Make plans now to visit our upcoming educational exhibit 'It's a Nano World.' The exhibit introduces children and their families to the biological wonders of the nano world that's too small to see with just your eyes!
What is NanoBioTechnology?
Nanobiotechnology is a big word made up of three parts:
- Nano is really, really tiny
- Bio is living things, and
- Technology is about tools.
All together it means using very tiny tools to learn about living things.
Family Fun Day
Saturday, January 21 - Noon-3pm
NCM Conference Center
Free activities will be available in the Conference Center in conjunction with the opening of the exhibit.
Learning Goals
This is an exhibition about really, really tiny things that are too small to see with just your eyes. Scientists can make and use special tools to study these tiny things.
Specific age appropriate learning goals have been developed and tested with diverse audiences.
- Amazing things happen that are too small to see with just your eyes.
- Scientists and kids can use tools to observe these small things.
- There are many small things inside my body.
- All living things are made of cells.
- Nano is really, really small.
Exhibit Descriptions
Gateway
A large walk-through archway leads visitors into the exhibition and provides an introduction to the nano world. This area introduces the word nanobiotechnology and graphic tools such as the ladybug with a magnifying glass icon that is used throughout the exhibition.
Look Closer! Guess What I Am!
Visitors can view highly magnified photographs of familiar objects and uncover photos with decreasing levels of magnification until an easily recognizable photo of the item is revealed.
Powers of Ten Film
Visitors can sit down and watch a modified version of the short Powers of Ten film by Ray and Charles Eames. This mesmerizing film makes viewers feel like they are traveling on a diminishing scale, taking them all the way from a view of the earth from outer space down to the molecular level inside the hand.
How Many Nanometers Tall Are You
Visitors can measure their height using a measuring tool with a height slider.
Cell Sorters
Visitors can stick their hands into a glove box and use special tools to separate out different cells based on their physical properties. Visitors will be able to try out two ways to sort the same collection of "cells" (balls of identical size and appearance but with different "invisible" properties). The balls have diffrent weights and magnetic properties, and some appear fluorescent under black light.
Giant Magnifying Glass
Visitors can look through either of two giant magnifying lenses to see each other and things across the room in more detail.
Magnification Station
At this table-top station visitors can use magnifying glasses and microscopes of varying strengths to look at shells, cloth, rocks and more.
Scope on a Rope
Visitors can look at their own skin, hair, clothing, etc. with this flexible projection microscope. One microscope magnifies at 30x, the other at 200x.
Cells in Motion and Tiny Tool Videos
This theatre environment will place visitors in the midst of a world of living moving cells and how scientists study them. Two videos, Cells in Motion and Tiny Tools, play one after the other.
What's My Job?
Visitors will be able to test and reinforce their knowledge of vocabulary and functions of different small things including different types of cells, germs and DNA.
How big am I?
At this matching game, a visitor compares the size of blood cells, a girl, a shoe, DNA and an elephant.
Adventures in Tiny Things
Some tiny things like germs, dust, and pollen can have a big effect on your body. Play three different pinball style games: Dust Tippy Table, Pollen Pinball, and the Germ Launcher.
Giant Blood Drop
You visitors can jump into a pit with thousands of small red plastic balls. The size of the pit represents a drop of blood and each red ball represents a red blood cell. A small number of white fluffy balls represent white blood cells.
Scale Gallery
This interactive collage features microscopic entities at 10,000x life size including a red blood cell, white blood cell, nerve cell, skin cell, germs (bacteria and viruses), DNA and computer chips.
The visitor learning goals will guide the selection of all exhibition concepts and design:
For Children (5-8 years old)
Amazing things happen that are too small to see with just your eyes.
Scientists and kids can use tools to observe these small things.
Small things are made up of even smaller pieces.
There are many small things inside my body.
Nano is really really small.
Lay the groundwork and create a context for future learning about Nanobiotechnology.
For Adults and Older Children
Scientists can interact with small things and they are developing tiny things to help my body.
Relative size of different small things.
Relate what scientists do to things I�ve already experienced.
Inspire curiosity and want to know more about Nanobiotechnology.
Target Audience
The target audience for this traveling exhibition is 5 to 8 year-old children (Kindergarten through Third Grade). Children in this age range typically have little exposure to these topics in school or at home.
This will be an introduction to the nano world, and will provide a groundwork upon which visitors can build with future experiences.
Program Materials
The following program materials can be downloaded in Portable Document Format (PDF) by right clicking on the links:
