Wheel of the Future

, 15 minutes

Nano is the scientific term meaning one-billionth (1/1,000,000,000). It comes from a Greek word meaning “dwarf.”

A nanometer is one one-billionth of a meter. One inch equals 25.4 million nanometers. A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. A human hair measures roughly 50,000 to 100,000 nanometers across. Your fingernails grow one nanometer every second.
(Other units can also be divided by one billion. A single blink of an eye is about one-billionth of a decade. An eyeblink is to a year what a nanometer is to a yardstick.)

Nanoscale refers to measurements of 1 – 100 nanometers.  A virus is about 70 nm long. A cell membrane is about 9 nm thick. Ten hydrogen atoms are about 1 nm.
At the nanoscale, many common materials exhibit unusual properties, such as remarkably lower resistance to electricity, or faster chemical reactions.

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of material at the nanoscale to take advantage of these properties. This often means working with individual molecules.

Nanoscience, nanoengineering and other such terms refer to those activities applied to the nanoscale. “Nano,” by itself, is often used as short-hand to refer to any or all of these activities.

General information on nanotechnology can be found at the following websites:

• www.nanooze.org/
  A website developed by Cornell NanoScale Science and Technology Facility. Try playing some online nano games, meet some nanoscientists, and read current articles on nanotechnology.
• www.nanozone.org/
  Read nanocomics, meet nanoscientists, play online nano video games, and print off activities to make or try at home. Developed by Lawrence Hall at UC Berkeley.
• www.powerofsmall.org/
  An on-line community to discuss nanotechnology and its future. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy
• www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/nano/
  Britain’s Science Museum site addresses main issues around nanotechnology
• www.sciencenewsforkids.org
  Current science news for children
• Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology
  but it may be too technical for the average person. 

• It’s important to keep the show moving quickly.
• Presenter may use note cards as opposed to memorizing the script.
• You’ll notice that after an answer to a question is given, there is generally a bit of “trivia” information added. This information was added as a “hook” – additional, albeit unnecessary, bits of information that some people might find interesting. Feel free to use or remove as need be.
• The presenter must make sure contestants do not stand in front of the wheel blocking the view.
• The presenter must have fun with the program and encourage the competition between the teams.
• The SMM wheel has dollar signs on it. So we refer to the points as pretend money or “nanobucks.” Visitors seem to enjoy cheering for “big pretend money!” Referring to the points as “points” will be just fine.

(To be filled in as we present the program and see what questions visitors have.)

These websites have lots of information on nanotechnology and nanoscience, which you can share with your visitors:

Science Museum of Minnesota - Science Buzz

• http://www.smm.org/buzz/

Janice Boecker, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, is using nanotechnology to build better solar cells. Creating electricity is all about ...

• http://dev.smm.org/buzz/museum/ask/boercker/nanotechnology_solar_cell

MIT Technology Review

• http://www.technologyreview.com/

The Big Picture on Nanoscience (Issue 2, June 2005)

• http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/node5954.html

Nanowerk

• http://www.nanowerk.com

PhysicsWorld (Formerly PhysicsWeb)

• http://physicsworld.com/cws/home

National Geographic

• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

National Nanotechnology Initiative Education Center

• http://www.nano.gov/html/edu/home_edu.html

NanoEd Resource Portal

• http://www.nanoed.org/

Return props to appropriate storage space.

The following features of the program's design make it accessible

To give an inclusive presentation of this program

This program has been designed to be inclusive of visitors, including visitors of different ages, backgrounds, and different physical and cognitive abilities.