The "Nano & Society" poster series provide an entry point for exploring the relationship between nanotechnology and society. They can be displayed on their own, used to spark an open-ended conversation, or paired with suggested activities.
"Exploring Size - Ball Sorter" is a hands-on activity in which visitors use sieves with different-sized holes, to sort balls by size. They learn that researchers are developing new technologies that can sort nano-sized things, including filters with nano-sized holes.
In the first part of the "Robots & People" program, visitors learn what robots and nanobots are, what they can do, and how they affect our lives. In the second part of the program, visitors imagine and draw a robot,...
Public forums offer participants the opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversations about important issues regarding the potential societal and ethical implications of topics in current science, technology, and engineering. They provide a way for people with diverse views and backgrounds...
This guide is focused on "three big ideas" that can provide a framework to help museum staff and visitors feel empowered to reflect on the relevance of nanotechnology in their lives through open-ended conversation. The guide considers how new nanotechnologies...
"Exploring Nano & Society - Flying Cars" is a hands-on activity in which visitors imagine and build a flying car out of small foam pieces. Conversations around this process lead visitors to explore how technologies and society influence each other...
"Exploring Nano & Society - Space Elevator" is a open-ended conversational experience in which visitors imagine and draw what a space elevator might look like, what support systems would surround it, and what other technologies it might enable. Conversation around...
Like all new technologies, nanotechnology has costs, risks, and benefits we cannot always predict. The Would You Buy That? stage presentation examines and explores ways our consumer behavior both impacts and is impacted by new technology. By looking at historical...
"Exploring Nano & Society - Invisibility Cloak" is a hands-on activity in which visitors learn about refraction and how it can be used to make a glass stir rod "disappear" in a cup of baby oil. They also learn how...
"Nanotechnology: What's the Big Deal?" is a broad overview of the unique challenges and opportunities presented by nanoscale science, and dives into the super tiny scale of nanotechnology.
"Nanotechnology Spin-a-Prize!" introduces visitors to the basics of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology ("nano") through a game show format. Visitors learn that nanometer-sized things are small and often behave differently than larger things do, and that work in this emerging...
"Exploring Nano & Society - Tell a Nano Story" is a hands-on activity in which visitors are inspired by picture cards to tell a story about nanotechnologies in the future. Visitors explore how technologies and society influence each other and...
"Exploring Products - Sunblock" is a hands-on activity comparing sunblock containing nanoparticles to ointment. Visitors learn how some sunblocks that rub in clear contain nanoparticles that block harmful rays from the sun. "Explore Science - Zoom info Nano Invisible Sunblock"...
These colorful educational posters cover all four NanoDays key concepts. Use the posters to help decorate and define the space for your NanoDays event, call attention to specific activities or programs, and provide additional content to visitors.
This series of museum labels are designed for general use in your museum or institution to highlight existing connections to nanoscale science, engineering, or technology. NISE Net partners are already coming up with creative ways to use these labels to...
"Exploring Nano & Society - You Decide!" is a hands-on activity in which visitors sort and prioritize cards with new nanotechnologies according to their own values and the values of others. Visitors explore how technologies and society influence each other...
"Buy It, Or Better Not?" explores the many products where we find titanium dioxide (TiO2) in our everyday lives, from chewing gum to sunblock to house paint. In this conversational activity, participants consider the costs, risks, and benefits of nanoparticles...