Press Release 05-063
Education Magnified 100,000X
Lab simulator packs teaching power of electron microscope at the expense of a textbook
May 2, 2005
Kids have always had a fascination with the other-worldly images produced by a scanning electron microscope (SEM): ants sitting on microchip picnic tables, salt crystals in gritty detail, the scales of a butterfly wing.
Now, a team of researchers and educators has created a CD-ROM and Web-based software to generate some of the capabilities--and teaching potential--of an SEM using personal computers in a classroom.
"Our goal is to develop next-generation virtual laboratory technology to provide educators access to advanced analytical instruments rarely found in a high school, or even a college," says Gary Casuccio of the RJ Lee Group, principal investigator on the iSEM Project. "The iSEM represents our first step in this direction."
Rooted in some of the same techniques researchers execute in an SEM lab, students can use the technology to explore objects. Called iSEM, for Interactive Scanning Electron Microscope, the system displays pre-installed, high-resolution images that students can observe and precisely measure as if they were operating their own $200,000 analytical instrument.
"Today's students use technology like their parent's generation used books – it is an integral part of their lives," says Lynn Landis, an 8th-grade science teacher from South Fayette Middle School in Pittsburgh and a consultant for the iSEM Project. "By bringing this technology to my classroom, I feel that I will be 'updating' school and tying it to real life activities."
From zooming in and measuring the fangs of a spider to analyzing the chemistry of minerals in a meteorite, elementary school-aged children can run experiments they might not otherwise see outside of a graduate school education.
"iSEM is a version of the SEM tool that is affordable even to schools with relatively meager resources," says Sally Nerlove, the NSF officer who oversaw the iSEM award. "This has the potential to motivate and prepare students for professions that benefit from advanced microscopy, such as electronics, medicine, forensics and the emerging area of nanotechnology."
SBIR Phase II Award #0321679: Development of a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Simulator for Use in Education http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0321679
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email@example.com
Shelly Belcher, South Fayette Middle School, (412) 221-4542, firstname.lastname@example.org
Sara B. Nerlove, NSF, (703) 292-7077, email@example.com
Gary Casuccio, RJ Lee Group, (724) 325-1776, firstname.lastname@example.org
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2015, its budget is $7.3 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 48,000 competitive proposals for funding, and makes about 11,000 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $626 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
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