Use of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology in the middle school science
teaching can be an important instrument in fostering student interest in natural sciences.
These are absent from most middle school curricula, mainly because of the hierarchical
nature of science. For example, classroom activities related to the nanometer (A human
Sahin, E. Ekli123 hair is about 80,000 nm thick! A moth’s eye has a hexagonal shape and is a few hundred
nanometers tall. A comma in a newspaper is half a million nanometers) to understand the
Nano concept, making a buckyball model for nanomaterials and topics related to interactions
of energy and matter for nanocrystalline solar cells. Some nanoscience hands-on
experiments using inexpensive materials can be designed and taught to middle school
science teachers such as dye-sensitized solar cells. Round table discussion among teachers
about topics related to nanoscience and nanotechnology may also be useful.