K-12 Teacher Resources

Nanoscience and Technology Resources for Teachers

Teachers looking for help with nanoscience and technology curriculum can find assistance on the NanoEd Resource Portal . NanoEd is a “one-click resource” site for finding educational resources and showcasing work to facilitate collaborations within the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education (NSEE) community.

Exploring the Nanoworld website, an offering of the University of Wisconsin - Madison Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Interdisciplinary Education Group (IEG), is an excellent resource for teachers and students of all ages. Available on the site are movies, slide shows, kits and references (including the Lego® nanobricks booklet), and modules for K-12 teachers. See also UW's Educator Resources page from the Internships in Public Science Education program.

Research Experiences for Teachers

This is a program funded by the National Science Foundation for K-12 teachers and community college faculty. Located at a number of research universities, the program places teachers in engineering research facilities during the summer so that they can bring knowledge of engineering and technological innovation into their classrooms. A partial list of programs:

Northwestern University's Materials World Modules. This center has produced a series of interdisciplinary modules based on topics in materials science, including composites, ceramics, concrete, biosensors, biodegradable materials, smart sensors, polymers, food packaging, and sports materials. The modules are designed for use in middle and high school science, technology, and math classes and have been used by over 9,000 students in schools nationwide.

Nanotechnology Education Kits, experiential learning materials for middle and high school students, are available from NanoSonic, Blacksburg, Va.  See also Nanoscience Education online.

Nanoscale Science Education Center at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, shows middle and high school students how an atomic force microscope works and features experiments on live viruses. One of their partners is the Nanoscale Science Education Group at North Carolina State University's College of Education.

Penn State University's Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization offers resources such as Workshops for Educators and a video about "Careers in Nanofabrication" that you can view online or order a free copy. High school students from across Pennsylvania can attend a three-day summer “Nanotech Camp.” These nanotech camps provide secondary school students with an orientation to basic nanofabrication processes and applications, and the opportunity to observe these same nanofabrication processes in the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility.

The National Science Foundation's Nanoscience Classroom Resources provides a collection of lessons and web resources aimed at classroom teachers, their students, and their students' families.

The Nanotechnology Simulation Hub centered at Purdue University has online experiences in nanotechnology available.

The Nanobiotechnology Center located at Cornell University has special Teacher Resources, including online lesson plans for K-12 student activities and information about Montessori curriculum development.

NSF's National Science Digital Library provides online resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

See also NanoKids™, a project of Rice University's Tour Group. An overview of the program is online.

Interactive Nano-visualization in Science and Engineering Education (IN-VSEE) is a consortium of university and industry scientists and engineers, community college and high school science faculty and museum educators with a common vision of creating an interactive web site to develop a new educational thrust based on remote operation of advanced microscopes and nano-fabrication tools coupled to powerful surface characterization methods.

NANOPOLIS™ offers intuitive multimedia educational material on nanotechnology, a result of the collaboration with more than 200 research groups worldwide.

New programs to promote, educate and excite young people about the amazing world of nanotechnology are being designed under a partnership between the NanoBusiness Alliance and the National Science & Technology Education Partnership (NSTEP).

NSTEP's TechXtra explores nanotechnology and other technology fields. For a free subscription to TechXtra send your e-mail address to techXtra@nationalstep.org.

The National Science Foundation provides a sampling of the marvels discovered at the nanoscale in its Nanoscience Screen Savers.