"Apples to Atoms" is a collection of activities focused on important concepts underlying nanoscience, developed for middle school science and math students. Each of the four chapters (Size and Scale, Measurement, Microscopy, and Surface Area to Volume Ratios) contains a series of linked activities, and readings which provide context for the concepts developed in the activities. Suggested assessment items are also included. The chapters are inter-related, but are designed so they may be taught independently or in any order.

In the Environmental Catalysis Module, a joint project with the Institute for Environmental Catalysis at Northwestern University, students learn what a catalyst is and become aware of the use of catalysis to promote environmental protection. Besides introducing the concept of catalysis, the module also focuses other issues such as catalytic selectivity, specificity, poisoning, condition optimization, and waste minimization. The first activity of the module introduces the concept of catalysis in a visual and dramatic way. Then students conduct an Internet search on catalysis research, the aim of which is to emphasize the personal relevance of catalysis with regard to environmental issues. In the remaining activities, students analyze different types of catalytic systems, including homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysis, thermocatalysis applied to eliminate gaseous pollutants, and photocatalytic degradation of water pollutants using nanocrystalline titania (TiO2), all of which are emblematic of a variety of research areas in environmental catalysis. In their study, students focus on concepts such as catalytic selectivity, specificity, poisoning, condition optimization, and waste minimization. Finally, in the culminating design project, students are challenged to design, construct, test, and evaluate a unique catalytic system to eliminate water pollutants.

Many intriguing phenomena observed in the "nanoworld" can be attributed to the increase in the surface to volume ratio ( SVR ) at the nanoscale. Understanding the surface area effects to volume changes is thus crucial to the understanding of nanoscale phenomena and nanotechnology applications. As an introduction to the nanoworld, the major goals of this module are to (1) give students a feel for just how small the nanoscale is, (2) give students practice in mathematically communicating nanoscale quantities and relating them to the familiar macroscale, (3) show students that there are different ways to be small (three-, two-, and one-dimensionally), and (4) illustrate the first and foremost property that increases in importance at the nanoscale, viz., surface area. Activity 1 presents some intriguing phenomena that pique student interest in surface area effects, i.e., how physical form of a solid influences the degree to which it interacts with its environment. They find that the more spread out a solid is, the more readily it interacts. In Activity 2, two important mathematical tools are reintroduced into the student scientists' toolbox, namely, powers of 10 and scaling. Students learn to deal with powers of 10 and scale (both linear and the surprises that sometimes result when things do not scale linearly) to represent the magnitudes involved with the nanoscale. In the third activity, students then determine the relationship of the SVR changes with the shape or size of an object. They learn that this ratio changes dramatically in the nanoscale. The challenge in the culminating design project is to introduce a finely divided (high surface area) material in a carbonated beverage that will create the highest liquid geyser possible. The class also has an option to end with playing a "nano-concept" game that will help students review the foundational knowledge about the nanoscale.

Scanning Probe Microscopy is an important tool for scientists and engineers. A classroom analogue constructed using Lego(R) building blocks is an effective way to represent how these tools work and to interpret the images produced by them. Background information for building a Lego(R) AFM and SPM are shown. Two laboratory activities are suggested, complete with advanced set-up information, pre-laboratory discussion, laboratory directions, and post-laboratory discussion. Instructions on making Surface Plots are included for Excel PRE 2007. More recent releases of Microsoft Excel no longer have this feature.

Using the macro tabletop AFM simulators, students will investigate the surface features of various samples using contact, tapping and magnetic modes. The students will measure the amplitude of oscillation of reflected LASER light at known coordinates to map out the surface features of the sample. Data is then analyzed through Microsoft Excel to construct a surface plot of the sample for comparison.