry and biology in either Spanish or English. UCSB science and engineering students, both undergraduate and graduate, lead these activities introducing themselves and talking briefly about their current studies and personal interests. Three special screenings per year, Science Movie Nights, a venue for all students and families at the junior highs at the marvelous Marjorie Luke Theater. Prior to viewing, a scientist will provide an introduction to tie the scientific relevance to seemingly pure entertainment.
After School Science Clubs (at Cesar Chavez Charter, Cleveland, and Harding Elementary Schools, Santa Barbara, and La Cumbre Junior High Schools): Let's Explore Applied Physical Science (LEAPS) engages UCSB graduate and undergraduate Fellows as instructors and mentors for inquiry-based science in Grades 3-8 classrooms. By establishing collaboration between Fellows, science teachers, and UCSB scientists in school classrooms, the LEAPS project implements hands-on, minds-on learning experiences in physical science.
CSEP Science Center (CSC): The CSC contains a host of hands-on science equipment, allowing students to learn about a variety of topics in an interactive way. For example, there is equipment for student use that demonstrates conservation of momentum, flow of fluids, or principles of electricity.
School for Scientific Thought: The School for Scientific Thought (SST) aims to provide UCSB science and engineering graduate students the opportunity to design and teach a five-session course, on a topic of their choice, for an audience of local and regional high school students. The SST is designed to benefit high school students and teachers, graduate students, faculty mentors, the local technical industry, and the national state of science as a whole. Graduate students will teach their course) in either Fall or Winter over five Saturdays. During these five weeks, participants will have the option to attend lunches and afternoon activities hosted by UCSB undergraduates, UCSB groups and offices, or local industry representatives.
Apprentice Researchers (AR): The AR program gives local high school students and science teachers an opportunity to do hands-on, minds-on scientific investigations in a dynamic research environment. The students and teachers who participate in the program work with graduate student and post-doctoral researchers in UCSB science and engineering laboratories, gaining first-hand experience in how science research is conducted. The apprentices work in a variety of science and engineering laboratories at UCSB for four weeks during the summer. Four days a week each apprentice spends the day working with her/his own mentor on a research project based on the research the mentor is doing for their graduate or post-doctoral studies. Apprentices practice presentation skills and give weekly scientific talks based on their research projects. On Fridays, apprentices work together as a group, participating in activities such as workshops, seminars, field trips, and lab visits. Field trips to industrial laboratories and other UCSB research labs give students a view of the wide variety of job opportunities available after their schooling.
Summer Institute in Mathematics and Science (SIMS): The SIMS program was established to engage and challenge high achieving incoming UCSB freshmen that have traditionally been underrepresented in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. All SIMS students engage in activities and training to promote the development of effective academic skills, especially in their critical first year. To prepare for their academic courses, SIMS students take an intense individualized introduction to university Calculus, Chemistry or Physics, and Technical Writing the summer prior to matriculation at UCSB. Based on their interests, students work in small research groups with graduate student mentors. The mentors orient SIMS students to research culture and community at UCSB, as well to the process of scientific inquiry by providing authentic hands-on experiences that build skills, confidence, and curiosity. Social events take place daily linking participants with undergraduate program assistants, program staff, and UCSB faculty with whom they will work. Informal late evening discussions are hosted by the onsite Faculty-in-residence. The summer program culminates with finals, papers, and a 15 minute technical oral presentation on their research projects given in front of 100+ faculty, researchers, parents, and staff. SIMS students are monitored and provided encouragement and support to engage in campus networks and research activities through graduation. SIMS participants are well connected to campus resources. They perform well academically, participate in undergraduate research, education abroad, internships, and hold leadership positions in campus organizations.
SIMS Academic Year Research: The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) acts as a hub for support and networking for SIMS students throughout their tenure at UCSB, beginning in their first Fall Quarter, when SIMS students meet regularly with peer advisors, program faculty, and staff. This interaction encourages them to use campus resources, participate in peer networks, and to begin research activity sustained through graduation. To nurture enthusiasm for research and interaction with faculty, the SIMS coordinator facilitates lab placements and funding for research opportunities for select freshmen and sophomore students during the academic year. Student researchers receive critical support from the “Practice of Science”, a two quarter course sponsored by the California NanoSystems Institute which provides an overview of the scientific process and helps students develop independent research projects, scientific presentations, and creative thinking needed for success in research science. A quarterly series, “Discussions with Faculty”, continues to engage these UCSB students with the larger scientific community and connects them with research scientists in casual settings. They pose questions about faculty expectations, about the science/engineering life, and managing graduate school and postdoctoral opportunities. The SIMS experience promotes the knowledge, skills, and social networking necessary for students to become competitive candidates for the workforce and graduate school.
Internships in Nanosystems Science, Engineering and Technology (INSET): The INSET program brings science and engineering community college undergraduates to the UC Santa Barbara campus for an 8-week summer research experience. Interns gain first-hand experience in scientific investigation in a dynamic, collaborative research environment. They are matched individually with UCSB faculty and graduate student lab mentors who provide training and support. Interns attend weekly meetings, special seminars, and have the opportunity to develop their presentation skills throughout the summer.
Scholarships for Transfers to Engage and Excel in Mathematics (STEEM): STEEM is a scholarship program for Mathematics community college transfer students at UCSB. STEEM provides financial support and opportunities to actively engage in the Mathematics community through early preparation that addresses the academic skills, social networking, and career exploration needed for success in Mathematics.

Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER)

ccber.lifesci.ucsb.edu/education/

The mission of the Vernon and Mary Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) at UCSB is to support:
    * Education
    * Research
    * Collections Management
    * Ecosystem Management, Restoration and Conservation
    * K-12 Academic Preparation and Community Education Program (Kids in Nature)
    * Public Service and Professional Advising

CCBER promotes the teaching of diverse undergraduate courses in EEMB, Environmental Studies, and Geology. It also supports faculty, staff, and student research interests by providing field and lab-based resources. In addition, CCBER houses regionally focused collections of terrestrial plants, algae, and vertebrates, as well as an extensive plant anatomy collection. The Center satisfies the University's obligation to provide stewardship of campus lands, rich in biodiversity. Through the ecological restoration program, the Center encourages land restoration on and near campus. The Kids in Nature outreach program fulfills K-12 educational goals, while staff and faculty curators provide scientific information and advice to private entities. The union of these elements into CCBER creates a campus facility dedicated to education, research, and outreach related to regional biological diversity and restoration.

Kids in Nature: Kids in Nature (KIN) was founded in 2001 to enrich the learning experiences of underrepresented and underserved upper elementary students in our community, through an environmental education program that promotes the importance of preserving our ecosystem. KIN combines place-based, hands-on inquiry activities with field trips and interactive computer simulations. Over the past 9 years, KIN has served over 1400 students. By partnering with local schools serving educationally underrepresented students, KIN improves students’ academic achievement and success, while inspiring them to become better stewards of the environment. KIN was developed to promote the aspirations and academic achievement of students in low performing schools and to address three major environmental issues: (1) An absence of environmental science education at underserved schools where teachers don’t have sufficient time, resources, and training; (2) Equity and under-representation of young girls, minority, and low-income students in the environmental sciences; and (3) “Plant blindness,” a term that was introduced by Wandersee and Schussler in 1999 to describe "the inability to see or notice the plants in one's own environment, leading to the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere and in human affairs."
CCBER Internships: CCBER offers an internship program for undergraduate students. Students and volunteers learn restoration site design, implementation and maintenance techniques, native plant horticulture, plant and animal identification skills, and ecological monitoring protocols. CCBER also offers other specialized internships in Curation, Research, and Archival Studies.

Physics Department

www.physics.ucsb.edu

The Physics Circus: The Physics Circus is a program to promote science education in local K-12 schools. A group of enthusiastic UCSB Physics Department graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty take a collection of demonstration experiments on the road to nearby schools and present an action-packed learning experience. In today's schools there is a growing need to supplement and improve existing programs in the physical sciences. The goal of the physics circus team is to introduce and discuss a collection of fundamental concepts in physics using accessible language, familiar experiences, demonstration experiments, and audience participation. We learn a little more each time from the wonderful questions that are asked! Followup tours at the Community Science Center at UCSB are available. The Physics Circus is named after Jearl Walker's book The Flying Circus of Physics. In this book the author takes everyday phenomena and sets them up as physics problems, just for fun. These problems convey the enjoyment that physics knowledge brings to everyone who tries to understand the world.

