When North Central West Virginia children converged on the University City to participate in Downtown Morgantown Kids’ Day recently they learned how little things can have big consequences with the help of experts from WVNano at West Virginia University.

Kid’s Day offered free activities for young children from games and crafts to safety demonstrations and a giant sand box. Seven undergraduates from the WVNano’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience program, known as SURE, and six WVU graduate students and staff/faculty participated in the event for the first time this year with a WVNano booth and nanoscience demonstrations provided by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education network.

Nanoscience is the science of the extremely tiny: not as small as atoms or molecules, but much smaller than anything that can be seen. At these “nanoscales,” materials possess properties that that give them very unique abilities. Nanoscale science and engineering is the attempt to learn about and use those special properties in the creation of novel products for a range of different industries.

WVNano experts offered the children hands on activities focused on teaching about nanoscale phenomena. Kids and parents alike were very impressed with “Nano Sand” and its special hydrophobic properties. While the children learned about a growing area of research, the WVNano volunteers gained experience with nanoscience outreach and added a unique new component to Kids’ Day.

Kailey Imlay, WVU student and 2011 WVNano SURE participant said the Kid’s Day experience was valuable.

“Participating in Kid’s Day gave me hands-on experience explaining complex ideas to children,” she said. “At first I fumbled a bit with my words – explaining physical forces of gravity vs. surface tension to a child was more difficult than I had imagined. But, I improved with practice and it was fun to see varying reactions from the children. I also enjoyed watching parents as they attempted to make learning as exciting as possible for their kids.”

Sripadh Sharma, WVU student and 2011 WVNano SURE participant said, “It was really nice that I could make kids believe that science can be as cool as anything else they have already seen. I remember thinking science demos were very interesting when I was a kid which is why I am in a science field. I hope I made that kind of impact in those kids’ lives.”

Kelly Lyons, a Shepherd University student and 2011 WVNano SURE participant said, “One of the most practical things I learned from working at Kids’ Day is that my audience will dictate how I present my research. It takes skill to interest people in new subjects without intimidating them and to share it in a way that makes it relevant. Whether I am informally discussing my research with others or I am giving a poster presentation, gauging the audience’s knowledge and interest will help me to effectively share what I think is interesting. And when all else fails, I can always give out stickers and washable tattoos. The kids seemed to like that.”

WVNano was organized in 2005 and, since 2006, has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the WVU Research Corp. and the WV Higher Education Policy Commission’s Division of Science and Research. The main objective of WVNano is to advance the research environment and diversify the state’s economic base by cultivating and growing vigorous nanoscale research and engineering. WVNano’s research focuses on potential applications in the areas of public security, health, energy and the environment.

-WVU-

gg/09/02/11

CONTACT: Gerrill Griffith, WVU Research Corp.
304.293.3743; Gerrill.Griffith@mail.wvu.edu

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