It is almost dinnertime and your family decides
they want to eat a pepperoni pizza. You tell
your kitchen oven computer that you want a
pepperoni pizza, then a list of the ingredients
appears on the screen. Perhaps you decide to
add mushrooms, so you type in mushrooms, then
hit enter. Ten minutes later, a bell rings,
and the oven computer announces that dinner
is ready. You take the hot pepperoni pizza
out of the oven and serve it to your family.
Is there anything strange about this scene?
Where did the ingredients for the pizza come
from? If scientists studying nanotechnology
are correct, in the near future our food will
be created out of atoms and molecules instead
of being cultivated on farms. Once we know
the molecular structure of pepperoni pizza,
we can use available atoms and molecules to
build a pizza whenever we want. Nanotechnology
is another name for molecular manufacturing
- the science in which things are built one
atom or molecule at a time. Nanotechnology
proposes the construction of molecular devices
that will have the ability to manipulate atoms
individually and place them exactly where needed
to produce the desired result. Scientists and
researchers say this ability is almost here!
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Your job in this WebQuest is to explore the
world of nanotechnology. You will learn exactly
how big a nanometer is, and why nanotechnology
is named for a nanometer. You will find out
what a nanobot is, and what materials it may
be made out of. You will learn why scientists
think that nanotechnology will cause a revolution
in the manufacturing and medical fields. You
will also discover the applications that scientists
envision for nanotechnology. Finally you will
answer a set of questions to demonstrate what
you have learned about nanotechnology in your
exploration.
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Look at the web sites given here to find the
information that will enable you to answer
questions about nanotechnology.
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1 class period for research and answering
the set of questions
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Read through the following set of questions
before you begin your Internet research. As
you explore each site, look for answers to
the questions.
Questions about Exploring Nanotechnology
- How big is a nanometer?
- What is the primary goal of early nanotechnology?
- What is a nanobot? What materials could
a nanobot be made out of?
- How would a nanobot manipulate atoms and
molecules?
- Make a list of ten items that nanotechnology
could improve upon.
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In the process of completing this WebQuest,
you've become informed about a new technology
called nanotechnology and about its possible
uses. You have learned that nanotechnology
may result in improvements in manufacturing,
food production, and medicine. You have developed
research skills as you explored the web sites
given, and identified the relevant information
to answer the set of questions above. Do you
think nanotechnology is going to play an important
role in the future? How important do you think
it is for scientists to continue to research
nanotechnology?
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