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Nano Bite: February 2010

Welcome to the February Nano Bite, the monthly e-newsletter for the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).
NanoDays Training Materials
NanoDays is next month, and the NISE Net has a number of training materials that might be useful for those new to presenting nano content to public audiences:
 
Margaret Glass and Steve Madewell will be running an online training on a few of the NanoDays kit activities February 17 - 24.  Email Margaret  at [email protected] if you're interested in attending. 
The Bringing Nano to the Public guidebook for researchers is available for download on nisenet.org.
We also have a collection of Nano 101 resources, including videos, short web articles, presentations for staff, and cart and stage demos.
In addition, the NISE Net's Universal Design guidelines for programs could be helpful for anyone thinking about communicating with public audiences, whether researchers or museum educators.
There are more resources developed by a few of our partners listed on the Nano Bite blog.
What else?
When Nano Stops Being Polite...
What happens when nanotechnology leaves the laboratory and starts getting real? Clark Miller, Associate Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society and Associate Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at ASU has launched Real World Nano, a blog on nisenet.org to explore how the meaning, importance, and application of nanotechnology in society can be conveyed through informal science education.  Check out his first post here, and leave a comment if there are topics you're interested in hearing more about.
 
Nano Workshop for Middle Schoolers
Lisa Anderson of the Science & Discovery Center in Elmira, NY, created a three hour program on nanotechnology for 5th - 7th graders using a number of NISE Net activities, plus a few new activities.  She very graciously shared her lesson plan with us, which I've posted on the NanoBite blog.  We'd love to hear what you're doing with NISE Net or nano materials for K-12 audiences-- email examples to Rae Ostman at rostman at sciencenter dot org.
 
New Nano Jobs!
The Sciencenter in Ithaca, NY, is hiring a project manager and education project coordinator to work on NISE Net programs and exhibits, along with other projects.  The position descriptions and application instructions are available on the Sciencenter website 
 
Awesome Website Updates!
There are a few new features on the nisenet.org website you might want to check out, including a new K-12 Teachers page featuring resources specifically designed for teachers and a public page with links and resources for public audiences.
 
Incredible Stories of Lessons Learned!
A billion may not always mean what you think it means.  As Anders Liljeholm writes, "in English, one billion is one thousand million, but in most countries in Europe 'billion' means one million million, what we Americans would call one trillion."  Check out his full post on "mil millones" here.
 
Nano Haiku
Mil millones de
gracias to Amparo
for her "billion" help.
by Vrylena Olney, Museum of Science, Boston.