National Science Foundation Funds SRI International to Help High School Students Learn Nanoscience

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- October 18, 2004 -- SRI International, an independent research and development organization, has received a four-year, $925,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help high school students visualize the principles of nanoscience and nanotechnology—the physical, chemical, and biological behavior of particles on a nanoscopic scale. One nanometer equals approximately 10^-9 meters. (A human hair is between 60,000 and 120,000 nanometers wide, and red blood cells are between 2,000 and 5,000 nanometers across.)

The relatively new field of nanotechnology offers new markets, products, and applications in areas such as medicine, materials, and environmental management. Preparing a skilled workforce requires a commensurate response in the educational community to increase students' understanding of core nanoscience concepts. Now that there are nanoscale science and engineering programs at undergraduate and graduate levels, there is a strong need in earlier grades to increase students' scientific literacy and prepare them for further study.

“SRI's program, NanoSense, brings an interdisciplinary approach to viewing core concepts from physics, chemistry, biology, materials science and engineering through a different lens,” said Nora Sabelli, co-director of SRI's Center for Technology in Learning. “The nanoscopic world is awaiting discovery by high school students and educators, and seeing how the laws of physics behave in that world can shed light on how they behave in the ‘real' world. SRI, a research institute, has the necessary talent to effectively tackle the multidisciplinary challenges associated with education, technology, innovation, and science.”

The NanoSense curriculum will include classroom-tested activities to help high school students understand the underlying principles, applications and implications of nanoscale science. Some of the activities will be simple, one-day enrichment activities, and others will span several class periods.

These activities will be conducted in science-related classrooms at five high schools prior to national dissemination. Teachers will work with the NanoSense team to advise on activity development and conduct pilot tests. A few hundred students are expected to engage in program activities.

During the program, SRI researchers will study how students improve their understanding of nanoscience concepts and technological applications over time, and how teachers use the NanoSense tools and activities to support student discourse and understanding.

NanoSense builds on ChemSense, an NSF-funded SRI program to study students' understanding of chemistry and develop software and curriculum to help students investigate chemical systems and express their ideas in animated chemical notation. SRI is working closely with chemists, physicists, educators and nanoscientists to generate nanoscience activities that build on ChemSense activities.

NanoSense materials will be made available through teacher workshops and on the ChemSense web site (http://chemsense.org) as they are developed and tested. SRI will conduct these workshops at professional conferences and at San Jose State University to introduce NanoSense to scores of teachers nationally and help them make best use of its software and activities.

SRI is also organizing a workshop for this winter with science educators and researchers from around the U.S. at Foothill-DeAnza Community College District and NASA Ames Research Center . A full range of nanoscience concepts will be mapped into the skill sets required by differing career paths. Outcomes will include a NASA-supported certificate in nanoscience, a report on nanoscience education at the high school and community college levels, a mapping of topics to national standards in science and technology, a list of nanoscience courses already offered, and possible career paths.

The National Science Foundation's Division of Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education oversees the grant.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for more than 55 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

About SRI's Center for Technology in Learning

The mission of SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning is to improve learning and teaching through innovation and inquiry in computing and communications. Its research and development priorities are to advance theory and research on effective learning and teaching, and to embody these insights in the innovative design, use, and assessment of interactive learning environments. Much of the Center's work is conducted in real educational settings, such as classrooms and teacher education programs.

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