Recently in Science Buddies Category

A swarm of "scientists" ran the streets of Chicago in celebration of science and science education, thanks to Astellas Pharma US, Inc.

Bystanders in the Chicago area a few weeks ago may have caught an unusual site—a swarm of scientists out of their labs and spilling through Grant Park in downtown Chicago. If you spotted a bunch of swift-footed scientists in lab coats running through the streets, you might have thought something was up, something of epic scientific proportion. You would have been right. Local awareness of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education was on the rise that day in the windy city thanks to the 2013 Bio 5K Run/Walk and Astellas.

The run, sponsored by Astellas, was part of the 2013 International BIO Conference. In support of their commitment to increasing community interest in science literacy and science education, Astellas, whose headquarters for the Americas are located in Illinois, asked Bio 5K participants to take a visible stand for science by dressing up as scientists for the run.

Astellas handed out lab coats and, in honor of the zany spirit of the event, awarded prizes for the craziest science-themed costumes. Lab coats may have hampered race speeds a bit, but in a manner reminiscent of San Francisco's costume-laden annual Bay to Breakers 12K, this year's Bio 5K combined the spirit of a run with celebration—celebration of science and science education.

Playing along, hundreds of participants—scientists and non-scientists—donned lab coats, wigs, glasses, and other goofy scientist accouterment, along with their race bibs, and ran or walked the course in the name of science education. For a mid-race boost, runners sipped replenishing energy drinks from test tubes. From the looks of it, everyone involved had a great time, and the Bio 5K's focus on science was a win!

Helping Science Buddies Support Science Education

Astellas brought the science-themed race to a close by donating proceeds from the run's registration to Science Buddies. Science Buddies thanks Astellas for supporting the non-profit's mission of increasing science literacy.

Thanks to donations from companies and individuals, Science Buddies provides free scientist-authored science, technology, engineering, and math Project Ideas, resources, and support for more than fifteen millions students, teachers, and parents each year.

The Suit in Iron Man 3

No spoilers here, but there has been plenty of talk about the suit in the Iron Man 3 movie. In fact, word has it that there are a plethora of suits that have been designed between the last movie and this installment. With so many iterations in between, it will be exciting to see how the suit has evolved and what features it sports now.

If you were the designer, what kind of suit would you build? Which reactor would you use? What color armor and why? Right now, you have your chance to be an Iron Man engineer and build your own suit on the Verizon FiOS Iron Man site. Show off your robotics, tech, engineering, and super hero savvy as you craft your own custom Iron Man suit for a chance to win prizes from Verizon FiOS.

Thank you to everyone who clicked through to view special Verizon FiOS and Marvel Iron Man 3 video footage earlier this week on behalf of Science Buddies. Thanks to the resounding support from members of the community who trust, use, and rely on Science Buddies for their projects, classroom, and family science activities, we collected a phenomenal number of views in 24 hours—all in the name of K-12 science literacy!

Through their View to Give program, Verizon FiOS contributed $10,000 to Science Buddies to help us better support the more than fifteen million students, teachers, and students who visit Science Buddies each year.

Making Science Connections

Marvel's Iron Man 3 launches in theaters today, May 3. With the new release, fans will find out what's next for Tony Stark and Iron Man. As the Iron Man story (and the suit) evolves, there will be plenty of new angles for making science connections and exploring the kinds of real-world science and engineering that shows up in the movie.

Whether talking about science before you head to the movies helps get you and your students in the mood for Iron Man action or whether you are looking for ways to continue the thrill of the big screen tech, engineering, and physics that help define the Iron Man saga, the following resources, project ideas, and articles may help:

Note: Iron Man 3 is rated PG-13. Parents can learn more about suggested viewing at Common Sense Media.

Need to catch up or refresh your Iron Man memory? See Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

Your View Supports Science Buddies

Today only! Your view of exclusive Iron Man 3 video footage helps support Science Buddies, thanks to Verizon FiOS' View to Give program. Verizon FiOS will donate $0.01 to Science Buddies for every view of the video footage on Monday, April 29 only. Help support science education and Science Buddies by taking watching the short video footage.

Engage Students in Science By Making Iron Man Connections

• "Iron Man: Behind the Science": resource for connections students can explore between the big screen character and hands-on,real-world science.
• "Excitement About Iron Man Fuels Student Science Inquiry": how the movie puts the engineering design process in action.
• "Iron Man and Fiber Optics—Technology at the Speed of Light": what's going on in a fiber optics system? Look to the 'light' for answers with hands-on science projects.

Today only! Your view of exclusive Iron Man 3 video footage helps support Science Buddies. Verizon FiOS will donate $0.01 to Science Buddies for every view of the video footage on Monday, April 29 only. verizon.com/ironman3.

Please follow Science Buddies at Facebook to catch our Iron Man posts and updates throughout the day today.

Kickstart Student Science with Iron Man

• "Iron Man: Behind the Science": resource for connections students can explore between the big screen character and hands-on,real-world science.
• "Excitement About Iron Man Fuels Student Science Inquiry" : how the movie puts the engineering design process in action.
• "Iron Man and Fiber Optics—Technology at the Speed of Light": what's going on in a fiber optics system? Look to the 'light' for answers with hands-on science projects.

Science Buddies is gearing up to for special Iron Man 3 video footage on Monday from Verizon FiOS. As part of Verizon's View to Give program, Verizon will donate $0.01 to Science Buddies for every view of the video footage on Monday, April 29 only. Your view will help support Science Buddies! Please plan on catching the video Monday and sharing the link on Monday with your friends and family. The video will be available at verizon.com/ironman3.

Please follow Science Buddies at Facebook to catch our Iron Man posts and updates throughout the day on Monday.

Looking for Iron Man Science Inspiration?

See our "Iron Man: Behind the Science" resource for connections students can explore between the big screen character and hands-on,real-world science.

Symantec commits continued funding to Science Buddies, allowing further expansion of the Science Buddies computer science area to help enable and inspire student computer science projects.

In honor of International Corporate Philanthropy Day (ICPD), Symantec Corporation today announced more than $1 Million in funding in support of STEM and literacy education. The official announcement details Symantec's support of Science Buddies, Teach for America, NPower, Room to Read, and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

Symantec has been a sponsor of Science Buddies since 2007 and has provided core program support and enabled ongoing development of the Computer Science interest area at Science Buddies. Through the years, Symantec and Science Buddies have partnered to celebrate and encourage K-12 computer science exploration both through the creation of new Project Ideas and through visible recognition of students conducting science experiments presenting their projects at science fairs both on the community and national level. In 2009, the companies judged and issued "Clever Scientist Awards" at area science fairs. In 2010, they awarded the "Symantec Science Buddies Special Award in Computer Science" at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). One of the young computer scientists singled out for a special award was Brittany Wenger, then a middle school student and aspiring computer scientist. Wenger went on to win the 2012 Google Science Fair with her computer science project.

Thanks to this year's pledge from Symantec, Science Buddies plans to prototype a new science kit to further facilitate student computer science exploration. Last year, Science Buddies introduced its first round of convenient, all-in-one-box science project kits and launched the Science Buddies Store. Continued support from Symantec allows potential expansion of the computer science area at Science Buddies to include a hands-on computer science project kit for use with a Science Buddies Project Idea or with other science and engineering activities.

"Symantec has been a terrific partner to Science Buddies," said Ken Hess, Science Buddies Founder & President. "Their generous support has enabled us to give hundreds of thousands of K-12 students the inspiration, tools, and guidance they need to engage in hands-on science and engineering. With the latest grant from Symantec, we will be developing our first-ever computer science kit to introduce the next generation to the power and fun of computer programming. We are thrilled to continue working with Symantec and salute their strong commitment to STEM education."

Learn more about today's announcement on the Symantec blog.

Science and STEM education are routine catch phases at the White House in policy, Presidential speeches, and science-centered events for K-12 students. Science Buddies recently participated in a special session with White House officials to discuss the future of STEM education and the importance of hands-on science exploration. As a trusted source for K-12 science education information and resources, Science Buddies, along with other popular science media publications, may play an important role in furthering White House STEM education initiatives.

Pictured above: Ben Finio (right), Staff Scientist at Science Buddies, with Bobak Ferdowsi, NASA flight director.

Part of the STEM Solution

Science Buddies was honored to be a part of a recent, private STEM debriefing session at the White House. With more than 10 million students in North America students participating in science fairs each year, and a rising number of students taking part in science-related after-school enrichment or engaging in science exploration at home with their families, Science Buddies plays an important role in supporting hands-on science education.

"Being in the room right alongside the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Popular Science, and Scientific American really highlighted the White House's confidence in Science Buddies' ability to help them accomplish their goals of improving STEM education nationwide," said Finio, who represented Science Buddies at the briefing.

Student Science at the White House

Following the President's fourth State of the Union address, the White House sponsored the first State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (SoSTEM) event. Approximately 100 middle and high school students from the Washington D.C. area were invited to the White House to ask questions of a panel of STEM innovators and leaders.

SoSTEM continues the White House's public support of STEM. The White House held official White House Science Fairs in 2010 and 2012, providing opportunities for student scientists to show their science investigations to the President and staff. More than 100 students from over 45 states participated in last year's White House Science Fair.

