Students discover that physical and chemical properties of materials can depend on their size, investigate how nanoparticles can be made, and determine how to amplify small features at the nano scale to the macroscopic scale. They are then challenged to design a working model of a nanoscale imaging apparatus or model a nanoscience phenomenon.

By incorporating everyday materials into science lessons, the Materials World Modules (MWM) program at Northwestern University has found the solution to getting students excited about learning science while helping teachers meet national and state education standards.

The modules are easy to organize and inexpensive to run. They can be incorporated into any science class because of the breadth of subjects covered in the Activity and Design Project sections. Each module is a supplemental science unit that takes 1-3 weeks of class time (approximately 10 hours) to complete.

» Module At-a-Glance
» Connecting to Your Curriculum

Activity 1: Changing the Properties of Materials by Changing Their Size
The purpose of this activity is for students to discover that the physical and chemical properties of materials can depend on their size. In Part A students examine how the catalytic activity of manganese dioxide (MnO2) can be increased by reducing the size of the MnO2 particles. In Part B students use a colloid consisting of nanometer-sized gold particles to examine how the size of the gold particles in the colloid solution can be modulated and how this affects the optical properties (color) of the colloid. This color change is due to a physical change of the substance, not a chemical change.

Activity 2: Searching for Nanoscale Objects
To give students an idea of the different technological developments that are in existence in the “nanoworld,” they are asked to choose a nanoscale object from a list of examples and research its properties and current and future uses. Students then present their findings in a variety of ways, such as a poster, PowerPoint presentation, paper, or class discussion.

Activity 3: Nanopatterning with Lithography
How can nanosized particles be made? In this activity, students investigate the concepts of lithographic patterning and serial vs. parallel fabrication. They model nanolithography by creating patterns of spheres in a frame template (similar to billiard balls in a rack) and sprinkling glitter (simulating silver atoms) through the interstices. When the mask is removed, individual silver“nanoparticles” are revealed.

Activity 4: Amplifying the Nanoscale to the Macroscale
In this activity students determine how to amplify the atomic scale to the macroscopic scale, a key feature of the atomic force microscope. They also learn about calibration and create a calibration curve by moving a cantilever on the millimeter scale and measuring its movement in the centimeter or decimeter scale.

Design Project 1: Designing a Nanoscale Imaging Apparatus
Students are challenged to build a nanometer-scale imaging apparatus using what they have learned in the previous activities.

Design Project 2: Modeling a Nanoscience Application
Students are challenged to research and model a nanoscience application. For example, they could do their project on something they found during their Internet search (Activity 2) or something else entirely.

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Materials World Modules are designed to be easily incorporated into any middle school science or high school science lab or lecture course. The chart below lists the subjects covered in the Activity and Design Project sections of this module.

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