Nanoscience Teacher Professional Development Workshop 2022
In coordination with faculty and staff from the Virginia Tech Nanoscience degree program, NanoEarth hosted our forth annual professional development workshop for high school science teachers this June. The hybrid format awarded teachers continuing education credits and provided practical methods for including nanoscience concepts in their curriculum.
Teachers participated in classroom and instrument demonstrations, short lectures, and discussions related to four content modules: Nanomedicine, Environmental Nanoscience, Functional Nanomaterials, and Nanotechnology Instrumentation and Innovation. The in-person event was combined with pre-recorded lessons, demonstrations, and assignments that teachers could complete at their own pace.
In addition to providing cutting-edge examples of the science in the main four areas, key concepts of nanoscience were discussed such as self-assembly, encapsulation, quantum behavior and surface and redox chemistry. Faculty and staff introduced the essential tools of nanoscience and nanotechnology and discussed possible career trajectories and entrepreneurship opportunities.
One workshop attendee was Kristen Cox from East Cary Magnet Middle School in North Carolina who graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from Virginia Tech in 2016. Cox, highlighted in the video below, hopes to bring back what she's learned from the workshop to ignite her students passion for science.
Photos and video courtesy of VTx and taken by Lee Friesland.