In last week's State of the Union address, President Obama again put the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the national limelight. Many issues of policy and platform occupied the President's agenda, but STEM definitely had a seat, both in the speech and in the audience. Three of the guests invited to sit with the First Lady have deep STEM connections. The First Lady's science cadre included Jack Andraka (winner of the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and Science Buddies advocate), Peter Hudson (co-founder and CEO of iTriage, an app that helps people locate nearby healthcare providers), and Bobak Ferdowsi (popularly known as "NASA's Mohawk guy" and flight director for the Curiosity rover landing on Mars).

Influencing Science Education

Following the State of the Union address and the first State of STEM event for students in the Washington D.C. area, the White House invited a small group of science and media organizations to a briefing organized by the Office of Digital Strategy (ODS). Science Buddies joined representatives from Discovery Communications, Scientific American, Popular Science, National Geographic, and Grist.org in a private briefing and Q&A session that included issues related to STEM, sustainable energy, climate change, and technology innovation.

The organizations gathered represent considerable reach in distributing science content, both online and offline. Though the only K-12 non-profit in attendance, Science Buddies serves a yearly population of students, teachers, and parents of more than 15 million, a powerful statistic when it comes to advocating for hands-on STEM exploration and helping students make connections between what they may be learning at school, what they may be hearing in the news, and what they can put to the test in the classroom, in their kitchens, or in the garage. In fact, Science Buddies had more page views on its website in January 2013 than Scientific American and Popular Science combined and almost half as many as National Geographic, according to Quantcast.

Middle or High School?

In this year's State of the Union speech, the President specifically underscored the important role high schools play in preparing students for careers and called for a redesign of high school education with a greater emphasis on STEM education. For Ben Finio, Science Buddies staff scientist attending the briefing on behalf of Science Buddies, the President's statements raised an important question. Is high school too late?

"There is a lot of research that shows that kids, especially females and underrepresented minorities, tend to lose interest in STEM around middle school," pointed out Finio in a conversation with Kumar Garg, Senior Advisor in the Office of Science & Technology Policy. "If you lose those students, it doesn't really matter what you do in high school. They are already gone." Garg agreed noting that research data shows that a decline in STEM interest for some demographics begins as early as 4th grade.

For policy makers and STEM educators, this data highlights a critical and alarming trend for STEM. According to Garg, the President's comments were high-school specific, but the White House is looking at STEM education more broadly and views high school as part of an overall STEM education pipeline.

With its broad range of K-12 science materials, Science Buddies tries to deflect this process of decline in student interest by engaging students at an early age with projects that intersect with a wide range of areas of student interest and related to more than 30 areas of scientific inquiry.

Making Room for Making

Science Buddies views a focus on hands-on science inquiry and active exploration of STEM questions as key to improving and furthering STEM education. Comments from the White House support the value of increased hands-on STEM education, but making room for hands-on science and engineering within existing curriculum and the emphasis on standards and testing remains a challenge for teachers. "It is one thing to say we need to bring more STEM into high school, but the logistics of doing it seem much more complicated," said Finio during his discussion with Garg. Garg concurred, noting that "if science is about doing science, not just learning a set of facts," the challenge is to figure out how to better utilize the institutions that are available to enable kids and schools to do important hands-on work and to give students access to real-world experience.

A one-size-fits-all solution is not the answer. Finding the solution, however, will take the combined efforts of the White House, corporations and foundations that can help fund and sponsor increased STEM efforts, and integration with organizations like Science Buddies and science publications that are influential in supporting science education and connecting with teachers and the students who are the scientists of tomorrow.

For Finio, the briefing was both reassuring and informative. Being a part of the invited group of science organizations was also a reminder to Finio of the importance of the work he is doing as a scientist at Science Buddies. "Taking part in the White House briefing really spotlighted the magnitude of Science Buddies' potential to assist in improving STEM education and helping meet national goals," says Finio.

A grant from the Cisco Foundation put Science Buddies on the ground floor of Bayside STEM Academy's annual science fair. Science Buddies partnered with the middle school throughout their science fair season, culminating in Science Buddies staff visiting the school to judge the school's science and engineering exhibition.

STEM has become an acronym of national importance, but the local school science fair is a testament to the fact that the need for science education exists in every community, in every school, and for every student. Thanks to organizations like Cisco, the STEM efforts at local schools like Bayside STEM Academy are being recognized and supported.

Thanks to support from Cisco Systems, Inc., Science Buddies provided support and a team of volunteer judges for Bayside STEM Academy's science fair. "Science Buddies proved a valuable resource in the success of our school's science/STEM fair," says James Brunner, a teacher at Bayside STEM Academy.

STEM has become a national acronym, but the local school science fair is a reminder that the need for science education exists in every community, in every school, and for every student. Thanks to community businesses and organizations like Cisco, the STEM efforts at schools like Bayside STEM Academy are being recognized and supported.

With its massive library of Project Ideas and extensive Project Guide that helps students at all levels with the steps of a science project, Science Buddies serves more than fifteen million people a year. This number, and the nonprofit's popularity with teachers, students, and parents, continues to grow as more and more emphasis is placed on science, technology, engineering, and math education in K-12 classrooms and at home.

Thanks to ongoing outreach projects and its many support-oriented resources, including the Ask an Expert forums, Science Buddies is in constant contact with members of the Science Buddies community at various stages of their projects, science fair planning, and classroom science integration. Visibility into both student science project successes and stumbling blocks helps Science Buddies continually refine, update, and expand science education offerings and programs as the organization responds to increasing demand for more hands-on science opportunities, activities, and resources.

Although myriad science learning opportunities may exist for K-12 students, both in class, at home, and after school, the school "science fair" remains a cornerstone of hands-on science education for many grade school students. Both at home and as part of in-class computer time, Science Buddies is a prime destination for students during science fair season. Whether students need help finding a project, determining their variables, setting up a project display board, or navigating other steps of the scientific method or engineering design process, Science Buddies strives to help students complete successful science projects and have positive science experiences.

Field Work

Each year during science fair season, Science Buddies staff members visit local fairs, an important step in staying in touch with how real students, real teachers, and real schools are responding to the national STEM challenge. This year, staff members had the opportunity to be in the field as they volunteered, as a group, to judge the annual science fair at Bayside STEM Academy, a public middle school in San Mateo, CA. The school's curriculum focuses on the intersection between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and an approach they call "design thinking," a methodology they believe breeds innovators and creative problem solvers.

As its name underscores, Bayside STEM Academy is a science-focused school. The importance of STEM and creative thinking and problem solving is central to the school's belief system, pedagogy, and core offerings. Not surprisingly, the whole school participates during science fair season. Every Bayside student—6th, 7th, and 8th grade—completes a science project. The top forty projects from each grade are then exhibited at the school's science fair.

This year, a grant from Cisco Systems, Inc. enabled Science Buddies to team with Bayside STEM Academy to further support the school's science fair efforts and to attend the fair and judge the student exhibits.

Science Fair Season

A school's science fair often spans a few days. Students set up their projects, and judges review all entries and determine the winners. Then the doors are opened, and the community is invited to come and see the collective exhibition of student science and engineering exploration and acumen. The public viewing may be a period of hours or days, but during this time, the student body, parents, and the community at large have the opportunity to be inspired and excited by the work of local students and teachers.

Pictured above, Michelle Maranowski, staff scientist at Science Buddies, takes a closer look at a student science project on display at the Bayside STEM Academy science fair during project judging.

"Science Buddies proved a valuable resource in the success of our school's science/STEM fair," says James Brunner, a teacher at Bayside STEM Academy.

In addition to their students' use of the Topic Selection Wizard, Project Directory, and Project Guide, the school used the Science Fair Schedule Worksheet to help plan and schedule the fair. According to James Brunner, a teacher at Bayside STEM, this year's science fair was so successful that they plan to hold a fair again next year and will use Science Buddies resources again both for student projects and for fair organization and planning. "We all [the teachers at Bayside] felt that Science Buddies was a big help to our students," says Brunner.

STEM in Action

"James Brunner and the teachers at Bayside STEM are a proven example of successful science fair organization and implementation," says Claire Hubbard, Science Buddies Product Design Engineer. "The teachers used Science Buddies resources to plan and conduct their science fair, in addition to using Science Buddies Project Ideas to inspire their students."

Hubbard worked as closely with Bayside STEM Academy during their science fair season and coordinated the team of Science Buddies volunteers who visited the science fair to judge the student projects. Hubbard has interviewed and observed numerous teachers and students regarding STEM education and the use of Science Buddies resources. The Bayside STEM Academy science fair gave her a chance to witness the impact of hands-on science and the resources and Project Ideas at Science Buddies on a larger scale—a school rather than a class or an individual finding and doing a science project.

Reinforcing the Value of Science Exploration

In the past, Bayside STEM Academy's science fair has been judged by parents and teachers. Having Science Buddies visit the fair was a welcome change, says Brunner. "It was very refreshing and unique to have Science Buddies' staff members involved with the judging this year."

