Science Buddies in Action

Each year, Science Buddies reaches millions of students, teachers, and parents across the United States and the world. We often get emails from students, teachers, and parents who use our resources and Project Ideas successfully in the classroom and at home. As a nonprofit organization, hearing about your science successes helps reinforce the impact Science Buddies is having on K-12 science education. We love seeing Science Buddies "in action" through the stories you share!

Science Buddies in Action shows how real kids (and teachers and parents) have used Science Buddies materials to create interesting and successful science projects and science explorations. We want to hear your science fair stories! Please share them with us by emailing scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org.

Success Stories

• Keeley Hilliard (September 2012)
  For his fourth-grade science project, Keeley Hilliard investigated alternative energy and compared solar power sources in his first robotics project.
  
• Lisa Niver Rajna (August 2012)
  Science Buddies and the Topic Selection Wizard play a key role in Lisa Niver Rajna's classroom as she encourages students to pursue science projects that have real-world connections.
  
• Andrew Lee (August 2012)
  For his fourth-grade science project, Andrew Lee put questions about distracted driving to the test using a popular video game.
  
• Matthew Brewer (August 2012)
  For his senior science project, Matthew Brewer, an aspiring microbiologist, investigated acne treatments.
  
• Matthew Early (August 2012)
  Using a Science Buddies Project Idea, Matthew Early conducted a sophisticated renewable energy project that built upon research from MIT.
  
• Emily Aguilar (June 2012)
  For her sixth-grade science project, Emily Aguilar explored the ancient Egyptian science of mummification—using a hot dog.
  
• Dylan Viale (May 2012)
  Dylan Viale created his first video game in order to see if he could create a sound-based game that could be successfully played by someone who is blind.
  
• Xavier Downey (May 2012)
  Xavier Downey has made the leader boards at local science fairs three years in a row with projects from Science Buddies' video and computer game area.
  
• Dakota LeMaire (April 2012)
  An exciting project about wolf movement and behavior grabbed the attention of Dakota LeMaire, a sixth-grade animal-enthusiast preparing for his first science fair.
  
• Jackie Rapport (March 2012)
  Jackie Rapport used Science Buddies resources to help her plan a county-wide science fair as her Gold Award project for the Girl Scouts.
  
• Naima Raza (February 2012)
  Naima Raza found support in the Ask an Expert forums for her 8th grade environmental science project on pretreating newspapers to create biofuel. A volunteer Expert from Bio-Rad mentored Naima throughout the advanced project.
  
• Devon Lejman (February 2012)
  Devon Lejman's 7th grade science project let her better understand the relationship between exercise and the body's ability to output carbon dioxide. Her research also gave her added insight into a pulmonary illness affecting her family.
  
• Keeley Hilliard (October 2011)
  Keeley Hilliard's 3rd grade science project let him explore 'waterbending,' just like the characters in one of his favorite TV shows. Building and testing his own Archimedes screw pump let him move water with the twist of a wrist!
  
• Aaron Lewis (October 2011)
  Aaron Lewis' passion for robotics all started with hands-on exposure to robotics during a summer camp. Today, he's working on more and more sophisticated robotics challenges—and helping inspire others!
  
• Juliana Rico (September 2011)
  Juliana Rico's exploration of wind turbine designs gave her the chance to learn more about an alternative energy source.
  
• Megan Hinkle (September 2011)
  Megan Hinkle's astronomy project taught her more about the sun and won honors in the Science Buddies—Lick Observatory Astronomy Contest!
  
• Richard Stanton (July 2011)
  Richard Stanton's curiosity about the dimples on a golf ball led to his construction of a wind tunnel—and a career interest in engineering!
  
• Laura Fulton (June 2011)
  Laura Fulton found the spark of a successful microbiology project in her water bottle at dance class!
  
• Mikaela May (May 2011)
  Mikaela May combined her passion for the floral industry with her growing interest in agriscience and came up with a winning line of scientific inquiry when she asked, what solution best preserves the life of roses?
  
• McCray McGee (March 2011)
  When McCray heard that Squanto recommended buried fish as a fertilizer, he put his family farm to use and created a winning 2nd grade science project to test the use of different fertilizers on corn production.
  
• Emma Gloudeman (January 2011)
  As a 4th grader, Emma decided she wanted to participate in the school science fair. Using the Topic Selection Wizard, Emma found an exciting—and electrifying—Project Idea to work on!
  
• Yvette Leung (September 2010)
  As a volunteer mentor in the Ask an Expert forums, Yvette earned community service credit, expanded her own love of science, and helped many students with science projects. As a senior, Yvette was awarded the Craig Sander Outstanding Mentor award.
  
