"Exploring Size - Scented Balloons" lets visitors use their sense of smell to explore the world on the nanoscale. They learn that we can smell some things that are too small to see, and that a nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
"Exploring Size - StretchAbility" is a hands and feet-on game that explores the different sizes of things in the world. Visitors learn that a nanometer is a billionth of a meter.
This illustration shows the circulatory system across 10 orders of magnitude. Using the conventions of visual perspective the image travels in one continuous “landscape” from the human scale at the top to the atomic scale in the foreground. Placing objects from the circulatory system in one frame clarifies the connections between components, highlighting the system’s reliance on structures at very different scales. This illustration won the 2008 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge from NSF and Science magazine!
Scale ladders are diagrams that can quickly convey the size of the nanoscale by showing how objects are related by size. Using existing research on understanding size and scale, the Visualization Laboratory carried out a series of experiments to develop effective scale ladders as well as guidelines for their design and use. This diagram can be dropped as is into an exhibition graphic or used as a template and adapted for different content or graphical contexts.
We've put together resources to help you promote your NanoDays event and other nano educational activities. A collection of NISE Net press photos can also be found in the Media - Promotional Materials section of the nisenet.org website. For questions regarding usage of the NanoDays logo or other marketing materials, please send an email to email@example.com.
"Exploring Products - Nano Fabric" is a hands-on activity exploring how the application of nano-sized whiskers can protect clothing from stains. Visitors investigate the hydrophobic properties of pants made from nano fabric and ordinary fabric.
"Exploring Tools - Special Microscopes" is a hands-on activity in which visitors use a flexible magnet as a model for a scanning probe microscope. They learn that SPMs are an example of a special tool that scientists use to work on the nanoscale.
"Exploring Structures - Buckyballs" is a hands-on activity in which visitors fold up a precut shape to make a model of a buckyball. They learn that buckyballs are tiny, soccerball-shaped molecules made of carbon.
"Exploring Size - Measure Yourself" is a hands-on activity in which visitors mark their height on a height chart and discover how tall they are in nanometers. They learn that although being a billion nanometers tall sounds impressive, it doesn't mean they're super tall: it means a nanometer is super small. Visitors can also measure their hands in nanometers.
"Exploring Materials - Ferrofluid" is a hands-on activity demonstrating that a material can act differently when it's nanometer-sized. Visitors investigate the properties of ferrofluid and magnetic black sand, learning that the surprising difference in the behavior of these two materials is due to size.