Chemistry Outreach Program

www.chem.ucsb.edu/~outreach/

Outreach Program to Improve Educational Opportunities for K-12 students: A Hands-On Inquiry-Based Approach to Teaching Physical Science in the Fifth Grade: In our chemistry outreach program for fifth graders, we provide professional development for elementary school teachers and the opportunity for fifth grade students to visit the chemistry lab at UCSB. We primarily work with elementary schools that have a majority of underrepresented students. Our goal is to develop a method to integrate science education courses with science outreach programs in order to increase the scope and impact of these programs.

Chemistry Outreach Program for Fifth Grade Students, Parents, and Teachers

Enable students from diverse backgrounds to work with UCSB students who are also from diverse backgrounds
Spark new interests in sciences and fuel current interests
Show students the relevance of chemistry
Engage students, parents and teachers in exciting hands-on activities
Enable volunteers to share their enthusiasm for science with young students
Inspire students to pursue a higher education in science
Show elementary school students the excitement of working in a college setting

Physical Science Summer Workshop for Elementary School Teachers

Provide standards-based content and activities for 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers
Give teachers the opportunity to design and present activities
Provide ready-to-use classroom lessons
Provide hands-on activities and applications to real world problems and everyday experiences
Enable teachers to apply learned skills in their classroom: prepare their students to participate in a chemistry outreach workshop at UCSB

Development of Standards-Based Physical Science Activities/Lesson Plans: We developed lesson plans that target specific concepts in the fifth grade physical sciences curriculum, and provide teachers with take-home materials and follow-up support in their classrooms from our UCSB Chemistry and Materials students. The modules generally consist of a series of hands-on experiments for students to try out themselves under the supervision of the teacher. The purpose of these kits is to give teachers the confidence to incorporate new, student initiated, exploratory activities into their curriculum, which support and/or go beyond required school standards. Our lesson plans our posted on our new website: outreach.chem.ucsb.edu

UCSB Nanofabrication Facility/NNIN

www.nanotech.ucsb.edu

The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN) at Nanotech finds talented, motivated people who want to learn nanotechnology. We train students of all ages in a clean room specifically designed for education. These students acquire hands-on experience in the laboratory while learning new concepts and applying what they have learned to help solve real-world problems. This educational outreach program relies heavily on a partnership of UCSB undergraduate and graduate student mentors, postdoctoral researchers, faculty mentors, as well as UCSB scientific and administrative staff to make it all happen. We especially thank the National Science Foundation for providing the means for this partnership to affect local schools and undergraduate students nationwide.

NNIN Chip Camp: Students and teachers will learn “top down” nanotechnology by doing nanofabrication processes such as photolithography, metal deposition, wet etch, and liftoff techniques in the teaching clean room. On the second day of camp, students choose a variable in one of these processes, design and test their own experiment. The camp gives students a taste of what real scientific research can be like.
Day in Science and Technology: NanoDay: The intention is to educate the general public about nanoscale science and technology. This large-scale type of event is typically done in a day and is geared for all ages; they interact with activities designed to show various aspects of nanoscale science.
NNIN Research Experience for Teachers (RET): This program engaged 5 secondary science teachers from the tri-county area in an intensive 6-week experience of real-world nanotechnology research and curriculum development at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus. Teachers first participate in a 2-day introduction to nanotechnology; they manipulate and learn to use tools for nanotechnology research. Then, for 5 weeks, they explore one aspect of nanotechnology research under the guidance of a mentor. Weekly meetings guide teachers in translating their research experience to classroom labs and activities, with the final week of the summer experience dedicated to curriculum development. Three follow-up classroom visits are done after the summer program, to see the teacher do this curriculum in his/her class. At the end of the program, teachers present their curriculum at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) annual conference.
NNIN Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU): REU pairs faculty and graduate student mentors with undergraduate students to do real-world research for 10 weeks throughout the summer. At the end of the program, they present their work in a scientific conference (with 13 other universities and about 80 other NNIN REU interns from across the country).