• Jaimi Cooks (September 2010)
  When she decided to enter the Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair (CCSEF), Jaimi used the Topic Selection Wizard to find an exciting topic on stealth technology.
  
• Christina Wang (June 2010)
  As a sophomore, Christina found support on Science Buddies Ask an Expert Forums. This led to continued research and success as a junior at Intel ISEF with a 2nd place Grand Award in Microbiology.
  
• Gabriel Akins (May 2010)
  Gabriel has used Science Buddies resources, like the step-by-step Project Guide, for the past three science fairs. He placed first with his latest science project!
  
• Allison Murray (July 2009)
  Who says art and science don't mix? Not multitalented 8th grader Allison Murray, who, with the help of Science Buddies, combined her interest in both to succeed in her school's science fair.
  
• Maureen Guzman (June 2009)
  As science fair coordinator at her school, Maureen Guzman is in charge of overseeing two annual science fairs. When she and her students need help generating ideas, they turn to Science Buddies.
  
• Lauren Hirsch (June 2009)
  When Lauren Hirsch left her biotech job to embark on a new career path as a middle school teacher, she found a way to spread her interest in scientific inquiry. Science Buddies helps her put hands-on learning experiences at the center of the curriculum.
  
• Whitney Skinner (July 2009)
  Eighth-grade teacher Whitney Skinner found Science Buddies resources invaluable as she organized her first science fair.
  
• Deborah Walker (July 2009)
  K-5 science teacher and science fair coordinator Deborah Walker starts off each science fair season with a trip to the Science Buddies Topic Selection Wizard.
  
• Diane Vozzola (July 2008)
  Diane Vozzola has been involved in education since 1982 and teaches 44 vivacious 2nd graders. When it was time to revise the science curriculum, Ms. Vozzola turned to the Science Buddies Project Guide to help develop an inquiry-based unit introducing the scientific method.
  
• Karen Delgado (July 2008)
  Karen Delgado, teacher of 76 7th-grade students, has been teaching for 28 years and says that Science Buddies' resources are "invaluable." In contrast to the typical science fair, where students are judged on a single experiment or engineering project, Ms. Delgado's students carry out long-term, in-class independent research projects in small groups.
  
• Ryan Deal (June 2008)
  Ryan Deal, a 7th grader with a passion for sports, had a blast doing his science fair project "Under Pressure: Bouncing Ball Dynamics."
  
  
• Garrett Horn (June 2008)
  As a 3rd grader doing his first science project, Garrett Horn applied his enjoyment of swimming when selecting his science project topic. He found swimming success with the Science Buddies Project Idea "The Swimming Secrets of Duck Feet."
  
• Cici Chen (June 2008)
  With the help of her biology teacher, Cici Chen conducted a science experiment in which she studied residual E. coli on kitchen cutting boards. Science Buddies aided her as well, for she often sought answers to her questions using the Ask an Expert resource. Cici won top honors for her project at her school fair.
  
• Alejandro Solano (June 2008)
  Using the Topic Selection Wizard (TSW), Alejandro Solano discovered the Project Idea titled "The Point of a Parabola: Focusing Signals for a Better Wireless Network." He received 3rd Place in his category, Physical Sciences, fulfilled his outreach requirement, and earned an "A" for the science fair project.
  
• Gabriel Stroup (June 2008)
  Gabriel Stroup's science project was off to a rocky start when he was told to redo his entire project. But Gabe's new science project on paper airplanes earned an 'A' grade and Honorable Mention at the school science fair with the help of the Science Buddies Aerodynamics & Hydrodynamics interest area.
  
• Gabriel Akins (June 2008)
  Gabriel Akins and his family did their first-ever science fair project by following Science Buddies' step-by-step Project Guide. Using the Science Buddies Project Guide increased the quality of the project that Gabriel did, and he had a fun time doing the project.
  
• Justin Spahn (August 2007)
  When Justin Spahn, a senior from Antioch, California, was assigned to do a public outreach project he chose to design a science fair project. With an interest in aerodynamics and planetary science Justin began his search for a project idea. After searching the Science Buddies website he was inspired by the Project Idea "Which Wing Design Creates the Greatest Lift".
  
• Yihe Dong (July 2007)
  Yihe Dong, a junior from Athens, Georgia, recently wrote to Science Buddies to tell us about her success at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) this year. Yihe, whose project titled "Maternal Effects of Diet Restriction in Fruit Flies" won the 1st Place Grand Award and Best of Category Award, credits Science Buddies for helping her get as far as she did with her project.
  
• Corynn Evans (May 2007)
  Corynn Evans, from San Bernardino, California is a very active 4th grade student who excels in viola and acts as a "Conflict Manager" at her school. For her first science fair, Corynn used the Topic Selection Wizard (TSW) to find an idea that fit her interest in animals.