The April 2015 issue of the Nano Bite (newsletter from the Nanoscale Information Science Education Network [NISENet]) includes notice of a session for post NanoDays activities,
→ Stay Connected! Upcoming Online Brown-Bag Conversations
Beyond NanoDays – New Ideas for Presenting the Smallest Science
Monday, May 18, 2015
1 pm – 2 pm ET [Sign up]
Everyone loves NanoDays festivities but how do you keep visitors excited about nano the rest of the year? Join this discussion to discover the innovative ways your colleagues are incorporating nano outside of NanoDays such as into nature detective activities, in take-home workbooks shared at public events, and more!
As noted in this post’s head,
→ Oil Spill Clean Up Simulation – This linked product is a short hands-on activity that features the “nano sand” or “magic sand” product that was originally invented to help clean up oil spills in water due to its hydrophobic properties. The activity would be great to pair with April’s national events such as Earth Day or National Environmental Education Week. This product was created by the University California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN) at UCLA.
→ Science Writing Workshop: How to tell a story, How to conduct and interview – A NISE Net product, prepared by a team of professionals at the Materials Research Society, is a workshop and program designed for researchers, scientists, science educators, and students with an interest in journalism and science writing. This full-day workshop, with a modifiable instructional design, focuses on writing science stories that engage both the general public and other scientists.
For a real life connection to the oil spills and cleanups, there’s my April 16, 2015 post on an oleophilic/hydrophobic (oil-loving/water-hating) device being researched at Ohio State University
There are a number of ‘days’, ‘weeks’, and ‘months’ in April,
→ April is raining down bucketfuls of learning opportunities, just look at all these activities to incorporate nano into! For a more comprehensive list of NISE Net activities, see NISE Net’s list of seasonal activities.
- National Robotics Week website (April 4-12)
- Shrinking Robots! program
- Robots and People program
- World Health Day website (April 7)
- National Environmental Education Week website (April 19-25) and Earth Day website (April 22)
- Tiny Solutions to Our Big Energy Problem stage presentation
- Energy Challenges, Nanotech Solutions forum
- Cleaning Our Water with Nanotechnology program
- Does Every Silver Lining Have a Cloud video
- Global Astronomy Month website (April)
- Exploring Nano & Society – Space Elevator (NanoDays 2013) short activity
- Exploring Nano & Society – Flying Cars short activity
- Exploring Size – Powers of Ten Game (NanoDays 2011, 2012, and 2014) short activity
- Aerogel short activity
- Astronomy Day (April 25)
- National Poetry Month (April) – Nano-themed haiku often featured in NanoBite newsletters
For the first time in a while, there’s a nano haiku,
Nano Haiku submitted by Fahad Rahmat, Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology
It shocked me to see
A cloth bag that can conduct
Electricity!
You can find the whole April 2015 newsletter here.