NSTA - National Science Teachers Association

Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12 By: M. Gail Jones, Michael R. Falvo, Amy R. Taylor, and Bethany P. Broadwell NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Futurists predict that nanotechnology will be the next major scientific revolution—one with an even greater impact than the Industrial Revolution. Nanoscale Science will help your middle and high school students understand the big implications...  [view full summary] Futurists predict that nanotechnology will be the next major scientific revolution—one with an even greater impact than the Industrial Revolution. Nanoscale Science will help your middle and high school students understand the big implications of tiny technology. Using guided inquiry with open-ended exploration where possible, the book’s 20 investigations teach students about the unique properties and behavior of materials at the nanoscale—one-billionth of the size of a meter. The activities are organized around five themes: scale, tools and techniques, unique properties and behaviors, nanotechnology applications, and societal implications. All activities use readily available materials and provide clear background, instructions, and formative assessments. They also explore questions sure to engage both students and you, such as: • Just how small is one in a billion? • How might manipulating matter at the nanoscale lead to everything from stain-resistant fabrics to improved means to clean water to tumor-targeting nanoshells? • And how will society change when we use nanolabels to track where people, animals, and materials move around the world? For the first time in human history, we have the ability to manipulate and build materials from the atom up. NanoScale Science—written by experts at developing effective ways to teach about nanotechnology—is a pioneering instructional guide to this important subject. Use it as a fascinating supplement to studies of biology, physics, chemistry, math, and the environment. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $20.76 Nonmember Price: $25.95 Grade Level: Middle School, High School

The Big Ideas of Nanoscale Science and Engineering: A Guidebook for Secondary Teachers By: Shawn Y. Stevens, LeeAnn M. Sutherland, and Joseph S. Krajcik NSTA Press Book Given the ability of nanoscience and nanotechnology to exploit the unique properties that matter exhibits at the nanoscale, the research resulting from these emerging fields is poised to dramatically affect everyday life. In fact, many widely used...  [view full summary] Given the ability of nanoscience and nanotechnology to exploit the unique properties that matter exhibits at the nanoscale, the research resulting from these emerging fields is poised to dramatically affect everyday life. In fact, many widely used electronic, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and textile products already employ nanotechnology. With the support of the National Science Foundation, scientists, educators, researchers, and curriculum developers have achieved a rough consensus on what the key concepts—or “big ideas”—of nanoscience might be for middle and high school science students: • Size and Scale • Structure of Matter • Forces and Interactions • Quantum Effects • Size-Dependent Properties • Self-Assembly • Tools and Instrumentation • Models and Simulations • Science, Technology, and Society This volume provides in-depth discussions of each big idea. Nine additional chapters examine learning goals and how to reach them, students’ likely misconceptions, and ideas for integrating nanoscale science and engineering with traditional science content. An appreciation of nanoscience will help students understand fundamental science concepts across disciplines. Also, learning the enormous implications of the extremely tiny nanoscale phenomena will pique students’ interest in the study of 21st-century science and at the same time motivate them to learn traditional science. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $22.36 Nonmember Price: $27.95 Grade Level: Middle School, High School

Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12 (e-Book) By: M. Gail Jones, Michael R. Falvo, Amy R. Taylor, and Bethany P. Broadwell e-Book Futurists predict that nanotechnology will be the next major scientific revolution—one with an even greater impact than the Industrial Revolution. Nanoscale Science will help your middle and high school students understand the big implications...  [view full summary] Futurists predict that nanotechnology will be the next major scientific revolution—one with an even greater impact than the Industrial Revolution. Nanoscale Science will help your middle and high school students understand the big implications of tiny technology. Using guided inquiry with open-ended exploration where possible, the book’s 20 investigations teach students about the unique properties and behavior of materials at the nanoscale—one-billionth of the size of a meter. The activities are organized around five themes: scale, tools and techniques, unique properties and behaviors, nanotechnology applications, and societal implications. All activities use readily available materials and provide clear background, instructions, and formative assessments. They also explore questions sure to engage both students and you, such as: • Just how small is one in a billion? • How might manipulating matter at the nanoscale lead to everything from stain-resistant fabrics to improved means to clean water to tumor-targeting nanoshells? • And how will society change when we use nanolabels to track where people, animals, and materials move around the world? For the first time in human history, we have the ability to manipulate and build materials from the atom up. Nanoscale Science—written by experts at developing effective ways to teach about nanotechnology—is a pioneering instructional guide to this important subject. Use it as a fascinating supplement to studies of biology, physics, chemistry, math, and the environment. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $16.86 Nonmember Price: $19.46 Grade Level: Middle School, High School

