ADVANCED TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION ·
NOVEMBER 2010
Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Monday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.
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The mission of the Math Machines organization is to "improve the quality of mathematical education, enhance the transfer of mathematical thinking into other classes, and increase students' ability to apply rigorous mathematics outside the classroom." The Math Machines website contributes to a National Science Foundation ATE grant-supported project designed to improve teaching in the areas of mathematics, science, and technology at the high school and college levels. The improvements in teaching and learning result from the project using math, science, and technology principles to build and control various machines such as pointers and robots or "math machines". These machines are simple devices that provide an immediate, physical, dynamic expression to "abstract" mathematical equations. The website provides information links on Educational Theory, Classroom Activities, Project Workshops, Calculators & Programs, and Machine Construction Instructions for Building: Closed Circuits, Servo Motors, Controllers, Robot Boards and more. There is also contact information, a FAQ section, as well as upcoming events.
Here is a small sample of the valuable resources in ATE Central that focus on Nanotechnologies:
From the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU):
The Penn State Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) is the home of the Pennsylvania Nanofabrication Manufacturing Technology (NMT) Partnership and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education, an NSF-sponsored regional Advanced Technology Education (ATE) Center. CNEU is dedicated to research, development, and education across all aspects of micro- and nanotechnology and the resources of the Center are focused on the incorporation of nanotechnology into secondary education, post-secondary education, and industry applications. Here, CNEU provides a series of Nanotechnology Video Modules which are used as an introduction to nanotechnology courses at CNEU partner institutions. There are currently six videos available covering introductions, nanotech basics, nanotech industry influence, nanotech educational opportunities, and career choices in nanotech. For anyone interested in basic nanotech courses or in encouraging students to consider nanotech as a career option these videos might prove useful.
From NetWorks:
This resource is provided by the NanoEd Resource Portal and is one of a number of Nano lessons provided on the site. This lesson is "The Nanotechnology Module", which is a joint project with the Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University. The module teaches students about the interesting science that happens at the nanoscale, the tools used by scientists to study objects so small, and the potential applications of discoveries made in nanotechnology. Activity 1 introduces the concept of nanometer, asking "Just how small is a nanometer?" and "How does the size of something determine its physical and chemical properties?" To give students an idea of the different technological developments that are in existence in the "Nano-World," in Activity 2, they are asked to choose a nanoscale object from a list of examples and research its properties and current and future uses. In Activity 3, students create a macroscale model of what scientists do at the nanoscale with masking technology. Such a technique could be applied to create nanoscale circuitry, for example. Activity 4 looks at the challenges of signal amplification that one faces when working with nanoscale objects. The challenge in the culminating design project is to design, build, test, and evaluate a working model of an atomic force microscope (AFM), a valuable instrument scientists use to "see" nanoscale objects. Although research efforts in nanotechnology are still in the preliminary stages, the discoveries have the potential to significantly impact the fields of medicine, electronics, information technology, pharmaceuticals, and materials science, among others.
From the NACK Center's Nano4me:
The National Center for Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge (NACK) Center is an organization committed to supporting two-year degree programs in micro and nanotechnology. The center offers online educational material for curriculum enhancement in this subject field. One of these courses focuses on patterning for nanotechnology. The material is "a hands-on treatment of all aspects of advanced pattern transfer and pattern transfer equipment." Downloadable features include topics including lithography information and tool technologies. Additionally, resources on novel techniques and advanced lithography resists are available in this unit. The site requires a free login for access to the material.
CWIS is open source software, created with NSF funding, that can help your project or center showcase resources online. It's free and very easy to use — click here to check out a few of the sites running CWIS. We'd be happy to provide you with more information about CWIS and give you a quick tour of its features — please e-mail [email protected] to get started!
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ATE Central Connection is published by Internet Scout via support from the National Science Foundation under grant number 0941067. |  |