Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology

Overview
Standards
Resources
Comments

Overview

Description:

“Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology” is a public presentation about our drinking water and how we can make contaminated water safe to drink using a variety of technologies – including 3 new nanotechnologies for water purification. During the presentation, audiences consider the following questions: Which contaminants do we have in our water that makes it unsafe to drink? How do we typically purify our water – and what are the shortcomings/limitations of those technologies? How can new nanotechnologies purify our drinking water in new ways to help us in situations where large-scale water treatment isn’t appropriate? The presentation includes a variety of demonstrations to illustrate how these technologies work and some models to help visitors visualize what’s happening with these technologies at the nanoscale.

Objectives

Big Idea:

To purify our drinking water, we need to remove contaminants including those that are much too small to see (tiny microbes and chemicals). While large-scale water treatment plants work well, there are times/places/situations where we don’t have access to these facilities and need to purify our water at the point of use. Nanotechnology is providing some new ways to purify our water at the point of use (better filters to remove tiny microorganisms and prevent filter-fouling).

Learning goals:

As a result of participating in this program, visitors will be able to:
1. Recognize that water sources can be contaminated by microbes and chemicals – contaminants that are too small to see.
2. Understand that these contaminants need to be removed to make the water safe to drink.
3. Learn that nanotechnology has made possible some new water purification technologies that clean water very simply, effectively, and with very little power.

NISE Net Content Map:

Nanometer-sized things are very small, and often behave differently than larger things do.

Scientists and engineers have formed the interdisciplinary field of nanotechnology by investigating properties and manipulating matter at the nanoscale.

Nanoscience, nanotechnology, and nanoengineering lead to new knowledge and innovations that weren't possible before.

Nanotechnologies have costs, risks, and benefits that affect our lives in ways we cannot always predict.

Universal design:

Repeat and reinforce main ideas and concepts.

Provide multiple entry points and multiple ways of engagement

Provide physical and sensory access to all aspects of the program. Visitors can touch, see and hear different elements of the program.

Credits

Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Funding:

Development of this product was supported by the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center headquartered at Harvard University, the Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing at Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and University of New Hampshire, with support from the National Science Foundation. Dissemination of this project was supported by the National Science Foundation through the NISE Network under Award No. 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

Owning institution:

Museum of Science, Boston

Checklist

Scientist reviewed? check_reviewed

Peer reviewed? check_reviewed

Visitor evaluation? check_reviewed

Nano Topics

Art and nature, Bio and medicine, Energy and environment, Materials, tools, and applications, Society, policy, and economics

Audience

11 and up

Permissions

Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike

Standards

History and nature of science:

K-4: Science as a human endeavor

5-8: Nature of science

5-8: Science as a human endeavor

9-12: Nature of scientific knowledge

9-12: Science as a human endeavor

Life science:

K-4: Organisms and environments

5-8: Populations and ecosystems

5-8: Structure and function in living systems

Physical science:

9-12: Chemical reactions

9-12: Structure and properties of matter

Science and Technology:

K-4: Abilities of technological design

K-4: Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans

K-4: Understanding about science and technology

5-8: Abilities of technological design

5-8: Understanding about science and technology

9-12: Abilities of technological design

9-12: Understanding about science and technology

Science in Personal and Social Perspectives:

K-4: Changes in environments

K-4: Personal health

K-4: Science and technology in local challenges

K-4: Types of resources

5-8: Personal health

5-8: Populations, resources, and environments

5-8: Risks and benefits

5-8: Science and technology in society

9-12: Environmental quality

9-12: Natural and human-induced hazards

9-12: Natural resources

9-12: Personal and community health

9-12: Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges

Resources

Download all files (ZIP)

Files:

Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology PowerPoint Presentation with Videos

Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology Lesson Plan (Word)

Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology Lesson Plan (PDF)