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| The latest in cutting-edge technology slices through summer at the Children's Museum of Houston |
 It's the stuff too small to see, but too big to ignore! Nanotechnology may be invisible to the naked eye, but it's everywhere! And the Children's Museum of Houston (CMH) wasn't going to be the exception. Beginning June 2 at 12 p.m. on the dot, CMH brings something revolutionary and exciting for big kids to explore! Nano@Noon will zoom in and reveal some of the special tools scientists use to study super small matter!
“We saw the need for families to have something extra for technology-savvy kids,” said Tammie Kahn, Executive Director. “We wanted something relatable and hands-on that didn't require staring at some type of monitor. We found all those qualities in Nanotechnology-related activities because they can be found in things kids use everyday.”
WHAT'S THE NANO WITH YOU?
To understand nanotechnology, you have to think small – really, really small. This “tiny tech” involves extremely minute objects calculated in an outrageously small measurement unit called the nanometer. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 10-9 of a meter. To put that scale in context, the comparative size of a nanometer to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the earth. Or, another way of putting it: a nanometer is the amount a man's beard grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face. When materials are this tiny, they can have exciting new properties that make them behave in unfamiliar and useful ways!
Nanotechnology is not just the technology of the future. It can be “seen” at work today in LCD screens, flash memory cards, and the memory chip within the iPod nano. Even some hockey sticks, golf clubs, baseball bats, and cell phones are made with Carbon Nanotubes which increase strength. Although nanotechnology is beginning to pop up in our everyday lives, researchers are working hard to make new discoveries that will impact our lives even more. Researchers at Rice University in Houston are currently studying how nanotechnology can be used to treat cancer and other diseases, as well as to purify groundwater.
NANO@NOON
Beginning Monday, June 2, kids and families can watch exciting demonstrations, participate in hands-on activities, and learn something new everyday during Nano@Noon! They will compare mineral nanoparticle Invisible Sun Block with regular sun block to see which they'd prefer, or test stain-resistant Nano-Text® fabric. They will bounce balls on different surfaces to see how the nano-scale structure of Liquid Metals affects elasticity, or experiment with different temperatures to see how hot and cold affect Liquid Crystals. They will also investigate how Anti-Bacterial Silver nano particles (now found in some commercial products) can help kill germs due to their higher surface to volume ratio!
ABOUT CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF HOUSTON
The Children's Museum of Houston is rated one of the top two Children's Museums in the country by Child magazine and No. 1 by a survey of top youth museums on MSN.com. Serving more than 750,000 people annually, the Children's Museum of Houston is the highest-attended youth museum in the country for its size. The Museum is dedicated to transforming communities through innovative, child-centered learning and offers 14 galleries of hands-on exhibits and innovative bilingual learning programs for kids ages birth to 12 years. The Children's Museum is located at 1500 Binz in Houston's Museum District.
Admission is $5 per person and $4 for seniors 65 years and older. Children under two and Museum Members receive free admission. Free Family Nights are offered Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. courtesy of The Wortham Foundation, Inc. and Kathrine McGovern and the late John P. McGovern, M.D.
Summer hours (Memorial Day – Labor Day) are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from Noon to 6 p.m. For more information, please visit www.cmhouston.org or call (713) 522-1138.
ABOUT NANO@NOON
Many of the activities and demonstrations featured at “Nano@Noon” were provided by the Small Wonders: Find the Nano in Your Life program created by The Franklin Institute, the Penn State University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and the Cornell University Center for Materials Research. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation for the Materials Research Science and Engineering Consortium. |
Childrens Museum of Houston |
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