Skip to main content

Cutting It Down to Nano

In this activity, learners cut a small strip of paper in half as many times as they can to explore scale.

DESCRIPTION

"Cutting it Down" is a cart demo that communicates scale through a hands-on activity. Visitors learn that the nanometer size scale is very, very small—and that we can’t use macroscale tools to manipulate nanoscale materials. During the program, visitors are challenged to cut a small strip of paper in half as many times as they can—or until they reach the nanoscale, which ever comes first.

JUMP TO BROWSE RELATED RESOURCES
  • Learners cut strips of paper in half
  • A Facilitator explains the activity to a group of learners
  • Materials for the activity including strips of paper, scissors, and a guide
  • Learner cut strips of yellow paper in half
  • Learners cut strips of paper in half
  • A Facilitator explains the activity to a group of learners
  • Materials for the activity including strips of paper, scissors, and a guide
  • Learner cut strips of yellow paper in half

DESCRIPTION

"Cutting it Down" is a cart demo that communicates scale through a hands-on activity. Visitors learn that the nanometer size scale is very, very small—and that we can’t use macroscale tools to manipulate nanoscale materials. During the program, visitors are challenged to cut a small strip of paper in half as many times as they can—or until they reach the nanoscale, which ever comes first.

JUMP TO BROWSE RELATED RESOURCES

TRAINING VIDEOS

OBJECTIVES

BIG IDEA

the nanometer and the nanoscale are very very small. Nanotechnology means working at small size scales.

LEARNING GOALS

  • As a result of participating in this program, visitors will be able to understand that the nanoscale is very, very small and that scientists working at the nanoscale require special tools.

NANO CONTENT MAP

Nanometer-sized things are very small, and often behave differently than larger things do.

Credits

YEAR CREATED
2008
OWNING INSTITUTION

University of Wisconsin-Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

FUNDING

Developed for the NISE Network with funding from the National Science Foundation under Award Numbers 0532536 and 0940143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this product are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

PERMISSIONS

Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).
View more details

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

NISE Network products are developed through an iterative collaborative process that includes scientific review, peer review, and visitor evaluation in accordance with an inclusive audiences approach. Products are designed to be easily edited and adapted for different audiences under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. To learn more, visit our Development Process page.