Talking Nano For Educators

These professionally-produced talks on nanotechnology are useful in a variety of education settings, including:

Classroom enrichment: middle school, high school and college.
Informal science education uses, including meetings and forums.
Museum, school, university, and public lending libraries.
Professional development and continuing education for science museum and secondary school educators and for university research center education outreach staff.
Providing models of excellence in science communication skills for early career researchers interested in outreach and education.s

1. A Brief Intro to Nano
Museum educator Tim Miller presents physicist Richard Feynman’s prescient 1959 vision framing four key areas of impact for future nanotechnologies: information, imaging, materials, and machines. 20 min. Targeted for audiences age 11 (middle school) and up.

2. Don Eigler and his Dog Argon: Moving Atoms
Don Eigler, IBM Fellow and “the first man to move an atom,” introduces the world of atoms and nanoscale imaging, and demonstrates his technique of building tiny structures atom-by-atom. 24 min. Targeted for audiences age 11 (middle school) and up.

3. Guiding Light with Nanowires
Harvard physicist Eric Mazur explores reflection, refraction, fiber optics and the potential uses of nanowires to guide light for future computing and information technologies. 22 min. Targeted for audiences age 11 (middle school) and up.

4. Nanotechnology and the Consumer
Wilson Center Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies director David Rejeski reviews nano consumer products, health and safety oversight mechanisms, and public opinion research. 30 min. Targeted for audiences age 15 (high school) and up.

5. George Whitesides: Perspectives on Nanotechnology
Harvard chemist George Whitesides defines nanotechnology and shares personal, historical, scientific, and societal perspectives on future nanotech applications and their potential impacts. 55 min. Targeted for audiences age 15 (high school) and up.

6. The Amazing Nano Brothers Juggling Show
Join Dan and Joel as they juggle their way through the nanoscale world, exploring atoms, molecules, nanoscale forces, and scanning probe microscopy, sometimes from atop 7-foot unicyles! A dramatic and humorous treatment of nano and materials science basics. 40 min. Targeted for middle school and family audiences.