"A huge thank you to Cisco for making our partnership with Bayside STEM Academy possible," says Hubbard. "It was a wonderful and unique opportunity to see our resources in action, first-hand."

For other Science Buddies staff members, being part of Bayside STEM Academy's science fair was equally rewarding. "It was a great opportunity to be at ground level of the work we are doing at Science Buddies," said Sabine Duke, Chief Controller for Science Buddies. Sandra Slutz, Lead Staff Scientist at Science Buddies concurs. "Attending Bayside's science and engineering fair was a true pleasure. Yes, seeing Science Buddies projects, which there were many of, as well as some creative original projects, in action is always heart-warming, but the real satisfaction came in seeing that the students had done what we always aim for Science Buddies users to do: they'd taken the project and invested their own time, energy, and intellect."

Slutz, who has judged numerous local, regional, and international science fairs notes that the showing at Bayside STEM Academy was inspiring and a positive reminder of the importance of hands-on science in the classroom. "It was clear that the Bayside teachers had motivated and supported their students, enabling them to not just "do a project" but, more importantly, to springboard from the Science Buddies resources to research, digest the background information, and understand their experiment and the scientific principles behind it," says Slutz. "From the projects displayed, you could see that both students and teachers had invested genuine effort, and they deserve a huge round of applause for their achievements."

The Science Buddies staff shares their wish lists from the Science Buddies store. See what science and engineering kits they would most like to open up and give a hands-on try!

Each year, I poll the Science Buddies staff about something related to science, engineering, or technology that might be on their wish lists. The team at Science Buddies that supports our more than 15,000 pages of free, scientist-authored, K-12 science and engineering Project Ideas and resources is small, but the collective answers each year underscore what an interesting and diverse group we are!

This year, with the advent of the Science Buddies Store offering new convenience and ease of access to the right materials to use with one of our science or engineering Project Ideas, I asked the staff which kit they would most like to explore, individually or as a science exploration with their families. With over 50 kits available, their selections highlight only a few of our science project kits! Here are some of the ones our staff chose:

Kenneth Hess, Founder and President: 'Build Your Own Crystal Radio' "I built one as a kid and would like to do it again, this time actually understanding why it works. Also, it would be very cool to use a multimeter to calculate how much power it receives."		Beth Rabuczewski, Director of eCommerce: 'Grasping with Straws: Make a Robot Hand' "With just a few simple items, you can build a very good facsimile of the human hand. I confess to having a number of partially built soda straw hands around my house!"		Hugo Paz, Chief Software Architect: 'The Strength of an Electromagnet' "I remember doing something like this with my classmates when I was a kid. Back then I didn't understand the physics behind it, but I thought it was really cool that you can make magnets with electricity."
Sandra Slutz, Lead Staff Scientist: 'Rainbow Fire' "I adore fireworks, and the materials in this kit allow you to have your own mini colored-fire show. I can imagine using it on our next camping trip! Really young children, like mine, will grasp that different chemicals cause different flame colors, while older children and adults can grasp sequentially more complex explanations of the physics involved."		Teisha Rowland, Staff Scientist: "Solar-Powered Water Desalination" "It gets people thinking about how to solve a serious, real-world problem—getting clean water to people around the globe. It's interesting (and useful!) to explore how to make the desalination process more efficient by using completely free, renewable energy from the sun."		Courtney Corda, Vice President: 'Build a Gauss Rifle!' "It is the hands-on engineering project most likely to be successful in drawing my son away from his current bad habit: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (which I regret buying for him). It might also draw him away from Minecraft (a video game that cuts down on his use of COD MW3 but still pales in comparison to the experience of building something, anything in real life)."
Claire Hubbard, Product Design Engineer 'Burning Calories' "I'm an athlete, and I've always wondered how calories are stored in food, transferred to the body, and then burned through exercise. This kit would help to introduce me to some of the science behind working out and proper athletic nutrition!"		Jayme Burke, Vice President of Development: 'Ultimate Bridge Builder's Kit' "I live in the Bay Area, and I cross bridges all the time, but I really have no idea about how bridges are engineered. (Also Bridge Over the River Kwai is one of my favorite movies.)"		Sherry Smith, Grants Manager: 'How Does Soil Affect the pH of Water?' "It contains all the materials I need for the #1 project recommended when I took the Topic Selection Wizard survey. I like the idea of traveling to three different soil sites, making notes about plants, and analyzing the soil samples."
Sabine Dukes, Controller: 'Make Your Own Soap' "It is a science project I could use to make holiday gifts! I would love to take it further and experiment with different oils and fragrances. I could add some lavender from my yard to make it special. (Maybe I also like it because it reminds me of Fight Club.)"		Kaarin Graham, Project Manager: 'Electrolyte Challenge' "I drink sports drinks during my tennis matches, and I would like to determine if sports drinks really work or if there are better alternatives that I should try."		Yvette Leung, Email Support: 'Potions and Lotions: Lessons in Cosmetic Chemistry' "I always read the ingredient labels on all of the products that I buy, and this project would be a fun way to experiment and to create new and innovative products of my own. Who knows, I might even discover a secret formula for an amazing new cosmetic product!
Ben Finio, Staff Scientist: 'Robot Picasso' "While I already have a LEGO® Mindstorms® kit, I've never used a VEX kit—and you can never have too many robot kits! Plus, I could always disassemble my Picasso robot and use the kit to build something completely new. As a kid I always preferred toys like LEGO and K'Nex that could be reconfigured into entirely new things when I got bored, so robot kits are a great fit for me."   Sabine De Brabandere, Staff Scientist: 'Robot Picasso' "I have been intrigued by robotics but never took the time to explore it. This project would definitively pull me and my family in. I love how consecutive projects naturally lead you into the world of robotics. Once there—your imagination is the limit! Fun for years to come!"

Which one stands out for you? Browse the science project kits in the Science Buddies Store, and let us know which kit you would most want to have—and why!

Science Buddies welcomed students back to school with a bright new site design aimed at making the site's award-winning science and engineering resources even easier to use.

When students, teachers, and parents returned to Science Buddies last month as they began talking about classroom science and engineering projects and this year's school science fair, they were greeted by a completely redesigned Science Buddies. Just in time for "back to school," Science Buddies released its new site design, a move dedicated to meeting the needs and expectations of its key users. The fresh new look gives Science Buddies an updated feel, but, more importantly, the redesign and restructuring of the award-winning K-12 science education site make Science Buddies even easier to use.

A Vast Science Education Resource

Science Buddies offers more than 1,000 scientist-authored Project Ideas in over 30 fields of science and engineering and extensive Project Guides to assist with steps of science and engineering projects. As both Science Buddies' online resources and website traffic has grown, site visits topping more than 12.3 million in 2011 and projected to set a new record of approximately 15 million by the end of this year, Science Buddies recognized the need to reassess the architecture, user interface, and visual appearance of the site.

An Improved User Interface Eases Student Use

Return visitors to Science Buddies will immediately note changes in the visual appearance of the site's buttons, icons, and navigation system. Just as quickly, students, teachers, and parents visiting Project Ideas and other key resources will discover that the information has been broken down into multiple pages for easier viewing. In the past, entire "Project Ideas" were displayed on a single page. Given the amount of background information provided and the complexity of many Experimental Procedures, Project Ideas could easily appear overwhelming, a reality which might dissuade students from trying projects they might really enjoy. The new design divides Project Ideas into more manageable sections. The "key information" about a Project Idea, including the objective, the estimated timeline, and the difficulty, are now shown on the "Summary" tab of a Project Idea. Students interested in delving deeper into the project can find the other elements of the Project Idea on sub-tabs, including Background, Materials, Procedures, and Make It Your Own (suggestions for variations).

The screenshot above shows the top portion of the "Summary" screen for a Project Idea. Key information is shown on the first screen, and sub-tabs allow students to quickly navigate to other areas of the Project Idea. Project Ideas for which Project Kits are available are clearly marked on the Summary tab. (Project Kits make it easy for students and parents to buy materials for a science or engineering project with confidence.)

Robust New Architecture

Behind the scenes, the redesign of the site is coupled with a move to a new, in-house content management system that offers greater flexibility and control of the large repository of Science Buddies resources. Though transparent to users, the new content management system affords Science Buddies increased flexibility in managing the site's more than fifteen thousand pages of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) resources, enabling easier updates and quality assurance. The content management system also puts Science Buddies in position to proactively deliver resources to users based on the devices they are using when they visit Science Buddies. The new design, which involved a restructuring of the site's categories and tab-based navigation systems, works hand in hand with the content management system to create a flexible design that renders appropriately on a wide range of systems and devices.

Science Buddies Anytime, Anywhere

Science Buddies serves a large number of students who are browsing science and engineering Project Ideas, consulting the Project Guide, or taking the Topic Selection Wizard survey from a classroom or school computer lab, or on a home computer, but a growing number of site visitors are using mobile and tablet devices. The number of mobile users at Science Buddies has grown significantly in recent months, more than doubling in the last year. "Today's students are accessing online resources from their phones and tablets, not only computers, so we need to be able to provide them with an accessible mobile resource," says Claire Hubbard, Science Buddies Product Design Engineer. "As we designed the website, we kept the need for a future mobile design in mind."