Office of Education Partnerships

www.oep.ucsb.edu/

The Office of Education Partnerships is here to connect you with educational programs, services, and activities that best meet your needs whether you are a student or parent seeking college-preparation information, a teacher interested in professional development, a district administrator seeking school-wide reform, or a UCSB faculty or staff member wanting to enhance academic preparation efforts in your discipline. We also offer ways to support our programs in the Development section. By Paving the Road Ahead, we together can build college-going communities that improve student learning, increase college-going rates, and provide equal access to higher education for California’s diverse students.

Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA): MESA is a UC system-wide program that has been in existence for 40 years. MESA’s purpose and mission is to create opportunities for educationally disadvantaged students, especially those from groups with low rates of participation in college, to prepare for and enter professions requiring degrees in engineering and other mathematics-based scientific fields. Currently, the UCSB MESA Schools Program Center serves over 800 middle and high schools students from 18 schools in 7 districts within Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, primarily in the Oxnard region and the Highway 126 Corridor areas of Santa Paula and Fillmore in eastern Ventura County. Program activities are specifically designed to encourage students’ interest and investment in STEM fields, and to understand and pursue the requisite educational preparation to achieve degrees and careers in STEM. MESA activities promote mastery of basic educational foundations, motivation to seek academic challenges and to excel, leadership and teamwork, as well as scientific inquiry and curiosity
Santa Barbara Pathways: PATHWAYS is an intensive, cohort-based academic preparation program designed for elementary, middle, high school and community college students enrolled in schools in the Santa Barbara and Goleta School Districts and Santa Barbara City College. The Pathways Program provides comprehensive services to approximately 250 students and their parents/families each year throughout their educational career (K—14 and beyond). Currently, Pathways is active in two high school feeder systems: Dos Pueblos High School and Santa Barbara High School. Pathways staff work collaboratively with K—12, university (EAOP, MESA, KIN, CNSI, etc.) and community partners to ensure the academic success of underrepresented students and support their pursuits of postsecondary education. Services provided to all Pathways students include: academic advising, academic enrichment (afterschool programs, field trips, summer programs), higher education and career planning for both students and parents, UCSB faculty and graduate student involvement, mentorship/tutoring and parent leadership development (through the Padres Adelante parent school partnership program).
American Indian Scholars Program: The American Indian Scholars Program (AISP) is a K—16 college-going initiative, supported through the Office of Academic Preparation at the University of California Santa Barbara. AISP serves approximately 100 underrepresented, first-generation, college bound students with a primary focus on American Indian students and families. Within our school based model, we work with students in Santa Ynez Elementary School, Santa Ynez Charter School, Santa Ynez and Refugio High Schools, Allan Hancock Community College, and Santa Barbara City College. Our programming centers on academic and cultural enrichment workshops, field trips, after school tutoring sessions, and other academic support activities and events that feature elders, community members, college faculty, staff, and students. We introduce the whole family to the educational system, work with students to develop individualized academic success strategies, expand pre-existing interests, and empower parents toward their students’ academic success.
Summer Advancement Academies (SAA): The Summer Advancement Academies (aka Algebra Academies) are summer enrichment programs designed to help prepare middle school students (in select Santa Barbara and Ventura County schools) to take and pass Algebra no later than the 9th grade and to introduce students and parents to college planning and preparation. College-going initiatives for students are provided throughout the academic year. In addition to exposure to math curriculum designed to prepare for success in Algebra by the 9th grade, students participating in UCSB’s SAAA receive in-depth information about colleges and career exploration, financial literacy, and courses needed to enter into an institution of higher education. We estimate that approximately 2,400 students have participated in the UCSB SAAAs. It is also estimated that approximately 65 teachers, 25 school counselors, 15 school administrators (principals and vice-principals), and up to 100 undergraduates have been involved with the SAAAs.

