National Chemistry Week is the annual community event of the American Chemical Society (ACS). This year's National Chemistry Week theme is "The Sweet Side of Chemistry - Candy", showcasing the chemistry involved in candy and confections. In this online brown-bag...
This series of films is part of the NISE Network's "Team-Based Inquiry" professional development package. TBI is an approach to empowering professionals to get the data they need, when they need it, in order to improve their products and practices...
This video playfully highlights best practices in engaging in a meaningful conversation between a museum facilitator and a visitor, while pointing out some common pitfalls. The associated training worksheet provides a structure to discuss the video and deepen conversation.
Team-Based Inquiry (TBI) is an approach to empowering professionals to get the data they need, when they need it, in order to improve their products and practices and create successful educational experiences. This year, 20 individuals from 10 NISE Network...
The Nano mini-exhibition was designed to have a very wide reach, with hosts in multiple settings across the United States. Thus, a large part of the development process was dedicated to creating tools to make the exhibition welcoming and accessible...
These short videos are perfect for staff and volunteer training on NanoDays activities. Please feel free to distribute links to people volunteering at your NanoDays event. All of these videos may be downloaded from Vimeo simply by creating a free...
The NISE Network Report to Partners provides an overview of the major activities of the Network and highlights our collective accomplishments related to building collaborations, engaging the public, and increasing the capacity of the field. The Report includes three related...
In 2014, the Network provided an in-depth professional development training to 20 staff from 10 institutions within the network to fully learn and practice Team-Based Inquiry (TBI). Through this process, individuals learned and practiced TBI, conducted TBI on their mini-grant...
"Exploring Materials - Thin Films" is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a colorful bookmark using a super thin layer of nail polish on water. They learn that a thin film creates iridescent, rainbow colors. "Explore Science - Zoom...
"Ready, Set, Self-Assemble" is a full-body program which introduces visitors to the concept of self-assembly in a fun and energetic way. Through the use of three full-body, interactive games, visitors explore the phenomena of self-assembly and its possible uses in...
This is a recording of a NISE Network online brown-bag conversation held in December 2014 about the International Year of Light. In 2013, the United Nations proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light (IYL). More than 100 organizations from...
This zoom video explores the inner-workings of a microchip. We start with a digital camera and transition to a scanning electron microscope. You'll see the tiny wires and the cris-crossing patterns of the microchip's circuits while learning a bit about...
"Exploring Materials - Polarizers" is a hands-on activity in which visitors use two polarizing sheets and overlapping layers of transparent tape to see how polarizers affect light. They learn that researchers are using nanotechnology to improve existing materials, in this...
"Exploring Materials - Stained-Glass Windows" is a hands-on activity in which visitors use contact paper and colored tissue paper to create a "stained-glass" window. They learn that real stained-glass windows use nanoparticles to create some of the colors in the...
"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 - Kinetic Sand" is a hands-on activity in which visitors investigate and compare the properties of Kinetic Sand and regular sand. They learn that nanotechnology takes advantage of special properties at the nanoscale to create new materials.
"Exploring Products - Nano Food" is a hands-on activity exploring how nanotechnology may be used in food products. Visitors investigate how the size of salt crystals may allow for lower sodium, but still full flavor foods.
"Exploring Properties - Heat Transfer" is a hands-on activity in which visitors investigate how quickly heat is transferred through two different materials. They learn that graphene is a very good conductor of heat and that the way a material behaves...
"Exploring Tools - Dress Up Like a Nanoscientist" is a hands-on activity in which visitors see what they would look like in a cleanroom suit. They learn that to make tiny things, scientists need to work in a very clean...
"Exploring Tools - Transmission Electron Microscopes" is a hands-on activity in which visitors use a model of a transmission electron microscope to image an object by looking at its shadow. They learn that scientists use special tools and equipment to...
Anders Liljeholm from OMSI reviews key aspects of how to make your own how-to instructional training videos including many simple tips. This short fun 2:36 minute video quickly covers the basics of making an instructional video ranging from using a...
This is a recording of a NISE Network online brown-bag conversation held in January 2015 that shares how some NISE Net partners present the basics of nano to different audiences. Presenters share their favorite examples, activities, resources, and videos.
This case study conducted by SRI Education examined how complex and potentially controversial science ideas are translated for the public through a research-to-practice partnership between university scientists and museum professionals, collaborating to address a problem of educational practice, with mutual...
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million (or more, depending on the length of the video and frames per second)! Videos have a wide-variety of uses from generating excitement about a topic...
This is a recording of a NISE Network online brown-bag conversation held in February 2015 focused on the applications and scientific background behind NISE Net activities related to graphene and nano-coatings. The presentation covered a variety of past and present...