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Tiny Tubes
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In this activity, learners make "totally tubular" forms of carbon. Learners use chicken wire to build macro models of carbon nanotubes.
Build Your Own Wind Turbine
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Learners construct an electricity-generating wind turbine out of a plastic bottle.
Fan Cart
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If a sailboat is stranded because there is no wind, is it possible to set up a fan on deck and blow wind into the sail to make the boat move?
Exploring Tools: Special Microscopes
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In this activity, learners use a flexible magnet as a model for a scanning probe microscope (SPM). They learn that SPMs are an example of a special tool that scientists use to work on the nanoscale.
Jell-O Model of Microfluidics
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This activity uses Jell-O(R) to introduce learners to microfluidics, the flow of fluids through microscopic channels.
Gumdrop Dome
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In this activity (located on pages 23-24 of the PDF), learners are introduced to structural engineering and encouraged to practice goal-oriented building.
Catapult
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In this activity, learners construct their own small catapults using simple materials. Learners follow visual instructions to build their launching device.
Introduction to the New Chain Gang
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In this activity, learners use pop-beads to understand the characteristics and properties of polymer chains.
Gel Electrophoresis
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In this activity, learners simulate the process of DNA fingerprinting by using electricity to separate colored dyes.
Exploring the Nanoworld with LEGO Bricks: Probing the Structure of Materials at the Nanoscale
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In this activity (pages 17-31), learners are introduced to techniques that are used to determine the structures of solid materials.
Exploring the Nanoworld with LEGO Bricks: Structures at the Nanoscale
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In this activity (pages 7-16), learners model various crystal structures with LEGOs. This activity also contains additional links that explain how to create other crystal structures.
Catapult
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Build a catapult that transforms the potential energy of a twisted rubber band into kinetic energy. Experiment with design variations so that you can hit a target with a projectile.
Finding the Right Crater
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This quick demonstration (on page 11 of PDF) allows learners to understand why scientists think water ice could remain frozen in always-dark craters at the poles of the Moon.
Hot Air Balloon
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In this activity, learners build a hot air balloon using just a few sheets of tissue paper and a hair dryer.
Up, Up and Away with Bottles
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In this activity, learners make water rockets to explore Newton's Third Law of Motion. Learners make the rockets out of plastic bottles and use a bicycle pump to pump them with air.
Exploring the Ocean with Robots
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In this activity, learners are introduced to robotic submarines called gliders. Learners make “gliders” from plastic syringes and compare these to Cartesian bottles and plastic bubbles.
Achieving Orbit
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In this Engineering Design Challenge activity, learners will use balloons to investigate how a multi-stage rocket, like that used in the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, can propel a sat
Make a Terrarium
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In this activity, learners make a miniature greenhouse or "terrarium" to explore the greenhouse effect.
LEGO Orrery
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Use this model to demonstrate the goal of NASA's Kepler Mission: to find extrasolar planets through the transit method.
Biobarcodes: Antibodies and Nanosensors
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In this activity/demo, learners investigate biobarcodes, a nanomedical technology that allows for massively parallel testing that can assist with disease diagnosis.