Shenandoah Valley Nanoscience Outreach Collaboration
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Shenandoah Valley Nanoscience Outreach Collaboration Costel Constantin1, Christopher Wm. Hughes1, Brian H. Augustine1, Scott Paulson1 1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 ABSTRACT James Madison University (JMU) faculty and K-12 teachers founded in 2011 the Shenandoah Valley Nanoscience Outreach Collaboration (SVNOC) effort. The goal of SNVOC is to help K-12 teachers incorporate nanoscience concepts into their classrooms. In this work we present how SVNOC participants use the Nanodays experimental kits to help students understand basic nanotechnology principles such as “How small is small?” Our preliminary results show that for PE the best experiments are the ones that are outside the operating schema of kids so they can stimulate further research. At the HS level, there is a consensus that students need more challenging mathematics that can be extracted from these experimental kits. INTRODUCTION At the time when rapid advances in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology require an increasing number of skilled personnel, coincidentally, the recruitment of U.S. students to science is at an all time low. According to the NSF by the year 2015 there will be a need for two million workers worldwide in these fields [1]. Of these, nearly one million will be needed in the U.S. Furthermore, an additional of five million workers will be needed in support areas for these fields. To develop this workforce, inclusion of nanotechnology into K-12 education should start with the primary education (PE) and continue all the way to high school (HS) level. James Madison University (JMU) faculty and K-12 teachers founded in 2011 the Shenandoah Valley Nanoscience Outreach Collaboration (SVNOC) effort. The goal of SNVOC is to help K-12 teachers incorporate nanoscience concepts into their classrooms [1]. This goal will be achieved by i) designing nanotechnology experimental kits for elementary, middle and high school level students, and by ii) providing training for teachers to confidently use these experimental kits in their classrooms. COLLABORATION DETAILS A formal collaboration between JMU science faculty and local teachers started in 2010 when Prof. Chad Mirkin visited the JMU campus and participated in a roundtable event with faculty and local teachers to develop sustainable programs in nanoscience education [2]. Prof. Mirkin is working on the cutting-edge of science and has developed practical applications for his nanotechnology research findings that reach into the biotech, medical, engineering, life sciences and semiconductor industries. He is the founder of three companies, AuraSense, Nanosphere and NanoInk. He has written over 380 manuscripts and holds over 350 patents [3]. SNVOC effort is supported at the moment by eight faculty members from Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering departments and are listed alphabetically: Prof. Brian Augustine, Dr. Kevin Caran, Dr. Costel Constantin, Dr. Kyle Gipson, Prof. Chris Hughes, Prof. Robert Kolvoord, Dr. Scott Paulson, and Dr. Barbara R
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