The new Science Buddies site works on all devices, and tablet users (which accounts for about a third of the site's mobile traffic) will find browsing Science Buddies similar to using a traditional computer. The recent redesign, however, marks only a first step in addressing the smart phone community and optimizing site delivery and the user interface for handheld devices like the iPhone or iPod Touch. In coming months, the product and web development team at Science Buddies plan to introduce "a mobile-specific version of the site that will make the delivery of Science Buddies resources even more efficient and convenient," says Hubbard, noting that this version will limit scrolling and zooming in and out on pages during mobile visits.

"In talking with teachers, they made it clear that recognizability is of key importance for students," adds Hubbard, who has spent time talking with teachers and observing students using Science Buddies over the last two years in preparation for improving the site's user interface for student users. "If a student visits the Science Buddies website in school on the computer, she expects to see that same resource when browsing her tablet at home," continues Hubbard. "It is important that the students know where the information is and how to find it."

Looking Ahead

With the new site design and architecture in place, the product and web development team is working on the mobile version of the Science Buddies website. "Translating the Science Buddies user experience across different devices is something our users expect," says Hubbard. Once the design of the mobile-specific site is finalized, the new content management system will make it easy to pull the appropriate site components and information into place, creating a seamless experience for users—however they choose to browse.

Exceptional Science Buddies Volunteer Expert from Bio-Rad Laboratories assists hundreds of students with science projects. Her dedication to helping students exemplifies the volunteer spirit—and makes a difference in how students view and experience science.

Congratulations to Donna Hardy of Bio-Rad Laboratories!

Donna Hardy (pictured above) has been named Science Buddies Volunteer of the Year in recognition, especially, for her service in the Ask an Expert forums.

(Image: Bigstock)

The Science Buddies Ask an Expert forums offer personalized help to K-12 students, teachers, and parents with questions about science fair projects. From fielding questions about formulating hypotheses to helping with the identification of variables to troubleshooting an experimental procedure, our volunteer Experts help make science projects less frustrating and more rewarding. With each student we help at Ask an Expert, we foster enthusiasm for science and increase science literacy. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with Science Buddies, visit sciencebuddies.org/volunteer.

Science Buddies works closely with its corporate sponsors to encourage and facilitate volunteerism, and our volunteer program makes it easy for employees to contribute in meaningful ways. Each year, volunteers join us in our mission to encourage, increase, and support science literacy. Many of these volunteers, professionals in a diverse range of scientific fields, join our My Science Buddies community and assist with tasks that help us maintain the high quality students, teachers, and parents expect from our resources. Other volunteers help in our Ask an Expert forums, assisting with science questions throughout the year. Others join our cause by volunteering as science fair judges in their local communities, spreading the word about Science Buddies, testing science Project Ideas with their colleagues or families, or assisting with the development of new resources. We are thankful for the time all of our volunteers give to Science Buddies.

An Outstanding Volunteer

Today, we are proud to recognize Donna Hardy of Bio-Rad Laboratories as our 2012 Volunteer of the Year. Donna has been volunteering as an Expert in the Ask an Expert forums since 2005. In that time, she has helped hundreds of students and parents with science project questions. Every year, we hear from students who have gone on to succeed with science projects at school or at a local fair. Many of these stories include mention of assistance they received from Donna in the forums.

Whether a student needs help choosing a project, is having trouble formulating a hypothesis, needs guidance in analyzing her data, or is looking for advice on presenting results, Donna offers thorough, supportive, and encouraging advice. Some students ask a question, receive an answer, and then move on to complete their projects. But many students return for ongoing support, and Donna works with them throughout the process, often doing additional research, helping them procure access to background materials, and working well beyond the typical weekly time commitment for volunteers in the Ask an Expert.

Students struggling with their science projects, or unsure how to get started, receive invaluable advice from Donna. At the same time, Donna has assisted numerous students with advanced science projects, mentoring the students through high-caliber explorations that have gone on to be presented at fairs like the Contra Costa Science & Engineering Fair (CCCSEF) and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF).

"I could not have completed the project if it weren't for all the support I received from Ask an Expert and Donna, and the project would not have received the awards that it did," said Matthew, a student recently profiled at Science Buddies for his investigation of acne treatments. Similarly, Naima, a student in Canada, cites her long-term mentorship with Donna in the forums as critical to her project's success. "I do not live in a university town, and I did not have the opportunity to work in a laboratory or interact with professors," explains Naima. Through the Ask an Expert forums, Donna helped guide Naima through a sophisticated exploration of biofuel and renewable energy. "Although I was confined to my basement as my lab, Donna was incredible in helping me understand the background concepts behind my project, helping me develop the advanced chemistry procedure, helping me analyze odd results, suggesting improvements on my scientific report, and overall helping me complete the project within my location and budget constraints." Naima went on to present her work at the Canada Wide Science Fair.

When a second-grade student put Squanto's advice on using fish as a fertilizer to the test on his family farm, he and his family turned to Ask an Expert for help defining the procedure and then presenting the results. And when a high school student in Danville, CA was working on her advanced project, "The Effect of Deer Antler on the Proliferation of Endothelial Cells in vitro," she, too, got input from Donna and went on to present at the 2012 Intel ISEF. These are just a few of the many students Donna has assisted.

"Donna is an extraordinary volunteer in the Ask an Expert forums," says Amy Cowen, Science Buddies Online Community Manager and Volunteer Coordinator. "If I could clone a volunteer to help at Ask an Expert, I would clone Donna," she continues. "Donna always goes above and beyond the call of duty, providing complete, helpful, and encouraging responses to questions at both ends of the spectrum. When it comes to helping field student questions, Donna seems to have perfect pitch. In addition to Ask an Expert, I know Donna volunteers in her own community as a judge at local science fairs, and she has helped with various other volunteer projects at Science Buddies, including helping us evaluate our top student mentors and reviewing submissions for last year's chemistry contest. She's a wonderful example of our volunteer team, and I am very happy to see her contributions recognized."

Vice President Courtney Corda added, "Donna is, and always has been, an outstanding mentor. I feel very lucky that Donna has given Science Buddies and all the students we serve the gift of her time. I'm sure that having talented, caring volunteers like Donna is one of the factors that helped Science Buddies earn the SPORE prize from the journal Science and that helped Scientific American and NOVA choose Science Buddies for outreach partnerships. Donna is a great role model. We really can't thank her enough. We are honored to present her with our Volunteer of the Year award."

Top science students join the Science Buddies team in year two of the Summer Science Fellows program. Bringing science expertise, enthusiasm, and fresh perspective, these recent graduates will assist Science Buddies in various tasks, including testing K-12 projects and resources.

This year's Summer Fellows bring diverse areas of interest and expertise—and plenty of enthusiasm for science. As part of their summer work with Science Buddies, the group will create a series of project-based and techniques videos. Pictured above, Blake Marggraff with last year's flaming rubber chicken. Blake was co-winner of the 2011 Intel ISEF and one of Science Buddies' 2011 Summer Science Fellows.

The following students will be working with Science Buddies as 2012 Science Fellows:

• Ashley Bianco is a graduate of River Springs Charter School and will attend Emory University in the fall. Her Intel ISEF Plant Sciences project was "Novel Genes and Mutations in Arabidopsis Thaliana." Ashley was also a semifinalist in this year's Intel Science and Talent Search (ISTS) and has been named the 2012 David Schwartz Summer Science Fellow, an honorary title established this year in memory of the Bio-Rad Laboratories co-founder.

• Sophie Kim is a graduate of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School and will attend Stanford in the fall. Her Intel ISEF Computer Science project was "Mathematical Modeling of Cancer Cell Proliferation After Radiotherapy."

• Rose Leopold is a graduate of Pacific Collegiate School and will attend Northeastern in the fall. Her Intel ISEF Earth & Planetary Science project was "Morphological Disparity During the Ammonoid Recovery after the Permian Mass Extinction."

• Manita Singh is a graduate of Canyon Crest and will attend MIT in the fall. Her Intel ISEF Materials & Bioengineering Project was "Effects of Polycaprolactone and UV Treated Poly (Methyl Methacrylate) Electrospun Fibers on Osteogenic Differentiation of Dental Pulp Stem Cells."

• Damon Kawamoto, a 2011 Intel ISEF competitor, is returning for a second summer as a Science Buddies Fellow. She attends Brown University. Her Intel ISEF project was "Population Modeling of the Sacramento Salmon: Combining Compositional Data with Traditional Abundance Estimates."

• Danielle Nguyen, a 2011 Intel ISEF competitor, is also returning for a second summer as a Science Fellow. She attends McGill University. Her Intel ISEF Behavioral & Social Sciences project was "Sonification: A Novel Approach to Data Representation, Differentiation of Multiple Streams of Data."
  

Science Fellows to Participate in Hands-On Science Projects

As Fellows, these young scientists and innovators will assist Science Buddies in a variety of roles, including testing Project Ideas and Science Buddies kits. Real-world testing by young people for young people complements the vetting of resources and materials by Science Buddies' in-house scientists. The Fellows will also work on the production of student-centered videos both supporting specific Project Ideas and demonstrating individual and high-interest science techniques for Science Buddies' YouTube channel.

