An NSF-sponsored center for nanoscale science and engineering Description: The instructor links the development of tools and processes for building automobiles with what is occurring in nanotechnology today. Students wear oven mitts to build cars made of LEGOs to discover how working at the nanoscale requires new, more precise tools to replace the current tools. Prerequisites: Student should have an introductory knowledge of nanotechnology (which can be provided by Kit 1). Instruction Time: Approximately 30 minutes Audience: Middle or high school students Lesson Objective: Students will understand the need for better tools and processes to develop nanoscale products. National Science Education Standards: Content Standard F: Science and Technology in Society. Content Standard G: History of Science. Illinois State Learning Standards: 13.B.3a Identify and explain ways that scientific knowledge and economics drive technological development. 13.B.5b Analyze and describe the processes and effects of scientific and technological breakthroughs. Tools and Processes Instructional Method: The instructor gives a PowerPoint presentation on the tools and processes required to make products. Students then do a hands-on activity using oven mitts and model car kits to simulate the difficulty of working at the nanoscale and the need for more appropriate tools. Materials: 1 evaluation and 30 assessments Power Point presentation and documents on CD overhead transparencies of slides Teacher provides: LCD or overhead projector Preparation: Get the PowerPoint presentation or overheads ready. Have the oven mitts and model car kits at hand. You may want to write the type and number of each car piece on the board so that students can check that they have all of the pieces after the lesson. Background Information: A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter (or 25 millionths of an inch). This is approaching the size of an atom. Three to 10 atoms end-to-end are about 1 nanometer long. Objects that are a few to several hundred nanometers in width are called nanoparticles. The number of nanoparticles and nanostructures (such as carbon nanotubes) needed for applications in industry is often very large. It is often not economical or even feasible to create the large number needed to make them one at a time, even with a simple assembly line model. If we wanted to make 1 gram of these nanoparticles, we might need to make around copies. Even if we could make one each second, it would take 3,000 billion (3 trillion) years. Clearly, new tools are needed to manipulate and measure objects this small. The field of nanotechnology is focused on manipulating materials, devices, and systems at the nanoscale. The properties of matter that are usually observed change at such a small scale and scientists are working to unlock the numerous possibilities in this exciting field. This learning kit was made possible through a generous gift from Motorola, Inc., and through support from the National Science Foundation. To order more kits from this series, please see our website: 30 small LEGOs car kits (20 pieces in each bag plus directions) 1 container of extra pieces 30 pairs of oven mitts Copyright © 2012 Board of Trustees, University of Illinois. All rights reserved.

Safety: Involvement in this activity poses minimal safety issues. Presentation Details: Slide 1 (Tools and Processes): You need the right tools and processes to make something. Today I am going to discuss how having improved tools and processes changes the manufacturing of a product. Slide 2 (Objective): In this lesson, you will learn about the need for scientists to create adequate tools in order to develop nanoscale products. Slide 3 (Think Back): But before we discuss nanotechnology, I’d like to ask you a question: “What was invented in this country at the beginning of the 20th century that changed almost everything?” (Answer: the Automobile.) Slide 4 (First Cars): This 1908 Model T Ford cost about $5,000 to buy (very expensive back then, comparable to about $108,000 today). Why was it so expensive? It was because it took a long time to build one. There was a need to make cars faster. What was invented that made manufacturing cars faster and cheaper? Slide 5 (Push Assembly Line): An assembly line is a system for manufacturing many items. Workers usually stay at specific stations and build the product in a sequence. This picture shows a “push” assembly line where workers would put a part on then push the car to the next person in the line. In 1913, the push assembly line sped up the manufacturing of a car by 8 times and the cost of a car dropped to $850. What happened next? (Answer: the conveyor belt and moving assembly line.) Slide 6 (Moving Assembly Line): In 1925, further changes in the assembly line process allowed cars to be produced at the rate of 1 every 10 seconds and the cost of a car dropped to $360. Slide 7 (Robotics): Robots were later introduced into the assembly of a car. They do work that is too repetitive, boring or dangerous for humans. Our cars today have new and better features than the first cars. Slide 8 (Process Changed Everything): How did the process of an assembly line affect us? (They may mention that the kind of work changed, people became more independent and traveled more, people spent money differently, and people wanted more features on their cars so cars had more parts. To remain cost effective, processes and tools needed to change.) Slide 9 (Where Are We?): Now let’s get back to nanotechnology. We’re still in the pre-assembly line stage. Our current tools and methods are very crude at manipulating particles as small as atoms. Scientists and engineers at the U of I are working to develop tools and processes for nanomanufacturing that will allow us to make things economically at the nanoscale. They need to be able to produce something quickly and efficiently so that it is affordable. However, it is not easy to build with atoms. What we need are new tools and processes that allow us to manipulate atoms easily so that the products are affordable (just like with the automobile). Slide 10 (You Build One!): To illustrate the point of this lesson, we’re going to have you build a car out of LEGOs.

= Slide 11 (Here Are Your Tools): To show how difficult it is to work with atoms and particles at the nanoscale, you will be using oven mitts over your hands to build the cars. Using the oven mitts will help you understand how much scientists struggle when dealing with small objects. The current tools that they have are bulky and imprecise. Using these tools is similar to wearing oven mitts over your hands when you are building a car made out of LEGOs. Slide 12: (You Build One): You will work individually to assemble the car. (If students are older, they could be given one mitt and told to use only one hand. If students are younger, they can use two oven mitts and both hands.) Make sure to pick up any pieces that fall on the floor. OK, get started! (Allow 5-10 minutes for students to build the cars. After this time, you may let them build the cars without mittens.) It wasn’t easy trying to move such small pieces with big tools! After you took the bulky gloves off, you could work more precisely. The current tools for moving atoms and molecules are much cruder than oven mitts over your hands. It is very hard to move atoms and molecules around with the current tools. Scientists are working to find processes and tools that will allow us to manipulate atoms and molecules at a much faster rate. Slide 13 (Count Your Pieces!): Make sure to count your pieces before putting them back in the bag. You should have 4 wheels, 11 white pieces, 2 blue pieces, 3 grey pieces, and 1 sheet of directions. References: IPSE, University of Wisconsin—Mitten Challenge Nanoscience and Technology at Los Alamos National Laboratory Nanotechnology: A Gentle Introduction to the Next Big Idea, Ratner and Ratner ISBN PBS: A Science Odyssey, People and Discoveries--Henry Ford and the Assembly Line Useful Website: National Nanotechnology Initiative Established in 2003, the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMMS) is funded by the National Science Foundation. Partnering Institutions include the University of Illinois, North carolina Agriculture and Technical State University, Stanford University, University of Notre Dame, University of California – Irvine, and Northwestern University. Researchers are developing a nanomanufacturing system that will build ultrahigh-density, complex nanostructures. The Center’s research will ultimately result in a new way of working and has the potential to create millions of jobs for American workers. Our nation’s school children must be prepared to assume the new roles that will be the inevitable outcome of these emerging technologies. This learning module is one of a series designed to interest middle and high school students in pursuing this new field. The Center also offers ongoing professional development for teachers through a continuous series of workshops and institutes. To sign up for a workshop or to order more learning modules, visit our website at For more information, contact: Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 4400 Mechanical Engineering Laboratory, 105 South Mathews Avenue, MC-244, Urbana, IL Phone: Website:

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