How to Apply to Volunteer for Science in Action!
You must apply and be accepted into Science in Action! The application is done online and a link to the application can be found below in the box below. Applications are open for the first 2-3 weeks of the semester only as SIA! is a semester long commitment (please see the section below that describes the commitment to SIA! before applying).
Note: If you click on the link and the application form doesn’t open, that is because we are not currently accepting applications. Please try back the first day of the semester or email the program coordinator at stoverj@gonzaga.edu.
What Is The Volunteer Commitment to SIA!
- The Science in Action! Program is a semester long (8 week total) commitment.
- You are placed in a group with 3-4 other GU students and will partner with a local 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom (the program coordinates) to make 8 visits to that classroom to lead fun, hands-on science activities.
- You will gain 20 total hours of volunteering spread out over 8-9 weeks.
- You are required to attend a training workshop at Gonzaga once per week while we are in session to prepare for your classroom visit and then in the same week you will make a 1 hour classroom visit.
Criteria for Volunteering
- Be a currently enrolled full time undergraduate at Gonzaga University
- We accept ANY major (that’s right you can be undecided, Psychology, Nursing, Engineering, Sociology, Biology…anything!)
- Must have a valid form of government ID (such as a Driver’s License or Passport)
- Attend one Weekly Workshop on Tuesday at either 3:15-4:15 pm or 6:00-7:00 pm
What do SIA! Volunteers Do?
The Science in Action! Program aims to create enthusiasm and confidence in science for elementary students. SIA! volunteers visit elementary school classrooms as a group, bring supplies provided by the program, and lead fun, inquiry-based and hands-on science activities. Our lessons are about 50-60 minutes long in the classroom. We have a weekly workshop at the beginning of each week where you practice the activity and plan with your group and then you visit the classroom later in the week. The day of your classroom visit (a Wed, Thurs, or Fri) volunteers meet 10-15 minutes prior to the lesson and gather the supplies and travel to a nearby school, facilitate the lesson and activities, and then travel 5-10 minutes back to campus. Elementary students LOVE seeing their SIA! Leaders and love getting to do hands-on activities.
Examples of Classroom Activities
Classroom activities are fun, easy experiments that emphasize asking a question and then doing an activity or experiment and make observations or collect data to answer it. You do not need to have a science background to facilitate these activities. You get a lesson plan, work with a group, and we practice the activity in our weekly workshop, so you go into the classroom prepared. Examples of activities your group might do:
- Fossil Digs
- Launching Stomp Rockets
- Building a Beaver Dam
- Groundwater Pollution Clean Up
- Design and Test an Aluminum Boat
- Use Microscopes
- And many more fun, hands-on activities!
