The Chemistry Club provides opportunities for UF students to interact with middle and elementary school children through its outreach program, by performing hands-on labs and demonstrations in local schools, and helping foster an interest in science at an early age. Learn more.
 
   
information for teachers
information for students
 
 
Information for Teachers

The UF Chemistry Club Outreach Program is an exciting opportunity for student members of the UF chemistry community to share their appreciation for science with elementary and middle school students at local public schools. Participating members are paired up with a partner and assigned to a school for the semester. Depending on the teacher's needs, volunteers will visit a classroom either once a week, twice a month (bimonthly), or once a month to perform labs and demonstrations that pertain to the topics being studied in your classroom. Detailed instructions for the labs and demos are available for download on the Outreach Lab Library page. Volunteers will bring and provide most necessary supplies. Labs can be modified or created to fit your students' needs.

What kind of labs can UF Outreach Volunteers do?
We have a developing selection of labs and demonstrations which our volunteers have succesfully used in and around Alachua county classrooms. You are encouraged to browse through this list to select among them per your curriculum. We are actively adding to this list every semester, and your outreach volunteers can help you design custom labs particular to your classroom.

Are all UF Outreach labs strictly chemistry based?
Not necessarily. Labs and demonstrations currently span most major science disciplines, including biology, physics, and ecology, among others. There are, however, underlying  themes or references in most of our procedures to emphasize the fundamental role that chemistry has in all sciences.


How many volunteers will come to my classes, and how often?
This depends on your needs as well as the schedules of participating volunteers. Volunteers go out to classrooms in teams of two (each team to one classroom per week). All of our members are full-time students at the University of Florida, and a volunteer's ability to conduct labs in your classroom is contingent upon their course schedules and associated workload. If you require more than one team to your classroom(s) in a week (for repeat demonstrations, or demonstrations/experiments with multiples classes), you may have to request volunteers at least 4-5 weeks in advance of your desired date. Please e-mail a volunteer coordinator at outreach@chem.ufl.edu for more information.

How can I get UF Outreach Volunteers into my classroom, and how can I learn more?
Volunteers are assigned to schools, classrooms, and their respective teachers at the beginning of each semester (Fall and Spring, please see the UF Calendar) based on student schedule availability and teacher requests for program participation. The first step is to e-mail a UF Outreach coordinator with your name, the name of the school at which you teach and the grade level of your students, as well as the classroom times during which you would like outreach volunteers to conduct labs. In addition, you should briefly detail the types of sciences generally taught in your class. The coordinators for 2007-08 are Lubomir Sokol and Abdul Chowdhury. To contact a coordinator, simply send an e-mail to outreach@chem.ufl.edu.