Science Buddies looks forward to a productive and fun-filled summer with these new Science Fellows. The 2011 Summer Fellows paved the way last summer and set a high bar for the contributions Fellows can make during a few short summer months. Science Buddies feels confident this year's Fellows will demonstrate a similarly high caliber of work—with or without the flaming rubber chicken that debuted in videos created by last year's Fellows!

Ahhh.... the allure of the marshmallow shooter... I know it captivated my young Maker Faire attendees last spring... I know adult family members who send marshmallow launcher kits, right along with RC helicopters, model rockets, circuit kits, and solar-powered electronics projects. As this video from President Obama's tour of winning Google Science Fair projects shows, there's something innate to the seemingly timeless fascination with what happens when you combine air pressure, marshmallows, and a series of tubing.

For a look back at our quasi-retrospective on Maker Faire (and our questions about the "germs" that might live in an old-fashioned, blow-style, marshmallow shooter), see: Blow: From Marshmallows to Microbes.

Last year, I asked the Science Buddies staff what science, engineering, or technology tools were on their wish lists. The compilation of responses turned out to be an interesting roundup of most-wanted gadgets, a list that reflects the wide-range of personal interests that make up the small group of us at Science Buddies.

Despite the size of our site and the depth of our resources, there are only a handful of us. We are a small and busy team. We keep our "plates" full (agar and non-agar ones), and we work hard to keep up with the demands of the ten million students, parents, and teachers who use our resources each year.

As we prepare to celebrate Science Buddies' tenth birthday, I give you this little glimpse of the real people who make it all happen. This year, I again asked, "What's on your wish list." And, again, the range of answers surprised me! I hope you'll enjoy our shared wish list.

• Ken, Founder and President, wants the Orion SkyLine Deluxe Green Laser Pointer. (We think he already has this, so it must be to add to his collection!)

  Why? "The beam of a green laser can be seen in the dark sky (red cannot), making it outstanding for pointing out astronomical objects to friends and family. Plus, it's really cool!" (But, be careful! To enjoy a laser pointer safely, check our Laser Safety Guide.)

• Courtney, Vice President, wants a Roomba.

  Why? "It's easier than getting the kids to vacuum, and it looks like we could jury-rig it to do something funny, too!" She also wants a Day 6 Plotwatcher Time Lapse Video CameraWhy? "I've always loved seeing plant growth sped up on nature shows on TV."

• Marisa, Director of Development, wants the iPhone Lens Dial from Photojojo.

  Why? "It's a compact photo-enhancing tool that sits on top of the iPhone's existing camera optic. It has a wheel attachment that spins, which allows you to take high-quality fisheye, wide angle, or telephoto pictures. It also has dual tripod mounts—one for portrait and one for landscape."

• Sandra, Lead Staff Scientist, wants a Summer Shower 5.

  Why? "This year friends and family did a good job convincing me, the quintessential city-girl, that camping is fun. But I still need my daily shower! (Of course, I could just make my own!)"

• Hugo, Chief Software Architect, wants LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT.

  Why? "Do I really need to say why? Programmable robots you can build yourself. I wish I were a kid again!" Hugo also wants a Kindle Fire. Why? "It's an affordable Android tablet. Read books, watch movies, play games, surf the web... what else do you need in the palm of your hand? I'd be walking around the house like a Star Trek guy with his tablet in hand!"

• Claire, Product Design Engineer, wants a SodaStream Pure Black Sparkling Water & Soda Maker.
  Why? " I love flavored and carbonated water, but it can be so expensive! This machine allows you to add carbonation to regular tap water or juices. I would use it all the time!"

• Debbie, Web Editor, wants a Rubik's Cube.

  Why? "I am determined to master the Rubik's cube! I was inspired by the "You CAN do the Rubik's cube" team at the recent Discovery Days Science Festival in San Francisco." You can download the guide and check out several Science Buddies Rubik's cube-based Project Ideas!

• Michelle, Staff Scientist, wants a gift card to her local hardware store.
  
  Why? "The hardware store is a place where I can pick up anything and everything I need to build all kinds of experimental set-ups. Pumps, paint, hammers, lumber, rocks, cardboard, utility knives..... Visiting the hardware store is almost like a treasure hunt!"

• Amy, Online Community Manager, wants a Squeezebox Touch.
  

  Why? "I love my original Squeezebox for playing Pandora music so much that I'd like one in another room. (The Music Genome Project is a pretty cool thing, too!)

• Sherry, Grants Manager, wants Bushnell Deluxe Binocular Harness.

  Why? "To avoid bird-watching neck strain from holding heavy binoculars. I will reach for this harness when responding to rare bird alerts and waiting for birds to emerge."

• Teisha, Staff Scientist, wants the Wingscapes WSCA04 Timelapse Outdoor PlantCam.

  Why? "Plants move in amazing ways, but because they move on such a different time scale than we do, it's often hard for us to notice. By taking a time-lapse video of a plant's movements over several hours, days, or even weeks, it's a lot easier for us to see how plants grow and respond to their environment. I'd use a time-lapse 'PlantCam' to watch the plants in my backyard, organic garden grow tasty vegetables!"





• Yvette, Support Staff, wants the Solio Classic Universal Hybrid Charger
  

  Why? "I'm constantly on the go, and this would be the perfect gift to help me charge my phone, MP3 players, and other electronic devices while being eco-friendly!"
  

(Editorial Note: Links to Amazon.com for some of the above products are provided for additional information. Science Buddies does not sell these items directly.)

Many of the Project Ideas in the Science Buddies library enable science exploration with common materials, ones you might find around the house. Some projects, however, require an assortment of materials, not all of which can be obtained in a single stop at a local store. Plus, for a single science project, you may only need a small amount of a product, not a full roll or bottle. While we offer links to online sources for many specialty items, we are excited to announce the availability of "kits" for some of our popular Project Ideas.

When you order a Science Buddies kit through the AquaPhoenix Education website, you'll receive everything you need to perform the experiment—except perishables (like orange juice).

The items included in each kit are detailed on the AquaPhoenix Education website, and when you open the kit box, you'll find items carefully labeled for easy identification. We hope you find that this new approach to ordering supplies for a science project makes the process easy and convenient so you can spend more time on the science—and less on the shopping.

Kits are currently available for the following Project Ideas:

• From Dull To Dazzling: Using Pennies to Test How pH Affects Copper Corrosion

• Is This Connected To That? Use a homemade electronic tester to find out if electricity can flow between two objects.

• Forensic Science

• Which Orange Juice Has The Most Vitamin C?

• Electrolyte Challenge: Orange Juice vs. Sports Drink

• Shaking up Some Energy

• Where There Is Charge, There Can Be Sparks!

• Spin Right 'Round with this Simple Electric Motor

• Build a Crystal Radio

• Veggie Power! Making Batteries from Fruits and Vegetables

• Investigating the 'Mpemba Effect': Can Hot Water Freeze Faster than Cold Water?
  

Note: 10% of the kit purchase price goes to support Science Buddies.

Professional Development Webinar for Teachers
Join us for a free webinar on September 14
Space is limited!
Reserve your webinar seat now!

Science Buddies is offering a free online webinar on September 14, 2011, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. PDT (6:30-7:30 p.m. EDT). We will provide a comprehensive, guided tour of the Science Buddies website and will highlight ways in which you can use Science Buddies resources and Project Ideas with your students. We will also introduce a new set of video and computer game design resources, developed with support from the AMD Foundation, for classroom instruction and student exploration at home.

All attendees who answer a brief survey at the end of the webinar will be entered into a drawing to win one of three external hard-drives (Mac or PC) donated by Western Digital.

The video and computer games guided portion of the webinar is sponsored by AMD Changing the Game, an initiative of the AMD Foundation, which is designed to spark students' interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning by creating video games. We would also like to acknowledge Citrix Sytems, Inc. for providing the GoToWebinar software.

Title:   Professional Development Webinar for Teachers
Date:   Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Time:   3:30 - 4:30 p.m. PDT

System Requirements:

•    PC-based attendees:   Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server


•    Macintosh®-based attendees:   Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Science Buddies is getting a burst of summer energy from a group of top science students

This summer, Science Buddies welcomed its first set of Summer Science Fellows, a group of six entering college freshmen, all of whom competed at the Intel ISEF during their senior year in high school. These six students have been working on projects at Science Buddies in various areas of the organization, ranging from market research and analysis to the testing of Project Ideas in the Science Buddies directory. As a group, they are also working on a collaborative challenge project. The fellows have attended Science Buddies' monthly company meetings as well as special fellows-only meetings and seminars designed to cover skills they will use during their college years and beyond.

If successful, Science Buddies hopes to continue the Summer Science Fellows program in future years, cultivating a growing group of young scientists who spend time with Science Buddies during the transitional summer before college and become a part of Science Buddies' extended family.

Meet the Fellows

The participants in this year's Summer Science Fellows program are an eclectic group of students with diverse interests and wide-ranging areas of science expertise, a good bit of humor, and, in some cases, big appetites! We at Science Buddies have had a wonderful time getting to know these students in recent weeks and wanted to give you a chance to "meet" this inspiring group of science students!

