High School Students: Become an Expert

New Volunteers: Click here to apply to be a Science Buddies Expert.

Returning Volunteers: Click here to log in and enroll as an Expert.

Science Buddies needs talented high school students to serve as Experts on our Online Ask an Expert Forums.

"[Science Buddies] gives you the chance to share what you have learned with someone who hasn't learned it yet. It feels as if you are helping this person along in their education." - Melyssa, 17.

*Please note: The Classroom Scientists Program will not be in operation during the 2007-2008 school year.

Why Do It

Minutes of your time can make a huge difference in improving science literacy in our community.
Many teachers are swamped, too busy even to consider encouraging their students to participate in local science fairs. Yet our society relies more on science every day, and science fairs are a great way for students to become more knowledgeable about how the world around them works.

You can help to fill the gap by joining our team of smart, enterprising Experts.

Add Distinction to Your College Application
Top colleges are using leadership and volunteer service as key factors to distinguish among applications -- the Science Buddies program provides you with both. Demonstrate how you apply your science knowledge beyond a transcript or a standardized test by mentoring someone new to the sciences.

The Science Buddies program offers college-bound high school students a convenient, fun, and meaningful opportunity for performing community service. The program also offers you the option of having a long-term leadership role that can span several years.

Interact with Talented Science Professionals
In addition to top high school science students, many talented science professionals serve as Experts. Not only do they work with high school Experts to respond to Investigators' inquiries, but they are also available to answer your questions about your own independent research, colleges, or careers in science.

Past Experts include:

* business executives	* consultants	* engineers of all kinds
* environmentalists	* forensic scientists	* graduate students
* health professionals	* patent attorneys	* plant specialists
* research scientists	* technical writers	* university faculty

Qualify for Science Buddies Scholarships and Awards
Science Buddies is offering ten $300 college scholarships to "Outstanding" High School Experts. Throughout the course of the Science Buddies Ask an Expert programs, we will be following the progress of each team. Experts who show true leadership qualities will qualify for the $300 scholarships. To qualify, "Outstanding" Experts must distinguish themselves in the following ways:

• Responsive: Promptly reply to messages from teammates and review Investigator assignments within 24 hours or less.
• Problem Solver: Repeatedly offer clear advice and workable solutions to questions from the Investigator.
• Encouraging: Successfully lead the Investigator through the project timeline ensuring that they stay on schedule and complete the required assignments. The Investigator must submit all assignments by the date of their Science Fair.
• Consistent: Maintain the quality of their support and responsiveness for the duration of the program.
• Informative: Draw from their science knowledge and fair experience as they review Investigator assignments and offer feedback to help the Investigator improve the quality of their project.

Two Ways to Help

We need Experts for two different programs, both focused on students completing a science fair project:

• The Classroom Scientists Program, formerly called the Ask an Expert Mentoring Program, matches adult and high school Experts with a small group of student Investigators doing individual science fair projects. You are part of a team of Experts advising this group of students from start to finish. It takes about one hour per week.
• In the Ask an Expert Forum you work with a team of science and technology professionals to handle questions posed in a traditional online bulletin board. It will take about half as much time (about 1/2 hour per week) as our Classroom Scientists Program, but you won't have the same opportunity to get to know the students you help. In most cases, you'll answer a student's question, accept his or her thanks, and move on to another student.

In the application form you will have the opportunity to select the program you want to work with: Classroom Scientists Program or Ask an Expert Forum.

Who Benefits

The primary beneficiaries of the program are students in grades 7-10, who are 12-15 years old. Most students have not had much exposure to the sciences yet, but by the time they reach 9th grade, they should have studied general earth, life, and physical sciences.

"The experience has been awesome. I would never have been able to do this on my own." - Michael, 13.

"I look forward to involving more of my students in the Science Buddies program next year - seeing their peers' accomplishments makes it much more accessible. Plus, it was a fun way to teach them about science outside of a textbook. They didn't just read about scientific principles, they actually used them." - David Ellingson, teacher, Lawton Middle School.

