Students experiment with a new material—aerogel. Aerogel is a synthetic (human-made) porous ultra-light (low-density) material, in which the liquid component of a gel is replaced with a gas. In this activity, student pairs use aerogel to simulate the environmental engineering application of cleaning up oil spills. In a simple and fun way, this activity incorporates density calculations, the material effects of surface area, and hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties.

Students learn how nanoparticles can be creatively used for medical diagnostic purposes. They learn about buckminsterfullerenes, more commonly known as buckyballs, and about the potential for these complex carbon molecules to deliver drugs and other treatments into the human body. They brainstorm methods to track buckyballs in the body, then build a buckyball from pipe cleaners with a fluorescent tag to model how nanoparticles might be labeled and detected for use in a living organism. As an extension, students research and select appropriate radioisotopes for different medical applications.

This series looks at the Oxford Martin School's academics and how their research is making a difference to our global future. The series will be of interest to people who are concerned about the future for the planet, how civilisation will adapt to emerging problems and issues such as climate change, over population, increased urbanisation of populations and the creation of vaccines to fight against future pandemics. The Oxford Martin School academics explain their various research topics in an accessible and thoughtful way and try to find practical solutions to these issues.

Scientists use physical and chemical properties to describe and classify matter. Things like color, shape or texture can tell us about the matter and how that matter behaves. Well, nanotechnology isn't just exciting because it's small but also because of the new properties that emerge. From airplanes to baseball bats, nanomaterials offer a variety of desirable properties such as strength and conductivity. Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes are wonder materials both made entirely from carbon atoms. Innovation Workshop explores their structure of matter and how engineers can build with these new materials.

For more information: http://www.fcps.edu/fairfaxnetwork/innovation_nanotechnology/index.html
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This short lesson is a modeling exercise to understand the structure of DNA and its relationship to nanoscale.

This lab will reinforce the experimental design process while also learning about nanomaterials such as colloidal silver.  

This short mini-lesson is designed to be used by any science instructor teaching the International System of Measurements (SI).  It will introduce students to the concept of nanoscale.

After watching video clips from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie, students explore the use of Punnett squares to predict genetic trait inheritance. The objective of this lesson is to articulate concepts related to genetics through direct immersive interaction based on the theme, The Science Behind Harry Potter. Students' interest is piqued by the use of popular culture in the classroom.

This is a solar cell lab that works well with the topic of photosynthesis in the biology classroom and introduces the concept of nanotechnology.  

This lab is designed to help students understand the nanoscale effect of various energy inputs on the crystal lattice of a smart material, Nitinol. 

Under the "The Science Behind Harry Potter" theme, a succession of diverse complex scientific topics are presented to students through direct immersive interaction. Student interest is piqued by the incorporation of popular culture into the classroom via a series of interactive, hands-on Harry Potter/movie-themed lessons and activities. They learn about the basics of acid/base chemistry (invisible ink), genetics and trait prediction (parseltongue trait in families), and force and projectile motion (motion of the thrown remembrall). In each lesson and activity, students are also made aware of the engineering connections to these fields of scientific study.

Students estimate the storage capacity of CDs and DVDs by assessing diffraction patterns of green and red laser beams.

TED Studies, created in collaboration with Wiley, are curated video collections — supplemented by rich educational materials — for students, educators and self-guided learners. in What Makes Us Human?, TED speakers tackle humanity’s oldest and deepest questions by playing with primates, excavating ancient remains, and DNA-mapping family trees. Explore how the next chapters of our own evolutionary story will be written thanks to new technologies that trace our origin. 

This lesson will expose Biology students to mechanisms of energy by using a wind turbine demonstration and a fuel cell car student lab.  Fuel Cell kits will need to be purchased for this activity.  

Through three teacher-led demonstrations, students are shown samplers of real-world nanotechnology applications involving ferrofluids, quantum dots and gold nanoparticles. This nanomaterials engineering lesson introduces practical applications for nanotechnology and some scientific principles related to such applications. It provides students with a first-hand understanding of how nanotechnology and nanomaterials really work. Through the interactive demos, their interest is piqued about the odd and intriguing nano-materials behaviors they witness, which engages them to next conduct the three fun associated nanoscale technologies activities. The demos use materials readily available if supplies are handy for the three associated activities.

This lesson focuses on graphene including its structure and possible uses and is designed to be used with an Integrated Chemistry and Physics Lesson.

In this classic hands-on activity, learners estimate the length of a molecule by floating a fatty acid (oleic acid) on water. This lab asks learners to record measurements and make calculations related to volume, diameter, area, and height. Learners also convert meters into nanometers. Includes teacher and student worksheets but lacks in depth procedure information. The author suggests educators search the web for more complete lab instructions.

Inorganic chemistry is concerned with the properties and reactivity of all chemical elements. Advanced interests focus on understanding the role of metals in biology and the environment, the design and properties of materials for energy and information technology, fundamental studies on the reactivity of main group and transition elements, and nanotechnology. Synthetic efforts are directed at hydrogen storage materials and thermoelectrics, catalysts for solar hydrogen generation, fullerenes and metal porphyrins, metal clusters and compounds with element-element bonds, as well as nanowires and nanoparticles.

Innovation Workshop Student Reporter shows a sneak peek into the National Institute for Standards and Technology’s NanoFab where scientists work in a clean room to build highly structured circuits. Nanoelectronics is how we use nanotechnology to build electronics with nanoscale features. And it’s a field of study where researchers are still creating new methods to build.

For more information: http://www.fcps.edu/fairfaxnetwork/innovation_nanotechnology/index.html
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Innovation Workshop Student Reporter Kurien attended the TechConnect World Innovation conference in Washington DC to see how business is driving innovation. Nanotechnology has the potential to impact all areas of our lives.

For more information: http://www.fcps.edu/fairfaxnetwork/innovation_nanotechnology/index.html
Twitter @FFXNetwork