Bumpy, Sticky, and Shaky: Nanoscale Science and the Curriculum By: Amy Taylor, Gail Jones, and Thomas P. Pearl Science Scope, Mar 08 Nanoscience, or the study of the world at the size of a billionth of a meter, has the potential to help students see how all of the sciences are related. Behavior of materials at the nanoscale differs from materials at the macroscale. This article introduces...  [view full summary] Nanoscience, or the study of the world at the size of a billionth of a meter, has the potential to help students see how all of the sciences are related. Behavior of materials at the nanoscale differs from materials at the macroscale. This article introduces three nanoscale properties and how they relate to various science domains. Three activities following an adapted learning cycle model are suggested for student exploration of three properties of the nanoscale: bumpy, sticky, and shaky. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: $0.99 Grade Level: Middle School

Conceptualizing Nanoscale By: Thomas Tretter The Science Teacher, Dec 06 One strategy for enhancing students’ understanding of nanoscale is to shift students’ existing understandings of relative scale by helping them conceptually transport their strongest scale benchmark—themselves—into the nanoscale world. This article describes...  [view full summary] One strategy for enhancing students’ understanding of nanoscale is to shift students’ existing understandings of relative scale by helping them conceptually transport their strongest scale benchmark—themselves—into the nanoscale world. This article describes a set of activities to scaffold high school students’ nanoscsale conceptions and to help them appreciate the scale at which nanotechnology operates, both in a relative and an absolute sense. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: $0.99 Grade Level: High School

Shrinking Cups: Changes in the Behavior of Materials at the Nanoscale By: Amy R. Taylor, Bethany P. Broadwell, M. Gail Jones, and Michael R. Falvo A chapter from Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12 What if you were only one inch tall? This activity explores the behavior of liquids in different sizes and shapes of drinking containers. Students explore how the size of the cup determines if the liquid will pour out of the cup. This activity models...  [view full summary] What if you were only one inch tall? This activity explores the behavior of liquids in different sizes and shapes of drinking containers. Students explore how the size of the cup determines if the liquid will pour out of the cup. This activity models at the macroscale similar types of changes in the behavior of materials that occur at the nanoscale. This investigation helps students imagine a very different nanoscale world. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $2.79 Nonmember Price: $3.49 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Science Sampler: Nanoscale in perspective By: Elvis H. Cherry, Weijie Lu, and R.P.H. Chang Science Scope, Apr 08 Nanoscale science is a growing field, and to appreciate the work of scientists in this field, it is important for students to understand the scale of work being done. This activity, designed to bring nanoscale into the familiar macroworld, is from a two-week...  [view full summary] Nanoscale science is a growing field, and to appreciate the work of scientists in this field, it is important for students to understand the scale of work being done. This activity, designed to bring nanoscale into the familiar macroworld, is from a two-week workshop on nanotechnology conducted by Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee that was sponsored by the National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: $0.99 Grade Level: Middle School

Fats, Oils, and Colors of Nanoscale Materials By: George C. Lisensky, Dana Horoszewski, Kenneth L. Gentry, Greta M. Zenner, and Wendy C. Crone The Science Teacher, Dec 06 Phase changes and intermolecular forces are important physical science concepts but are not always easy to present in an active learning format. This article presents several interactive activities in which students plot the melting points of some fatty...  [view full summary] Phase changes and intermolecular forces are important physical science concepts but are not always easy to present in an active learning format. This article presents several interactive activities in which students plot the melting points of some fatty acids and explore the effect that the nanoscale size and shape of molecules have on the material’s macroscopic phase properties. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: Free Grade Level: High School

Collaboration at the Nanoscale By: S. Monroe Duboise, Karen D. Moulton, and Jennifer L. Jamison The Science Teacher, Apr 09 The Maine ScienceCorps is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12 ) program. Through this program, the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) virology and transmission electron microscopy...  [view full summary] The Maine ScienceCorps is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12 ) program. Through this program, the University of Southern Maine’s (USM) virology and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) research group provides high school teachers and students in rural areas with access to the nanoscale world of viruses. This article illustrates how access to the university research community’s advanced technological resources can enrich science learning in high school classrooms. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: $0.99 Grade Level: High School

Biological Nanomachines: Viruses By: M. Gail Jones, Michael R. Falvo, Amy R. Taylor, and Bethany P. Broadwell A chapter from Nanoscale Science: Activities for Grades 6-12 Although nanotechnology is a new and emerging field, nanoscale structures are not new. Small molecules such as water, large molecules such as proteins, and larger, more complex objects such as viruses and nanotubes are naturally occurring and exist all...  [view full summary] Although nanotechnology is a new and emerging field, nanoscale structures are not new. Small molecules such as water, large molecules such as proteins, and larger, more complex objects such as viruses and nanotubes are naturally occurring and exist all around us. Viruses are particularly interesting nanoscale objects because of their precise geometrical shape, their self-assembling capability, and their fascinating ability to invade cells and alter their function. Nanoscale science researchers are studying virus properties with the aim of developing new treatments for human disease. The virus is also being studied as a model for how to make materials and engineer products at the nanoscsale through a process called “self-assembly.” In this investigation, students create an icosahedral virus model and consider how virus structure and behavior could be mimicked in nanotechnology applications. This free selection includes the Table of Contents and Introduction. [hide full abstract] Member Price: Free Nonmember Price: Free Grade Level: Middle School, High School