Science Buddies reaches out to a broad cross-section of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds. Some students come from underserved communities or schools with limited resources. Some have school computer labs that rival corporations. Some are high-achievers who don't need much prodding but want to be challenged. Some have never had a good role model or learning environment and would benefit greatly from one.

In all cases, the students are in the program because they want to be. Experts work with eager, motivated students who are excited to have role models who care.

More About the Classroom Scientists Program

The Classroom Scientists Program, formerly called the Ask an Expert Mentoring Program, is a mentoring program that we launched in 2005. It builds on the ease of use of our Ask an Expert Forum to develop private online communities where science professionals and high school students can work together to support small groups of middle school or high school students working on individual science fair projects. The program offers Experts the opportunity to work closely with highly engaged students eager to receive help on their science fair projects. Depending on the school schedule, the program typically starts around November and concludes in mid-March when the students present their projects at the science fair.

Responsibilities
Many of the Investigators participating in our program have never done a science fair project before. Your primary responsibility will be to guide them through the process from beginning to end. You are like a teacher whose focus is your Investigator's science fair project. Investigators are responsible for doing their own work. Your role is to offer them encouragement, review their work, answer questions, and make suggestions. Your most valuable contribution is having gone through a science fair project yourself and being able to draw upon that experience to help your Investigator.

• Complete the training program. We'll give you the background you need to define and understand the boundaries of a mentoring relationship, brainstorm for project ideas and resources, and manage a project.
• Be familiar with all the components of a good science fair project and the scientific method (e.g. hypothesis, review of literature, data analysis, etc.) based on your own experience.
• Read the information and resources on this website. Many answers to questions your Investigator will have can be found on the site.
• Communicate with your Investigator at least 3 times a week (sometimes as often as daily around deadlines) via the message boards on this website, for a total time commitment of up to one hour per week from November to mid-March.
• Check in with your team's Adult Expert every two weeks. High School Experts take the lead in this program. The Adult Experts are available as backup when High School Experts need help.

More About the Ask an Expert Program

Ask an Expert is an online bulletin board that offers personalized help to answer anyone and everyone's science fair questions: Ask an Expert. Experts usually login to the online discussion board to respond to inquiries on one scheduled day per week. Additional program highlights include:

• Experts from many different fields, as well as staff members, are available to tackle questions that an individual Expert cannot field by him or herself
• Experts may check in and post replies to students at a convenient time on your scheduled day(s)
• The time commitment is flexible depending on your availability.
• Our website and staff provide resources to aid Experts in answering student questions

The Ask an Expert Program is a great volunteer opportunity for those who may not be available for the entire period from November to mid-March, or for Experts who are simply looking for more flexibility in a volunteer opportunity. Expert participation is scheduled on a weekly basis so that the time commitment is approximately 1/2 hour per week during the science fair season (most traffic falls between November and March).

Requirements

• Grade 9 - 12
• Regular email & Internet access
• Minimum of one high school science class if you have previously participated in a science fair
• Or, mininum of 2 high school science classes if no previous science fair experience
• Strong science and math grades
• Must successfully complete the online orientation process

How to Apply

1. Applications are Web-based only. Unfortunately, other formats (e.g. email, fax, print) cannot be accepted.
   
2. Please set aside 15 minutes to complete this application in one sitting. (Tip: Review the entire application before filling it out.)
   
3. Immediately after you have submitted your application, you will see a "Thank You" page confirming that Science Buddies has received your application. If you do not see the "Thank You" page, your application did not go through and you will need to submit it again. A confirmation email will also be sent to your preferred email address.
   
4. If you have any questions, contact Staff at scibuddy@sciencebuddies.org.

Thank you!

New Volunteers: Click here to sign up.

Returning Volunteers: Click here to enroll.