A teacher or school wishing to host a GK-12 Fellow completes an application describing how they would benefit from the participation of the scientist at their school. Assignment of a Fellow to a school(s) is made by the project's education coordinator after reviewing the application and negotiating the optimum match between the school request/plan and the expertise of the available Fellows. Once an agreement is reached, the school signs a Memorandum of Understanding describing the agreed upon plans for hosting a GK-12 Fellow.

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GK-12 Fellows are expected to work in K-12 education 15 hours per week. Generally, this includes direct work in schools and in preparation and follow-up activities. Possible projects include sharing some aspect of the scientist's expertise by working directly with science teachers in one or more schools to help translate research into K-12 education practice:

• Working directly with classes of students in school and/or at field sites
• Engaging students in field work/data collection/or some aspect of their research
• Working with individual students on a science-fair type project as an adjunct to their research
• Preparing and conducting workshops, courses, and/or field trips for teachers
• Working on curriculum development that incorporates their research into new instructional materials and professional development courses
• Other activities as negotiated

GK-12 Fellows are scientist peers. They are not certified teachers, student teachers, or substitute teachers. Expectations for teachers working with GK-12 Fellows include:

• Planning with the Fellows the work to be done in K-12 education
• Participating in an orientation session once selected for participation in the project
• Always being present when Fellows are working with groups of students in class or field activities
• Cooperating with project evaluators in collecting and interpreting meaning of data on the impact of project activities
• Keeping a web-based log of activities including assessment data
• Providing feedback to cooperating Fellow on their interactions with teachers and students