		Blake Marggraff Hometown: Lafayette, CA College: Washington University, St. Louis, MO ISEF Project: "Treatment of Simulated Cancer Cells with Compton Scattering-Produced Secondary Radiation" Favorite Scientist: Marie Curie. "Nothing in life is to be feared—it is only to be understood." Most Important Scientific Discovery/Principle: Ionizing radiation What's on His Ipod: Lots of podcasts: Radiolab, This American Life, Science Friday, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, The Moth, and many more... Hobbies: Scouting, hiking, camping, Tae Kwon Do, Wikipedia
		Damon Kawamoto Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA College: Brown University Planned College Major: Computer Science ISEF Project: "Abundance Estimate of the Sacramento Chinook Salmon through the use of Genetic Data" Favorite Scientist: Mendeleev Most Important Scientific Discovery/Principle: What's on Her Ipod: Pandora—pop, pop-country Go-To Quote: "The greater our knowledge increases the more our ignorance unfolds."—John F. Kennedy Hobbies: Tennis, cooking, robotics On working with Science Buddies: "I think that the most exciting thing about working at Science Buddies is that I'm part of a group of people who are making science accessible and exciting to students and families everywhere. I've always loved creating mini experiments and would spend my weekends building structures and testing hypotheses. I am excited that because of the work that Science Buddies is doing, more students will grow to love science."
		Danielle Nguyen Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA College: McGill University Planned College Major: Biochemistry or microbiology/immunology ISEF Project: "Abundance Estimate of the Sacramento Chinook Salmon through the use of Genetic Data" Favorite Scientist: "Ben Franklin, but not only because he was an ingenious scientist, but because his ingenuity spanned across multiple disciplines. Very impressive!" Most Important Scientific Discovery/Principle: Harnessing electricity (go Ben!) What's on Her Ipod: Some dance music, pop electronica, and movie soundtracks (Inception&mdash';got to love that movie!) Go-To Quote: These are words to motivate me to do otherwise: "It is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of society"—Nathaniel Hawthorne Hobbies: Flute On working with Science Buddies: "I'm working on kit prototypes right now with the purpose of helping develop ways to increase the accessibility of science to curious young scientists. Knowing the direct applications of my work keeps me excited about the project that I'm doing!"
		Kyra Grantz Hometown: La Selva Beach, CA College: University of Chicago Planned College Major: Currently undecided; considering Chemistry, Classical Languages (with a focus in Latin), Film Studies, Political Sciences, and Mathematics. ISEF Project: "The Effects of Ocean Temperature on Aerosol Particle Absorption" Favorite Scientist: Bill Nye the Science Guy! (I actually don't really have a favorite scientist, but I absolutely loved the Bill Nye videos as a kid.) What's on Her Ipod: Pretty much everything, but always the Rolling Stones, the Shins and movies scores (Morricone, Herrmann, Bernstein) Go-To Quote: "The world is wide, and I would not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum."—Frances Willard Hobbies: Basketball, swimming, theater production, volunteering at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, watching classic movies On working with Science Buddies: It's definitely hard to pinpoint the one thing I find most exciting when working for Science Buddies in and of itself is so inspiring. If I had to choose, I would say I am most excited about working with my fellow interns on our group assignments.
		Madeline Sides Hometown: Davis, CA College: Stanford University Planned College Major: Bioengineering ISEF Project: Favorite Scientist: Rachel Carson What's on Her Ipod: Classic rock Go-To Quote: "Friendship with oneself is important, because without it one cannot be a true friend to anyone else in the world."—Eleanor Roosevelt Hobbies: Skiing, art, travelling, outdoor activities On working with Science Buddies: "I am excited to be back with Science Buddies. It's a cool organization with nice people and an important mission/product. I look forward to building on my experiences from last summer and exploring other areas of the organization. I also hope to learn more about the workings of businesses and nonprofit organizations."
		Matthew Feddersen Hometown: Lafayette, CA College: University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, IL Planned College Major: ISEF Project: "Treatment of Simulated Cancer Cells with Compton Scattering-Produced Secondary Radiation" Favorite Scientist: Nikolai Tesla Most Important Scientific Discovery/Principle: Transistor What's on His Ipod: Classical, hip hop, soundtracks Hobbies: Karate, frisbee, piano, drums, robotics

Annual Science Buddies Award Recognizes Superior Community Service From a Top Science Student

Science Buddies is proud to announce Nithin Tumma, an 11th grader at Port Huron Northern High School in Port Huron, MI, as this year's winner of the Craig Sander Outstanding Mentor Award. The award is given in recognition of the quality of Nithin's contribution and commitment to the Ask an Expert Forums for the 2010-2011 season. Nithin will receive a $300 scholarship.

In addition to the time spent volunteering with Science Buddies, Nithin completed his own advanced science project this year. He won a first place award at the 2011 Michigan Science Fair and went on to participate at the 2011 Intel ISEF where he won both the Best of Cellular and Molecular Biology Category Award and a First Place Award for his project: "Identifying Novel Mechanisms of Cytochrome-P450 2E1 Regulation." There is a known correlation between having Type 2 diabetes and the increased likelihood of developing cancer. Nithin's investigation in rats of the ways in which insulin or metformin (two drugs commonly used to treat Type 2 diabetes) alters Cyp2E1, a liver enzyme that helps eliminate carcinogens, may help shed new light on the relationship between Type 2 diabetes and cancer formation.

Honorable mentions in our review of high school mentors at Ask an Expert this year go to Shyamprasad Radhakrishna, a 12th grader at Amador Valley High, Pleasanton, CA, and Yurimar Jaen, a 10th grader at Mast Academy, Miami, FL. Both students will receive an iTunes gift card in recognition of their strong performance as AAE mentors.

A Community of Science Experts Helping with K-12 Science Questions

Ask an Expert is an online forum that enables students and families to get assistance with science projects. Our team of volunteer "Experts" is comprised of adults from science and engineering fields and top high school students. These "Experts" work together to help troubleshoot experimental procedures, direct students who are having trouble finding or narrowing a topic, assist with questions about data and results, and offer guidance for students with questions about presenting a project at a science fair. At any step of the scientific method or engineering design process, students can post a question at Ask an Expert and receive quality help. With each answer an Expert provides, she may help a student move from viewing a project as "simply an assignment" to seeing it as something exciting and fun. For volunteers, Ask an Expert offers a way to make a difference in the effort to increase K-12 science literacy.

Giving Back Starts Early

High school mentors like Nithin receive community service credit for volunteering at Ask an Expert, a measure of social awareness that has become more and more important in college applications. Beyond the official community service credit, mentors who work with the program over the course of a school year find it a rewarding way to help the science community. They get to share what they know, interact with professional scientists and engineers, and be a part of a worth nonprofit organization. The program challenges these high-achieving students to articulate science concepts and suggestions to K-12 students in ways that are easy to understand, supportive, and encouraging, and mentors often do additional research in various areas of science in order to best respond to questions.

The Outstanding Mentor Award was established in honor of advisory board member Craig Sander to show our appreciation for exemplary AAE mentors.

Ken Hess, engineer, author, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and "Volunteer of the Decade."

Since he launched Science Buddies in 2001, Ken has worked to facilitate the creation of top-notch resources, tools, and project ideas designed to support students, teachers, and their families in all aspects of doing a science or engineering project.

For more information about Ken and his move from successful entrepreneur to author, educator, and philanthropist, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Hess.

Please join us in congratulating and thanking Ken on close to a decade of volunteerism. Millions of students, teachers, and families have benefited from the services Science Buddies offers. And behind those services, at every step, has been the guiding hand and inspiration of Ken.

The Science Prize for Online Resources in Education (SPORE) is awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science.

• Video
• Announcement
• Press Release
• Science Essay

When you hear the word "spore," what comes to mind? Single-celled, self-replicating organisms? The whacky creatures in a popular video game? Something that grows and adapts? Something that spreads? Depending on the context, a "spore" might fit any of those descriptions. And with the encouragement of Science Buddies Project Ideas and resources, students can experiment with spores--or with slime molds or the use of water as a renewable energy source or patterns of bird migration or ocean acidification or chloroplast sequencing. They can even pinpoint the center of the Milky Way!

As founder and president Kenneth Hess notes, "every year, ten million K-12 students in North America must complete a science project." The hardest part of the process for many of those students is selecting a project. At Science Buddies, students can choose from over a 1000 projects in over 30 areas of science. From genomics to ocean and environmental sciences, students can access exciting free Project Ideas on the Science Buddies website, many of which enable them to follow in the footsteps of today's cutting-edge researchers, exploring new and developing science techniques, procedures, and questions.

For the last ten years, Science Buddies has been seeding interest in, and excitement for, science and furthering science literacy both in classroom settings and at home. This process of providing tools to support science literacy and to encourage students to explore areas of science they might not have considered has been part of Science Buddies' approach since its inception, and Science Buddies' offerings have continued to grow and evolve. Student by student, teacher by teacher, parent by parent, and researcher by researcher, the Science Buddies community has spread.

