Introducing Nanoscience to High School Physics Teachers

During a two week workshop, local high school and middle school science teachers were introduced to three aspects of nanoscience: 1) size and scale, 2) atomic probe microscopy and 3) self-assembly. This collaborative effort of UTEP, the National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NCLT) and Purdue University combined both inquiry pedagogy and current nanoscience research. This paper provides more details about the workshop and the inquiry activities used as well as participating teachers' perceptions of the workshop.