CARMEL, Calif., Sept. 19, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Science Buddies, www.sciencebuddies.org, a non-profit education support organization headquartered here, has been named the recipient of a $50,000 grant from the Toyota USA Foundation.
The grant will be used to expand a successful Internet-based program that offers science fair project resources for 4th - 8th grade students and their teachers. Science Buddies will be able to employ a science educator to create the new online education materials based on the National Science Standards.
"With the Internet becoming a top source for information throughout the world, it is vital that there are credible science information websites available for students to utilize," said Patricia Pineda, Group Vice President, Corporate Communications and General Counsel of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. "In less than five years of existence, Science Buddies has become one of the top three sites where high school students and their teachers go to seek assistance on science fair projects. We are delighted to help them expand their program."
"This school year we had 853,000 visitors to www.sciencebuddies.org, searching for help on their science projects, and surprisingly 25 percent of them were in the primary grades," said Ken Hess, president and founder of Science Buddies. "With the Toyota USA Foundation's generous grant, we will now be able to properly address this audience of younger students with materials developed specifically for them. By tailoring our materials to students with different levels of training in the scientific method, we can do an even better job preparing them with a solid foundation of science literacy as they move into the higher grades."
Established in 2001 by Hess, a successful Silicon Valley software entrepreneur, as part of a family charitable foundation, Science Buddies began as a local online mentoring program that paired 70 San Francisco Bay Area students working on science fair projects with local scientists. By 2004, nearly one million students were visiting the Science Buddies education website seeking information and assistance on how to build a science fair project.
In addition to helping students learn how to develop a science fair project, Science Buddies leads students to projects that are more challenging and have a higher degree of science content, while involving science and technology professionals from universities and companies to interact directly with the students.
Joining Science Buddies in receiving Toyota USA Foundation awards were Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ; Wayne State University, Detroit, MI and The Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, VA.
The Toyota USA Foundation is a $40 million charitable endowment created to support innovative education programs serving kindergarten through 12th grade in the United States, with special emphasis in the areas of mathematics and science. For additional information about the Toyota USA Foundation, visit www.toyota.com/foundation.