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)

nceas.ucsb.edu/outreach

NCEAS' education and outreach vision is integral to all its activities. NCEAS scientists and staff members participate in dozens of meetings around the world to promote synthesis, analysis, and ecoinformatics, and to assist in the development of other synthesis activities and centers. NCEAS scientists meet with local, state and federal agencies, policy makers, and non-governmental organizations to provide scientific evidence about ecological issues, ecosystem-based resource management, and conservation issues. Training is offered at all levels of sophistication, from elementary school through graduate training and continuing education of professionals. Many opportunities to gain experience in providing outreach activities are available to resident scientists. NCEAS is committed to increasing the public understanding of science, fostering interest in ecology and technology professions, particularly among underrepresented groups, and contributing to the local community. The Center offers resources and activities to scientists and the public to meet these goals.

Kids Do Ecology: Kids do Ecology is both a website and a "Scientist in the Classroom Program." The original focus of the KDE program was the development of the web site to teach elementary school students about ecology, experiments, and use of data. The KDE web is frequently reviewed and recommended, and continues to be heavily used in the United States and abroad. The Santa Barbara Classroom Program of KDE provides an inquiry-based approach to science that is fun and meaningful and can be replicated at other schools. NCEAS ecologists and teachers in Santa Barbara schools work with fifth grade classes to design and conduct scientific experiments in ecology. Students learn the scientific method by doing it, from experimental design and hypothesis, data gathering and analysis, to reporting results and conclusions.

Center for Mathematical Inquiry

math.ucsb.edu/department/cmi

The UCSB Center for Mathematical Inquiry was established in the fall of 2004 with the reciept of a grant from the Educational Advancement Foundation. Housed in the Department of Mathematics at UCSB, the Center is one of five centers funded by the Foundation. Its purpose is to ensure continued developement of inquiry-based learning approaches in the teaching of mathematics and the continued development of a research base that examines teaching and learning through inquiry-based practices. The Center's program includes courses for UCSB undergraduates, an array of collaborations with local K-12 schools, and opportunities for UCSB mathematics graduate students to participate in both the undergraduate and K-12 programs.

Inquiry Based Mathematics Training for Teachers Summer Workshops: The goal of these summer workshops is to provide teachers with strategies to help their students succeed with the Standards in grades K-7 and in Algebra 1. These workshops include substantial focus on understanding number and calculation. By developing the important representations for numbers (open number lines, arrays and area model, ratio tables, and combination charts), the big ideas and strategies for understanding arithmetic can be constructed by students in ways that enable them to generalize and understand variation so they develop lasting conceptual understanding. The workshops last one-week and stipends are available to teachers from participating districts.

UC Natural Reserve System

nrs.ucop.edu

More than three decades ago, the UC’s Natural Reserve System was established to contribute to the understanding and wise management of the Earth, and in response to the disruption and loss of field sites for University educators and researchers. Since 1965, 37 sites have been designated that broadly represent California’s rich ecological diversity. This system of living laboratories and outdoor classrooms, available for research and teaching, includes seven reserves that are managed and administered by UC Santa Barbara, through the UCSB NRS campus administration office: Coal Oil Point Reserve west of campus, Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve on the coast in the city of Carpinteria, KSN Rancho Marino Reserve on the coast south of Cambria, Santa Cruz Island Reserve on Santa Cruz Island, Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley at the foot of Figueroa Mountain, and Valentine Camp and the Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab (SNARL) near Mammoth Lakes in the eastern Sierras. All of the reserves except Rancho Marino have some type of K-14 science outreach program.