Today, Science awarded Science Buddies a Science Prize for Online Resources in Education, an award created to recognize "the best online materials in science education." "We want to recognize innovators in science education," says Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science.

"We're extremely honored to be recognized by such a prestigious publication that represents the entire scientific community," says Hess. "It provides tremendous validation for our efforts to advance science education and literacy."

And with recognition, science literacy spreads and spreads again and again and again. It's a replication process worth celebrating.

As I wrote my blog essay in celebration of Earth Day, I found myself in unexpectedly bug-laden territory, without a compost bin, wind turbine, or reusable food container in sight. But Earth Day is about all of those things. It's about taking a moment to recognize what's around us, to take stock of where we are, and to consider ways in which we can make changes, big and small, that can make an impact on the environment. It's about conservation and awareness. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?

I asked members of the Science Buddies team to pick their favorite Project Idea for Earth Day from the Science Buddies Project Ideas Directory. Here's what they chose:

Courtney: Decomposing Energy: Extracting Heat Energy from a Compost Pile
Investigate whether the heat from a compost bin or pile can be used to efficiently and effectively heat water.

Tina: Uh-oh! What Do We Do With Our E-waste?
Examine how people deal with e-waste, and which electronic devices, if any, are most likely to be recycled.

Marisa: The Big Dig

Test how biodegradable different materials are, from paper products to different kinds of bags and other everyday items.

Hugo: Killing 'Vampires': Saving Money and Power by Turning Off Computer Peripherals
Investigate, and ultimately reduce, the amount of power that computer peripherals (like printers, monitors, and speakers) use.

Peggy: Swimming in Acid: Understanding Ocean Acidification
Many scientists are concerned that the increased absorption of carbon dioxide is causing them to become more acidic. What impact does that have on the marine life? In this ocean science fair project, you will demonstrate ocean acidification and investigate the effect on the shells of marine life.

Luisa: Going Green as You Clean: Are 'Green' Detergents Less Toxic Than Conventional Detergents?
Determine if green detergents are safer for the environment than conventional detergents.

Kaarin: Feeding Earthworms: Do Different Diets Affect Them and the Soil They Enrich?
Discover how the diet of earthworms affects their growth, reproduction, and the quality of the soil they process.

Justin: Ocean Currents: Modeling the 'Global Conveyor Belt' in Your Kitchen
Make a model of ocean currents and measure how the heat input affects velocity of the currents.

Claire: Get Down and Dirty: How Does Soil Change with Depth?
Observe and measure core samples of soil to see how soil properties changes with depth.

Debbie: Growing a Soil Menagerie
Make a mini biosphere (Winogradsky Column) to test the response of soil microorganisms to environmental changes in a closed system.

Michelle: Go Green by Growing Green: How to Extract Energy from Grass
Grow three different types of grasses and then determine which grass produces the most biomass and therefore, will produce the most energy.

Sandra: "Earth Day is about stopping to take the time to appreciate the outdoors and making sure that we humans are living in a way that allows future generations to do the same. Does that mean we're going to abandon our cars and turn off our electricity? Realistically speaking, I can't imagine doing that! Finding ways to solve environmental problems while maintaining our lifestyles seems more realistic. Here are two Project Ideas that I think allow us to start evaluating and tackling some of those environmental problems:"
• Do Your Storm Drains Keep the Ocean Trash Free?
  Test models of local grated storm drain inlets to determine if they are designed in a manner that keeps plastic litter from entering your community's stormwater drainage system. If not, design a new model!


• Water to Fuel to Water: The Fuel Cycle of the Future
  Follow in the footsteps of MIT researchers as you examine water's usefulness as a renewable energy source by observing how efficient a cobalt-based catalyst can be at helping to form molecular oxygen.

(Thank you to our partners and sponsors whose support helps up continue to produce environmentally-aware science and engineering projects and materials for K-12 students, teachers, and families.)

Middle school teachers, grades 6-8, interested in investigating ocean sciences or climate change are invited to apply for the 2011 Earthwatch Educator Program sponsored by Earthwatch and Northrop Grumman. The program provides a fellowship for an innovative hands-on expedition, an inspiring experience that teachers can then share with classrooms.

Last year, Erin Moore, a teacher in Illinois, was selected to participate in Northrop Grumman Foundation's Weightless Flights of Discovery Program. As Erin reported on the Science Buddies' blog, the experience of the Zero-G flight was exhilarating and life-changing, from start to finish.

The following Earthwatch expeditions are planned for 2011:

• Coastal Ecology of the Bahamas

  6/27 - 7/8, 2011

  Be a part of a team supervised by Dr Kathleen Sullivan-Sealey as you explore the Bahamian archipelago, a unique ecosystem in the northeast Caribbean Sea.

• Climate Change at the Arctic's Edge
  6/19 - 6/29, 2011
  Exploring the carbon-rich peatlands in the Arctic tundra will bring issues related to global warming rushing to the surface. Teams working with Dr. Peter Kershaw will monitor ecosystem changes in response to global warming and investigate changes in the permafrost—and the risks related to the release of greenhouse gases if the permafrost thaws.
  

Middle School teachers (grades 6-8) from Northrop Grumman communities are eligible to apply for the program (except for educators who participated in the 2009 or 2010 Weightless Flights of Discovery program or the 2009 or 2010 Space Academy for Educators). The deadline for application is February 4, 2011.

For more information, or to fill out an application, visit the Northrop Grumman Earthwatch information page.

Just a reminder, our free Professional Development Webinar for teachers is today, Wednesday, September 22 at:

• 4 p.m. Pacific


• 5 p.m. Mountain


• 6 p.m. Central


• 7 p.m. Eastern

If you are not registered yet and would like to join us, it's not too late! Please register now: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/389772962

To find out more about today's virtual tour of the Science Buddies website, see our previous blog entry.

Thanks to a grant from the Motorola Foundation's Innovation Generation program, Science Buddies will be developing online resources related to summer science camps. Many camps throughout the country focus on the sciences and offer opportunities for students to explore science in fun and innovative ways.

"We are excited about the opportunity to add the 'Summer Science' resource to our website and to encourage students to engage in hands-on science projects ...even when school is out," said Ken Hess, Science Buddies CEO.

Read the full press release.

In recent months, the news has been riddled with stories about professional scientists behaving poorly. In November 2009, a hacker pirated and circulated hundreds of email messages that spawned what has become known as "Climategate,", a scandal which allegedly involves the systematic and deliberate misrepresentation of statistical data regarding global warming. On the heels of Climategate, the British medical journal Lancet this month retracted a scientific paper because of fraudulent data regarding a link between immunizations and autism, and the American publication Science recently placed a paper under suspicion until it receives additional data. In other news, claims regarding the rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers have been exposed as "speculative."

These examples from the scientific world are disheartening. They point to a certain level of ethical demise where results that "fit" expected or desired findings are more important than the scientific quest for truth. In each case, faulty findings and misrepresentation of data have had significant impact upon popular thinking and even upon economic planning and spending.

For teachers and students, these examples can be confusing. If the goal of experimentation and research is to test hypotheses, to explain things, to uncover what happens under certain circumstances, and to answer questions that can lead to new knowledge and further discovery, then why lie about what the data shows?

Why Falsify?

Scientists are human. It is natural to want to be right. It can be hard to discover in subsequent trials that early findings were not as conclusive as initially believed. It can be hard to have to "qualify" data or suggest that something that seemed breakthrough early on maybe wasn't. It can hard to admit that something didn't turn out as expected.

The pressure to publish research and findings can contribute to these problems. In the rush to put out new materials, "it can be tempting to take short cuts, to rush data that isn't fully analyzed out the door, or, worst of all, to fabricate data," says Sandra Slutz, Science Buddies lead staff scientist.

Students face similar time constraints and pressure, and sometimes students think the only way to get a good grade on a science project is for the project to show exactly what they set out to show. It is important for teachers, students, parents, and those involved in science fairs to create an environment where solid research and testing, where adherence to the scientific method, and where a spirit of enthusiastic investigation is encouraged — even if a project, in the end, doesn't turn out as expected.

What students stand to learn from a science project that is conducted properly from start to finish far outweighs the importance of the data fitting the student's original hypothesis or supporting a known scientific principle.

An Honest Fair

For teachers, parents, and students, stories of scientific fraud, deception, and misrepresentation in the science community are warning signs and offer concrete examples for talking constructively about the value of science fair projects, about "why" we conduct scientific experiments and "why" schools hold science fairs.

A science fair project is supposed to be a learning experience, and teachers and parents need to work together to ensure that the experience is a positive one. Unfortunately, whether you are a middle school student or a professional scientist, experiments don't always turn out the way that you want! That doesn't, however, mean that you should alter your results, ignore something important that happened, or pretend that things turned out differently than they did. Ultimately, you may not prove your hypothesis. But that doesn't mean that your science fair project had no merit!

If at First You Don't Succeed

It happens. Experiments do not always turn out the way you expect or want. Sometimes, it is because something avoidable went wrong. You can learn from that and try again or alter your procedures in the future. Sometimes, it is hard to tell "what" went wrong. Sometimes, the data simply doesn't match up to expectations.

