CHED 109 |
| Nanoscience – the study of structures that are from one to one hundred nanometers in size – has become a buzzword in scientific circles over the past decade as research in this field is intensifying worldwide. The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA in conjunction with the Materials Creation Training Program and the UCLA Science Project has developed a nanoscience outreach program aimed at teaching modern nanotechnology to Los Angeles area high school students. The program, which is in its fifth year, trains thirty teachers annually in the pedagogy and laboratory techniques necessary to bring six nanoscience experiments into their classrooms. The experiments – self assembly, magnetic fluids, photolithography, nanowire sensors, solar cells, and scanning tunneling microscopy – have been developed to be safe and suitable for high school students studying chemistry and physics and are designed to tie in with fundamental science concepts already explored in these courses. Students are given the opportunity to learn the principles of nanoscale self-assembly using floating magnets, to synthesize a fluid which responds to magnetic fields, and to try their hand at "top down" manufacturing by preparing a printed circuit board. They also detect acids and bases using a student-made polyaniline nanowire-based pH sensor, harness the power of light with a solar cell built in the classroom from household materials, and see objects on the nanoscale using a scanning tunneling microscope. To date, the outreach program is estimated to have reached over 100 teachers and over 10,000 students. This poster will explore the development and implementation of the existing experiments and the future plans that this fledgling high school nanoscience education program hopes will increase its positive impact on the community.
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General Posters
7:30 PM-9:30 PM, Sunday, March 25, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster
Sci-Mix
Division of Chemical Education |
