Nanotechnology Institute, Day 5

Gel Diffusion lab, red food coloring

Day 5 was a good conclusion to the excellent experience that I’ve had at the UMass STEM Nanotechnology Institute 2013.  We reviewed our crystal and Gelatin Diffusion experiments with the ADI software that I learned about at STEM Digital.  It was powerful to be able to analyze the results with both Microsoft Excel and the ADI Software.

Jonathan Rothstein gave a presentation and talked further about Nanomedicines.  As I posted yesterday about Nanotechnology impacts, nanomedicine will change the way that we treat many conditions and diseases.  Nanomedicine will change the way that we even think about different diseases.

We spent the rest of the day sharing how we will use the material that we gained from this experience in our classrooms this upcoming school year.  I’ve shared my poster below.

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Nanotechnology Institute, Day 4

Completed Solar Cells

Day 4 of the Nanotechnology Institute started with the group learning about solar cells from Professor D. Venkataraman.  It was interesting learning exactly how solar cells work, and the different work being conducted on different solar cell materials.  It was also great to learn about the current solar cell research that is being conducted at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Making the solar cell

The second item we did was build our own solar cells.  This activity was quite fun, and turned into a competition for us teachers, aiming to get the highest output. I can see this activity being very useful in the classroom.

We then went through the impacts that nanotechnology can have on society.  I am very interested in the nanomedicine category, and show a clip on a cancer drug based on nanotechnology.  We also ran some experiments with teflon- on a smooth surface water will bead and stick, on a sanded surface, it will flow off very quickly.

We then completed some labs with lithography and electrodeposition.  We were able to use zinc to plate copper.  It was interesting, and very applicable to physics and chemistry classes, but I can’t really see a use in my Biology Classroom.

Electrodeposition Set-up

We worked on posters for the rest of the day, to be shared tomorrow about our academic plans for the year.   

   

Plating finished product