Search: 7 and up, Spanish

"Nanotechnology Spin-a-Prize!" introduces visitors to the basics of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology (“nano”) through a game show format. Visitors learn that nanometer-sized things are small and often behave differently than larger things do, and that work in this emerging field leads to new knowledge and innovations. Visitors also consider the ways that nanotechnology will affect our lives.

"Exploring Nano & Society - You Decide!" is a hands-on activity in which visitors sort and prioritize cards with new nanotechnologies according to their own values and the values of others. Visitors explore how technologies and society influence each other and how people’s values shape how nanotechnologies are developed and adopted.

"Exploring Nano & Society - Space Elevator" is a open-ended conversational experience in which visitors imagine and draw what a space elevator might look like, what support systems would surround it, and what other technologies it might enable. Conversation around the space elevator lead visitors to explore how technologies and society influence each other and how people’s values shape the ways nanotechnologies are developed and adopted.

This is a cart demo about how nanoparticles behave differently, in part because they have a high surface area:volume ratio. Visitors learn that smaller particles have a much higher proportion of their atoms on the surface. Visitors unfold paper cubes, drop alka-seltzer in water, turn potatoes black with iodine, and see fireballs to understand how surface area changes as you get small.

These colorful educational posters cover all four NanoDays key concepts. Use the posters to help decorate and define the space for your NanoDays event, call attention to specific activities or programs, and provide additional content to visitors.

Bump and Roll is an interactive exhibit that demonstrates nanomaterial properties using an everyday object: a leaf of cabbage. The nanoscale structures on a cabbage leaf cause water to bead up and slide off its surface. Scientists are replicating these “superhydrophobic” properties with nanotechnology. Drip water onto a cabbage leaf, and change the angle of the surface to see how the droplets behave. Find out about the super-small bumps that make this surprising behavior possible. Cabbage leaves must be replaced every few days, and Bump and Roll’s water tank must be refilled occasionally.

Creating Nanomaterials is an interactive, multimedia component of the Intro to Nanotechnology exhibit package that demonstrates how scientists are using the ability of molecules to self-assemble to create consumer goods with surprising properties. Visitors place and observe “molecules” on an air hockey table. When the air hockey table is activated, the “molecules” hover and assemble into patterns all by themselves—just like molecules in nanomaterials.

At the Nanoscale is a static component that aims to show just how super small one billionth of a meter, or one nanometer, really is. A Billion Beads is an activity where visitors inspect tubes that hold quantities of one thousand tiny beads, one million beads, and one billion beads. To the naked eye, the tube containing one thousand beads appears nearly empty. Visitors see that the next tube, partially filled, contains one million beads. Finally, to compare, a four-foot tall container nearly full contains approximately one billion beads. This component is mounted to the backside of the Intro to Nanotechnology video kiosk.

Changing Colors is an interactive exhibit that shows how some high-tech nanomaterials mimic natural phenomena. Super-small, light-reflecting structures—instead of pigments—on the wings of some butterflies create intense, iridescent colors. Nanoscientists have replicated this effect with layered, super-thin films. Watch the colors change on butterfly wings and thin-film slides as you move them beneath a light source, and discover how nanoscale structures can manipulate light and create color. Butterfly specimens deteriorate with heavy use, and may need to be replaced periodically.

What is Nanomedicine? This is a narrated-and-captioned 2.5 minute video which plays in English or Spanish. Colorful animation and researcher commentary provide a brief overview of some of the basic ideas and goals of nanomedicine.