You can help a pre-college student explore the sciences by joining the Science Buddies program.

Science Buddies is an online peer mentoring program for Bay Area middle and high school students. Students in the program complete a project for entry in a local science fair. The program helps students from all walks of life develop a love of science and an understanding of the scientific method.

Anyone with a science or engineering background (just out of college to those with doctorates) and regular access to the Internet and e-mail can volunteer. It is not at all necessary for an Advisor to be an expert in a certain field in order to be a great mentor.

The 2002-2003 program serves 250 middle school students (grades 6-8), and runs roughly from November through March. Each middle school student is matched with a high school student (peer ‘Mentor’) and an adult science professional (‘Advisor’) to form a project team.

For about 12 weeks, Advisors correspond online with their student team and help the primary mentor answer the younger student’s questions. Advisors provide advice and encouragement as the student chooses a research question, devises a hypothesis, designs and conducts a measurable experiment, analyzes data, and presents findings.

A Science Buddies representative will be on site to give a demo of the online forum and to explain the program on Friday, November 22, at 1:00 p.m. in the Orange Room (Bldg. 40).