Field Trips: Field trips for K-12 students are offered at: Coal Oil Point Reserve, Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve, Santa Cruz Island Reserve, Sedgwick Reserve, and the Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve. In addition, Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve has developed a Teacher’s Guide containing activities to facilitate student investigations of the natural resources in the marsh. At the Sedgwick Reserve, the trips are lead by specially trained volunteers and teachers indicate curricular topics to be emphasized. School trips for fifth graders to the Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve have lessons that are integrated into the California State Science Curriculum. Santa Cruz Islands hosts field trips for middle and high school students who stay at the reserve facilities for two to four nights.
The SNARL Lecture Series at Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve: In the spring the Reserve hosts a lecture series at the Green Church. Between 6 and 8 researchers are asked to give a talk on their research. The talks are on Tuesday nights for an hour and are free and open to the public. The speakers volunteer their time. We have a strong local following for the lectures and have 40-100 people (many are junior high and high school students), attend each talk.
Ocean Guards at Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve: Ocean Guards is a program at Carpinteria Middle School run by Ms. Megan Saxer West. Ms. West has formed a partnership with the Carptineria Salt Marsh Reserve Director that brings about 10 students to the reserve four times a year to engage in science investigations in the marsh.
The Outdoor Classroom Program at Sedgwick Reserve: The Outdoor Classroom is designed to connect youth to nature and provide them with a sense of stewardship for the environment. The objective of the program is simple: offer local students an “outdoor science classroom” to supplement and enrich their normal school curriculum. The program addresses the need to make science and the outdoors relevant to the lives of young people and to provide a stimulating learning environment. It offers schools the opportunity for hands-on learning in the outdoors through four day-long field trips to the Sedgwick Reserve. The subject matter of the program aligns with the California Science Content Standards and is tailored to specific grade levels and curriculum interests.
Native Plant Project at Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve: In this project, fourth grade students at Mammoth Elementary collect seeds and grow seedlings, then go on a walking field trip to plant them in front of Cerro Coso Community College. This landscaping project is in its sixth year. In addition, the coordinator teaches lessons on flower anatomy and mapping of native plants.
Summer Science Camps at Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve: Each summer a schedule of week-long classes is offered for elementary and middle school children. The classes are taught by local credentialed teachers. This year we are offering 13 classes, each with 10 students, a paid teacher, a volunteer adult TA, and a volunteer high school TA.

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (GGSE)

education.ucsb.edu

The Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara is home to faculty, students, and staff who all care deeply about developing themselves and others as leaders in educational and psychological research, practice, and leadership. We are committed to increasing access to excellent opportunities for the diverse children, families, and citizens of California. Our local and regional partnerships have attracted national and international attention. We have been educating teachers for 100 years, since UCSB started as a state teacher’s college in 1909. The University is now a world-class research institution, and the scholars and students of the Gevirtz School play a significant part in UCSB’s international reputation for educational excellence. The Gevirtz School has always had the goal of ensuring that California’s children receive the best education possible. We prepare teachers, educational researchers, psychologists, and school leaders who are committed to improving public education — and thus every child’s experience in the classroom and beyond — through research and collaboration.

Cesar Chavez Leadership Institute: Talented middle school students from underrepresented groups at Santa Barbara Junior High School are tutored by UCSB undergraduates in an afterschool program and in summer institutes so that they can maintain their high level of understanding of mathematics concepts and stay in the GATE program both at SBJH and freshman at Santa Barbara High School. Currently the program serves approximately 55 students at Santa Barbara Junior High School who can come in for tutoring after school Monday through Thursday. This spring high achieving 5th grade students from the feeder elementary schools of Cleveland, Franklin, Peabody, Roosevelt and Washington will be recruited and included in the four week summer institute. Expected attendance in the summer program is 120. Each quarter the Gevirtz School sends about 5 students to work at tutors at SBJH in the afternoon program and in the summer several students continue working at the four-week summer institute. Members of the Board of Directors come from both the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, members of the community, and staff at Santa Barbara Junior High School.
One Laptop Per Child – Santa Barbara: This project builds on the successful pilot of the use of the XO laptop, a learning platform specifically designed for young children. During the pilot year (2009-2010), we provided XO laptops to a class of third grade students at Kellogg Elementary School. These computers were used to learn math and science skills and content and develop literacy and communication skills. Of particular importance to this project, we equipped students with technology skills that facilitated communication and collaboration. These skills are being leveraged to enable peer-to-peer communication with children in Africa. We have also established collaborations with local scientists in both Santa Barbara and Africa who will work with children in both locations to collect and interpret data and communicate their ideas about science. This year, we propose to extend this project to include the César Estrada Chávez Charter School and the Esiteti School for Masai children of Kenya. We will also introduce new UCSB partners including Cal Teach and faculty in Education and Computer Science establishing an expanded partnership between local and international elementary school teachers and children, scientists, and UCSB faculty and students of education, engineering and computer science. This collaboration will facilitate not only the integration of technology into the classroom of local elementary school children, but will create appropriate curriculum and software that will support and inspire children to learn. Local participating schools are Kellogg Elementary School (Goleta) and Cesar Chavez Charter School (Santa Barbara). In addition we are collaborating with students in Kenya and Zambia.
Pre-Professional Education: More than 300 UCSB students volunteer for 30 to 60 hours at K-12 schools throughout Santa Barbara. They assist the teacher with all aspects of instruction, working with individuals, groups, and even teaching lessons when appropriate. Students are placed in the following programs:

Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment
California Technology Assistance Project
PAL Tech
Science Math Initiative

Serves Pre K – 12 students in Goleta Union, Santa Barbara, Hope and Carpinteria School Districts

Science Mathematic Initiative: SMI is a program to recruit and mentor pre-service secondary science and mathematics teachers. The program includes coursework and placement in local classrooms. Students are placed in the following schools: Adams, Brandon, Carpinteria Family, Cesar Chavez, Cleveland, El Camino, Ellwood, Foothill, Franklin, Harding, Hollister, Isla Vista, Kellogg, La Patera, McKinley, Monroe, Monte Vista, Peabody, Roosevelt, Summerland, and Washington. Students are also placed at the following high schools: Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Santa Barbara.
Large Enrollment Physical Science (LEPS): Although this project is directed to Gevirtz School students, it will have a lasting effect on K-12 students. The goal of the Large Enrollment Physical Science (LEPS) project is a 3 year (2008-2011) collaborative project funded by an NSF-CCLI grant. The project is to develop an inquiry-based undergraduate physical science curriculum appropriate for large enrollment general education courses. The curriculum will focus on fundamental physical science content as well as the nature of science and nature of learning. The nature of large enrollment (N>100) makes the use of student-centered methods difficult. As a result, many large enrollment courses are taught in traditional lecture format. Research has shown that students learn more in classes in which students are actively engaged with the content. At large universities, courses taught in lectures of 100 or more students are a reality that is not likely to disappear, particularly for introductory courses. This is particularly problematic for many prospective elementary teachers who take only a handful of science courses, all at the introductory level. This program modifies current activities that have been successful in smaller courses for use in large courses using interactive demonstrations and appropriate technology to foster in-class conversations and on-line collaborative learning out of class. The curriculum developed through the LEPS project will benefit students in large enrollment courses by providing an opportunity for them to learn through research-based student-centered methods of instruction. In addition, the focus on learning about learning will make this course suited to the needs of students who are preparing to teach.

Computer Science, UCSB Center for Computing Education and Diversity

discover.cs.ucsb.edu/animaltlatoque/

The Center for Computing Education and Diversity was created to to increase the diversity of its student body as well as the quality of its undergraduate education. The Center's mission is to enhance the quality of computing education by attracting high-quality students, provide a supportive and challenging UCSB environment to facilitate the success of all students regardless of their background, and perform research that guides the design of programs that better meet the needs of diverse students. We strive to increase diversity because the lack of it represents a social injustice as well as missed talent. STEM fields are financially stable fields that offer excellent careers to students. The lack of females and underrepresented ethnic minorities pursuing such careers, despite clearly equal aptitude, shows an inequality caused by societal pressures, unconscious bias, or blatant discrimination. In addition, computer scientists build products that impact the world. If over 50% of the population is not able to or will not consider computer science, then we are missing out on incredibly talented individuals, and the whole field suffers.

Animal Tlatoque Summer Day Camp: Explore the world of endangered species, beginning with a cultural tour through mesoamerica and arriving in modern times with current conservation efforts. Choose your own endangered animal like the Blue Whale or Rock Squirrel, and learn how to make computer games, animated stories, and websites to tell others about conservation efforts for your animal. Activities include a trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo and a tour of the AlloSphere. Animal Tlatoque is a summer program for middle school students (entering 6-9 grade) to not only learn about endangered species, Mayan culture, computer science, and how technology is used to conservation, but also to contribute to the awareness of others in the conservation of endangered species in the mesoamerican geographical area. This program is funded by NSF and is specifically designed to increase the numbers of females and underrepresented groups pursuing college degrees in computer science. Guest speakers from both companies and research labs around UCSB will come and talk about their work and how it helps others (people and/or animals). Some transportation is provided free of charge. We will pick up and drop off students from various locations in downtown Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Isla Vista. In the future, we will add Santa Maria and Santa Paula to our bussing area.

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