Students' Reports on Nanotechnology Experiences

1999

Ms. Day, NanoTeacher

It was Awesome: My experiences With Viruses
by Adrienne Shuford, Student Orange High School

This week some biologists and other scientists from UNC came to Orange High School. They showed us how viruses work and what they are made of. We got to interview different scientists and learn about what they do for a living. For example, Amy is a computer scientist. She talked about how she accomplishes her job and what she does for this virus project. Another one was a professor who was helping by doing the networking for all the computers. Dr. Superfine gave a lecture on how the virus works.

He talked about how if you blew up a cell to the size of this room, a virus would be the size of a softball. I never thought about viruses that way, as machines, but I guess that work like machines. The DNA inside a virus is actually two times the size of a football field. How does it fit inside such a small place? Well, it is wound into a tiny ball and stuffed inside the virus. It is a shame that interesting things like viruses cause so many problems.

We made a model of a virus that was cool. But what was really cool was the nanomanipulator. It let you interact with a real virus. I thought that was pretty cool. When you push a button, you could move the tip around and touch the virus. You felt bumps and it moved. That was awesome. I actually squished one a little. I can’t believe how we are one of the few classes that have actually been able to use one of these things! If I had another chance to use the nanomanipulator, I would jump at the chance. We should have one in every science class!

Did you know that viruses are twenty sided. I did not until this week. There are so many things you can learn about viruses by using the nanomanipulator. I want to use one again. I hope that these scientists come back so we can use the nanomanipulator again. I know you must be sick and tired of me going on about the nanomanipulator, but it is so fun. You should try it. If you don’t, you are missing out.

McDougle Middle School 2001

The Best Science Class That I have Ever Had
by Gus

As I walked in the classroom I could already tell it was not going to be a normal day. There were scientists all over the room. We were assigned a group and told what we were to do. There were five teams with about four to five students in each group.

My team was sent to the nanoManipulator (NM). We were told how it worked and what we could do. We then got on a phone with a scientist, we would ask him questions and he would answer them. We each took turns moving the screen and viruses. The scientist, Garrett, was shocked at my response when he said the microscope cost about $85,000! After we got off the phone with him the system crashed. Our group had to call him back up to get the system running again. After a few moments of suspense, it finally started up. Then we asked if we could pop the virus. We had to enter a few coordinates and we were really happy to pop it. After we scanned the screen, the virus was gone. We then decided that the virus had stuck to the tip. We then changed stations.

We then saw a movie about powers of ten. It first showed a man’s hand, then it zoomed out. It then zoomed in so close you could see neutrons and protons of an atom. The next day came and we interviewed a scientist. His name was Adam. He was a computer scientist and helped invent the program for the nanoManipulator.

We then went to the scale station. We learned about the metric system. We also went up to a board and put things in order from biggest to smallest and then estimated in centimeters and millimeters how big the objects were. Before we knew it, the day had ended.

The third day of the unit we started on this paper. We then went to a station that explained how the microscope worked. We each took turns tracing an object like the microscope did. It was harder than it looked or sounded. We rotated back to the nanoManipulator where we moved the viruses, cut them and pushed them around. We also got to try and pop one.

With five minutes left in class we had to start back on the paper. The day had ended and I was shocked to hear it was our last day. Overall I think this is the best science class that I have ever had and I hope they come again.

Orange High School 2001

Nanomanipulator: Manipulating the Way We Learn
By David

The experience of working with the nanomanipulator and the group of scientists working with it have been amazing. It has changed my views of science, scientists, and what they do.

For two weeks from February 6, my team, Laura, Ivan, Alice, and Miki moved through a series of exciting stations. First, we visited a scientist named Martin at a model of the nanomanipulator. It was amazing and it was hard to believe humans can do that sort of thing.

The second station we visited was about scale. Mr. Walker explained to us how small a virus is by comparing its size to everyday things like a grain of salt or a strand of hair. As it turns out a virus is the size of one-billionth of a meter. The next two stations were about interviewing scientists. We interviewed Stergios and Jennifer. As it turned out, neither one was quite what we expected. It used to be when I thought of a scientist, I thought of a dorky person who wears glasses and a white lab coat that has no life out of science. Meeting Stergios and Jennifer totally changed my opinion. They both had lives outside of their work and were all in all nice, normal people.

The last and most exciting station was the nanomanipulator station. By using the force feedback machine and Atsuko’s instruction, I was able to press on and break the virus. It was amazing how I could touch something as small as a virus but the nanomanipulator allowed me to do so.

This was the best experience I have ever had in a science class and I hope one day all high school students will have had the experience that I did with this amazing machine and this wonderful group of people.

Orange High School 2002

100 Times the Normal Size
By Brittany

Scientists came from UNC to help us understand and experiment with viruses. They brought with them a machine so we could feel how a virus feels and see what happens if we cut, poke, or push the virus. You could either do these things to an Adenovirus or a Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). It was interesting to see what happened. We even got to interview real scientist and see what they do and what they’re like. Our group got to see what a dime would look like 100 times its normal size. Getting to experiment with the Atomic Force Microscope and watch a video about going out of the world viewing what it would look like to go inside the skin too. We did fun experiments and had lots of fun. I thought this was a fun educational experience. Thank you UNC scientists!