Teacher's Guide for ODYSSEY^TM Nanoworld

Format:
      Article / Page
      Summary
      Skills

"It's the Nanorevolution!", pg. 6

• Working on the scale of single atoms, nanoscientists search for knowledge and nanoengineers develop technologies. Will the nanorevolution deliver clothes that don't rip and cars that don't need washing? See the sidebar on page 11.
• Vocabulary, Applications, Prediction

• In 1959, physicist Richard Feynman offered $1,000 to the first person to shrink a book page to 1/25,000 its normal size. Twenty-six years later, graduate student Tim Newman claimed the prize.
• Mathematical Reasoning, Technological Development

• Borrowing from nature's designs, scientists are learning to make machines on an atomic scale. Medical science is benefiting from such "copycat" nanotechnology.
• Process Analysis, Applications

• Don't meet the rats head-on as you work your way through this maze puzzle!
• Following Directions

• Nanomedicine in the future may allow physicians to solve medical problems at the cellular or molecular level. Potential uses are highlighted, along with a Q & A from an expert (pg. 20).
• Vocabulary, Applications

• MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) are tiny machines that use electricity to do work. Designers face many challenges in miniature physics, because the forces that are important at different dimensions are very different.
• Problem-solving, Applications

• Minirobots, guitars that fit inside a single red blood cell, and nanoflowers are but a few of the wacky creations of nanoworld inventors.
• Deductive Reasoning, Cause and Effect

• Enter the ODYSSEY^TM writing contest and check out some of nanofiction's best books, TV programs, and films.
• Creative Writing, Creative Applications

• From computer simulations to engineering design, scientists explore the challenges and possibilities of nanojets: devices that propel a stream of water 1/100 the width of a human hair. The leap from theoretical to practical must hurdle obstacles involving the properties of liquids.
• Deductive Reasoning, Extrapolation

• Scientists are experimenting with DNA as both fuel and glue for future computers. An interview with Bell Labs physicist Bernard Yurke accompanies the article.
• Inductive Reasoning, Applications

• A space elevator that could rise from earth's surface to a satellite might someday be built from nanotube crystals. Carbon nanotubes may also find uses in computing, communications, and entertainment.
• Application, Prediction

• Time for you to decide: Is nanotechnology neat or nasty? Write ODYSSEY^TM with your answer.
• Extrapolation, Critical Thinking

• Use these directions and patterns to construct a nanotube on a decidedly non-nano scale. Variations on the nano theme are included.
• Following Directions

• In December, see Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in the evening sky. Don't miss the partial solar eclipse and the penumbral lunar eclipse. Follow directions for the best and safest ways to view an eclipse (pg. 42).
• Observation, Following Directions

1. What do you think the term nanotechnology means? How small can things get? For example, how small will computers become before they can't be made any smaller? What limits how tiny a machine can become?
2. What if machines were so small that they could move around inside your body? What medical benefits might be achieved? What might be the nonmedical benefits? Could such machines be misused or have undesirable side effects?

Pg. 14 - "Borrowing from Biology - Nature's Nanotechnology"

• Talk It Over:
  1. The author says that proteins are machines. What does she mean? How does the author's definition of a machine differ from the ordinary use of the word?
  2. How does the enzyme ATP synthase act as a motor? In what ways are scientists using it? What other uses can you suggest for tiny, spinning nanoblades?
• Connections:
  1. Graphic Design: The author compares the structures inside cells to machines in a factory. Carry this comparison further by drawing the cell "manufacturing-style." Show workers, assembly lines, packing, distribution, and more. See how many of the cell's "machines" you can represent in your drawing. Label the parts of your industrial cell.
  2. Mathematics: People sometimes wonder how a single virus can make someone sick. To find out, solve this problem: If a virus replicates (copies itself) every 10 minutes, how long will it take for one virus to become 1 million? 1 billion? (Answer: The one million mark is passed at 3 hours 20 minutes. The one billion mark is passed at 6 hours.)
  3. Creative Writing: Someday, microscopic machines might provide everything people need or want. (Think replicators in Star Trek.) If that prediction comes true, how will life change? Use this idea as the starting point for a short story or a scene from a futuristic play. In your story or play, make clear whether this future is better or worse than today's world.
• Student Assessment:
  1. Comparing nanotechnology to biology helps scientists see ways to use nanodevices in the battle against disease. From the article, pick two examples of possible future medical innovations. Write a clear paragraph for each, describing the development and tracing its origin to "machine thinking."
  2. Select one part of a human or plant cell (nucleus, cell membrane, ribosome, or some other). Describe it as if it were a machine. How is it constructed? What makes it run? What does it manufacture? Present your description either in writing or aloud.

pg. 34 - "Honey, I Shrunk the Elevator!"

• Talk It Over:
  1. How can a tube be stronger than a rod, yet weigh less? What construction techniques take advantage of the tube's lightness and strength?
  2. What do you think of the fantastic inventions described in the article? Do you expect these predictions to come true? Why or why not? If they do happen, will they improve life in the future? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Connections:
  1. Narrative Writing: You have just ridden the elevator into space. You have reached an orbiting station. From here, you will catch a shuttle flight to the resort hotel on the moon. Write a letter to a friend describing your trip so far. Begin with your arrival at the elevator's "basement" floor on earth.
  2. Art (Painting or Drawing): Create a series of greeting cards to be sold in the gift shop at the top of the space elevator. Devise specialty cards for first-time tourists, scientists, business travelers, and children celebrating a birthday in orbit.
  3. Mathematics: Nanotubes are carbon cylinders capped at each end with half of a buckyball. Starting from the description on page 36 and some Internet research, build an accurate model of a buckyball. Make a pattern and write instructions so that other students can build the model, too.
• Student Assessment:
  1. In a two-paragraph essay, compare the way nanotubes are currently used to the way they may be used in the future (as explained in the article). Make sure your essay uses the transitional words appropriate for a comparison (e.g., while, on the other hand, however).
  2. Form an opinion either supporting or opposing government funding for a space elevator. Organize your reasons for thinking the way you do and conduct additional research to find evidence supporting your point of view. Team up with others who share your opinion to debate those who don't.

Mammoth Multiplier

Whole-Class Project: The 1951 UNIVAC was the first commercial computer in the U.S. It could perform 8,333 additions or 555 multiplications per second, and covered 200 square feet of floor space. On the Internet and in your library, research the history of computers. Track changes in cost, speed, capacity, and - most important - size. Make a wall-mounted time line of your findings, using graphs to show how capacity has increased as size has diminished.

Mighty Minis

Individual Class Project: Hold a competition to see who can invent the smallest functioning version of some everyday tool. (Ask yourself, for example, how you might miniaturize a can opener, toothbrush, broom, or pliers to make the tool more portable and more efficient.) Compete with posters of blueprints or actual working models.

Miniature Mysteries

Team Project: Working with a partner, create a mystery quiz of 10 vocabulary words from the magazine. The challenge is to make your test as small as possible. You might invent a pencil-and-paper test taken with a magnifying glass or a computer-assisted nanoquiz. Trade your miniature mysteries with other teams and measure everybody's nanoknowledge.

Magnificent Micros

Community Connection: Contact a laboratory in your area (consider medical testing, water testing, industrial, or research) and ask for a speaker who can tell you about different kinds of microscopes - how they work and what they can do. Perhaps you can take a tour to see some examples, or your speaker may be able to bring some photomicrographs to class. Ask what kind of microscope is needed to see things at nano scale.

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Updated: 7/20/08 08:09 am
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