On the bright side, you can learn a lot from what goes wrong with a science project. Scientific discovery, in fact, is often a one-step-forward-two-steps-back process. If you love the area of science you've chosen for your project, spending time troubleshooting what may have happened and finding either a new approach or a revised method for working with the topic can turn into a viable project for your next science fair.

Donna Hardy, an Ask an Expert volunteer from Bio-Rad, recently reassured a student and parent that had run into problems with a cabbage cloning experiment, "With science projects, the important thing is the science and the experiment, not necessarily the results. Your son followed the protocol, set up the experiment, and obtained some results. Not necessarily the results he was expecting, but there were results."

Be open, too, to what "what went wrong" suggests. You might find that unexpected results can lead your research or project in an entirely new direction.

As Amber Hess, a Science Buddies volunteer and Expert in the Ask an Expert forums notes: "My best project came about from a mistake I made in a different project. That's also how the microwave oven was invented!"

Indeed, observations that led to the development of the microwave oven started with an unexpected mess—a chocolate bar that melted in the pocket of Percy Spencer, an American engineer working with magnetrons for Raytheon. The melted chocolate bar demonstrated a side-effect of the magnetrons: their heating properties. Spencer went on to experiment with popcorn and then eggs. It wasn't where he started, but it led to a discovery that changed the face of the modern kitchen!

Just imagine if Spencer hadn't realized the potential in re-directing his research based on the melted chocolate bar!

As Sandra notes, "Every scientist, from famous Nobel prize winners to laboratory technicians in their first job, have had an experiment fail. Actually they've had a lot of experiments fail. And that's okay! It is simply part of the process. What differentiates the good scientists from the rest is what they do next. The truly horrible ones make up results, the bad ones simply give up and move to a new question, and the good scientists figure out why the project failed, implement a solution, and try again... and again... and again until it works."

Stay tuned for a checklist of ways to get your science project started off on the right foot to give yourself the best chance for success. Check back, also, for more suggestions from our staff scientists and experts regarding what to do... when a project doesn't work and how to troubleshoot what may have gone wrong.

School is back in session, and that means science projects are underway. Already in my house there has been excitement over the various states of water. And as the information trickles home and what has been learned is demonstrated and relayed and put to use and tested again and again, I can't count how many times I have found a cup of water left in the freezer as an experiment. Similarly, several days in a row, a cup of water was left bedside to see if bubbles formed on the surface overnight. When there were no bubbles, I heard, "My experiment didn't work, but that's okay." Add to that a newfound awareness of solid shapes, the parts of trees, and a wealth of knowledge about hedgehogs, and it's been a very full first month of kindergarten.

With science projects and science fairs already taking shape in classrooms, Science Buddies is in the process of scheduling volunteers to answer questions in our Ask an Expert forums.

The Science Buddies Ask an Expert forums offer personalized help to K-12 students (and their parents) with questions about science fair projects. From fielding questions about formulating hypotheses to helping with the identification of variables to troubleshooting an experimental procedure, our team of Experts helps make science projects less frustrating and more rewarding. With each student we help at Ask an Expert, we hope we are fostering enthusiasm for science and increasing science literacy.

Volunteers at Ask an Expert include both Experts working in scientific fields, teachers, and advanced high school science students interested in performing community service by helping other students with their science fair questions and projects.

To find out more about volunteering with Science Buddies, please visit: www.sciencebuddies.org/volunteer. If you are a teacher and would like information you can distribute to your students, please let us know.

Join Science Buddies on August 30 for "Using Science Buddies for Success," a free one-hour webinar designed to introduce teachers to Science Buddies' resources and tools.

As the 2009-2010 school year gets ready to kick into gear, now is the perfect time to learn more about how Science Buddies can be integrated in your classroom. Science Buddies is dedicated to creating engaging project ideas and resources that can help increase science enthusiasm, interest, and literacy in all grades. The webinar, sponsored by Northrop Grumman and Motorola, will walk you through our resources and offer suggestions for incorporating Science Buddies' materials in your classroom.

Webinar 'Door' Prizes!

At the end of the webinar, we will award door prizes. The first 25 attendees to sign in and attend the whole webinar will receive a free Scientific Method poster. Also, random names will be drawn from among ALL attendees: 10 attendees will receive a Maxtor Personal Storage Basics 300 gigabyte external hard drive and 1 attendee will receive a $100 grant of his or her choice of science supplies or equipment!

In her appearance on The View from the Bay, Science Buddies Vice President, Courtney Corda, talks about the value of making science an everyday subject and topic of family discussion. Courtney encourages parents to approach science first and foremost by linking science and underlying scientific principles to an area of interest for their students and to engage students with hands-on activities and scientific projects.

Courtney reminds viewers that fostering a love of science is important. Supporting a love of reading or instilling and modeling healthy eating habits are vital concerns for parents, says Courtney. So, too, is science education.

Watch the video clip for practical tips on bringing science into the home and see Courtney, her son, and another mother-daughter team put cabbage to work as a pH indicator.

Tomorrow, June 16, Courtney Corda, Vice President of Science Buddies, will be a guest on ABC 7 / KGO-TV's "View from the Bay." As part of a special segment on Science Buddies, "View from the Bay" will air footage of Courtney and her son Matthew and mother-and-daughter team Haleh and Jenny Hughes.performing the Science Buddies' "Cabbage Chemistry" experiment.

Science Buddies continues to team up with science and tech companies to recognize and support innovative science and what can be created, observed, tested, and discovered with ordinary materials put to creative use in the name of science.

After viewing entries yesterday, Science Buddies' Sandra Slutz is at the California State Science Fair today with Northrop Grumman's Wen Phan to select winners of the Science Buddies Clever Scientist Awards from the over 1000 participants representing over 300 California schools.

Thanks to generous support from Symantec, all winners of the Clever Scientist Award at CSSF will receive a copy of Norton Internet Security.

This year, Seagate and Science Buddies teamed up to sponsor and award the Seagate-Science Buddies Clever Scientist Award at various science fairs. At each fair, the "Clever Scientist" award honored the two most innovative science fair projects which used low-cost experimental techniques to answer challenging scientific or engineering questions.

"Doing more with less is one of the classic measures of creativity," says Science Buddies founder and CEO Ken Hess.

The following projects were recently selected for the Clever Scientist Award at the Santa Cruz County Science Fair, the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair, and the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair:

• Colored Light vs. Fog
  Daniel Nugent
  Summary: Daniel created a controlled fog generator which allowed him to study light absorption, specifically which color of light penetrates fog the best (e.g., fog lights for automobiles) but is, at the same time, tolerable for human eyesight.
  
• Decomposing Energy
  Max Keller
  Summary: Max's green project explored the use of home compost to generate heat energy. Max designed a system that featured aeration from a home fan, ventilation with PVC pipe, controlled moisture content, and an embedded water reservoir to measure heat change over time.
• Pop Goes the Hairstrand
  Kathryn Wied
  Summary: Kathryn systematically tested groups of hair with varying types of shampoos to determine if shampoo helps increase the strength of hair.
  
• Parabolic Solar Desalination for the Developing World
  Kelci Garcia
  Summary: Tackling the shortage of drinking water in some developing coastal areas, Kelci developed a prototype of an 'E.T. (Energy Transfer) Dish' - "a parabolic mirror and steam generator with a heat exchanger." The E.T. Dish facilitates the condensation of steam and the production of fresh water.
  
• Earthquake Experiments
  Zachary Ajax Zinn
  Summary: The project involved the homemade earthquake shake tables which allowed observation and evaluation of the ways in which both horizontal and vertical shake affects buildings which have different structural components.

• Can Kites Go Low?
  Evan LR Karow
  Summary: Evan built a wind tunnel, modeled after expensive high tech tunnels, out of cardboard, a fan, a rheostat, and a voltage meter. With the tunnel, and the ability to control the speed of the fan, Evan quantitatively compared 8 different kite designs to see which type of kite was capable of achieving lift with the least amount of wind.

Winners received a Maxtor One Touch III, 200 GB drive from Seagate and the opportunity to publish their project on Science Buddies website.

"By rewarding the authors and publishing these original, low-cost projects, we give other students across the country something that they can build and improve upon," says Hess.

It's not too late to enter the 2nd LEGO Builders of Tomorrow contest, sponsored by GeekDad. The deadline for submitting a photo of your family working together to build something from LEGO is April 30. The winning family will be featured on the box of the 2010 LEGO Builders of Tomorrow set.

The contest honors the timeless tradition of LEGO construction and the ways in which families come together to put principles of design, engineering, robotics, and physics to use with bricks of all sizes.

The ubiquitous nature of LEGO makes them perfect tools for introducing and demonstrating principles of science. Turn some downtime at home into an opportunity for scientific exploration with one of these Science Buddies science fair project ideas:

• Go, Gadget, Go! Building Robots with LEGO® Mindstorms®
• Building Structures: It's a Slippery Slope
• Gears-Go-Round!
• Building the Tallest Tower (For the youngest of builders!)

Let us know what you build, what questions come up, and how it goes. Your young builder could, indeed, be the builder or scientist of tomorrow!