NanoEarth Brings Nano to Belle Heth Elementary at Hokie for a Day
The National Center for Earth and Environmental Research (NanoEarth) participated in Virginia Tech’s (VT) first Fall 2023 date for Hokie for a Day. The Center for Educational Networks and Impacts (CENI) organizes this event for multiple Title 1 elementary schools over the Fall and Spring semesters. Students dine on campus, learn about college admissions, meet with a student athlete, and participate in an educational expo.
Bipin Lade, Ph.D., NanoEarth's Postdoctoral Associate and Charis Horn, Ph.D., NanoEarth’s Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) Instrument Specialist, introduced 68 fifth grade students and six adults from Belle Heth Elementary in Radford City to nanoscience. They led participants through NanoDays Kits, to gain hands-on experience with everyday nanotechnology. Students learned how ferrofluid ink is implemented in the United States paper currency for authenticity and vending machines, water resistant fabric made with nano coated fibers, and a nanometer-thick layer of a silicon compound is added to sand to make it repel water.
Students learn about hydrophobic nano-pants
