NanoDays Report: Program - Other, Maryland Science Center

About the NanoDays event(s)

We had 4 prongs on our NanoDays fork, all of which took place in one day. First, there was a lecture by a professor with the Nanobiotechnology Institute at Johns Hopkins University called "Tiny Talk: A Glimpse into the Emerging Field of Nanotechnology", which was geared towards an adult audience. Next we had a series of staffed tables that answered the questions “What is nano?”, “Why is nano special?”, and “Where is nano found?” using 2 hands-on activities at each table. We also performed our demonstration on the medical uses of nanowires. Both of these activities were geared for a wide range of ages. Lastly, our Kid's Room, just for kids under 8, had a short storytime followed by some "Eensy Weensy Itsy Bitsy Science" activities that introduced the concepts of scale and a microscope.

Program - Other

Most of the guests liked the interactive activities, especially investigating products containing nanotechnology, like LCD paper, ferrofluid, and liquid-resistant fabric.

Some of the activities that we intended to entertain a wide age range ended up being suitable for only a much narrower audience.

Also, we had a difficult time handling guests who entered in the middle of an ongoing discussion and were thus behind on the information, and with guests who only stayed for part of the activities, which left them with a very limited view of nanotechnology.

We would train our staff earlier and have them practice with the materials more. We would also have liked our staff to read more background information.

We would also like to generally expand the event and its marketing. Our set-up was better suited for family groups than school groups, so having the event on a weekend rather than a Tuesday would be better.

We honed the information and activities with which we were provided into a clear pathway of "What is nano?" -> "Why is nano special" -> "Where do we find nano?". We also slightly simplified some of the NISE kit activities, like the mouthwash one, in accordance with responses encountered during prototyping. We added some large models of a buckyball and carbon nanotube, as well as a meter stick to show scale. We also showed lots of examples of current consumer products than can contain nanotechnology.

No information available

Photos

Basic facts about the NanoDays event(s)

Dates

• NanoDays - April 1, 2008

Location: Baltimore, MD

Contact person: Gorga

Title: Senior Public Programmer

Department: Education

Professional Category: exhibits/programs

Organization: Maryland Science Center

Type of organization: Museum

Ann Myers, Senior Director of Development, Tuesday Talk: "Tiny Talk: A Glimpse into the Emerging Field of Nanotechnology"

Lydia Newman, Early Childhood Education Specialist, Kids Room activity: "Eensy Weensy Itsy Bitsy Science"

Carrie Gill, Science Specialist, general event planning

No information available

David Gracias, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering, Chemistry, and the Institute for Nanobiotechnology, "Tiny Talk: A Glimpse into the Emerging Field of Nanotechnology"

The event was included on the events calendar on the Maryland Science Center website: www.marylandsciencecenter.org.
It was also included on an "upcoming events" flyer that is distributed to the public within the museum.

Audience

Type of public served

• General Public
• School Groups

Additional information about audience: No information available

General comments about audience: No information available