Balloon Nanotubes (giant hanging model)

We're going to try a ballon tying contraption this year to try to save our fingers. So far it seems to work pretty well, but we haven't seen yet how it holds up to hours of tying. Ours is just a sturdy cardboard tube and electrical tape, but similar tools can be purchased from balloon animal suppliers. Here are photos: http://img16.yfrog.com/i/balloontie.png/

If you don't have somewhere to hoist or hang a balloon nanotube, we used an adjustable height (19' max) light stand from a camera supply company:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/611473-REG/Avenger_A3059CS_A3059CS...

There are other light stands for less and at lower maximum heights. Nineteen feet is VERY high. If you do want to go that high (or even as high as 15'), I would recommend getting weights for extra stability. If you want to do this outside, weights are a necessity in case the wind picks up. Also, for an outdoors nanotube, buy non-black balloons! Black balloons absorb way too much sunlight and will pop. I assume white or some other light color would work best.

We did this in our main lobby, which has an area on one side with a nearly 3-story ceiling. The program was a great eye-catcher and attracted across all age groups, from adults by themselves to very young children.

For the frame we used a large hoola-hoop and simply made an "X" with rope across the middle to balance. There is a very large horizontal support beam just below the ceiling height of the lobby, so we taped a tennis ball to one end of a rope and lobbed it up and over the support beam before the museum opened to the public. We had to tie two ropes together to match the full length of double the lobby height. By the end of the weekend we had maxed out the full height of the lobby!

I have photos if anyone is interested.

Calvin Uzelmeier
Rochester Museum & Science Center

Workshop feedback from the Mid-Atlantic regional workshop training group --

Things we liked:
1) It allowed for group participation
2) It allowed audience to come and go at will
3) It was a great visual attractor
4) It appeals to a variety of ages
5) The demo is cheap!
6) Easy for a nonexpert to explain, and it is a quick entry to nano
7) It can be related to minerals for a natural history museum, but also has interdisciplinary applications

What we added/changed:
1) A kinesthetic element where a group of people held hands and touched feet to "bond" with each other
2) Elements from the "Forms of Carbon" program -- structures of graphite vs. diamond, using a pencil and LED to show the conductive properties of graphite

We did this activity in the lobby of the Museum of Science for NanoDays 2008. It was great as an attention-grabber. A few notes:

Tying the balloons can be hard on your fingers, especially if you're doing this for a number of hours at a time. I found it helped if I left two or three inches of un-inflated space at the end of the balloon so I had more to work with.

Visitors helped inflate and attach the balloons, so we went through two bags of balloons (there were a lot of popped balloons).

The balloons slowly deflate, and not always evenly, so the completed tube looks pretty good the first day, but by the second or third day it starts to look a little wonky.

Additional resources about nanotubes and models of nanotubes (and other forms of carbon) are available at: http://mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/pmk/pages/bucky.html
and
http://mrsec.wisc.edu/Edetc/cineplex/nanotube/index.html