Long Island Children's Museum's small, small world

Cool off from the summer heat with a visit to Long Island Children’s Museum for “Nano Day,” an exploration into the world of nanoscale science and engineering. The interactive event, on Wednesday, July 28, gives kids – and their parents – an introduction into the fascinating science of the super-small.
NanoDay is a nationwide educational project focused on nanoscale science and engineering sponsored by the NISE Network (Nanoscale Informal Science Education). LICM is among the more than 200 museums, research centers and universities across the country that are hosting NanoDay events.
“Nano Days have resonated quite well with our visitors,” said LICM spokesperson Maureen Mangan. “Kids seem to be especially fascinated learning about the science of the teeny, weeny. Putting it in perspective for them – a nano is 1/1,00,000,000 of a freckle – sparks curiosity and interest in learning more. Adults are as fascinated as kids as they recognize how nano research is at play all around them, from technological advancements to medical research.”
During an afternoon devoted to exploration and discovery, kids have the opportunity to explore nano science by measuring themselves in nano meters, learn how a liquid can also be a magnet, discover how size affects forces like gravity, and make their own liquid crystal sensors that change color with temperature changes.
Visitors can make their personal “nano discoveries” by participating in a variety of different “experiments.” The specific activities will appeal to all ages.

Exploring Measurement
Visitors mark their height on a chart and discover how tall they are in nanometers. They learn that although being a billion nanometers tall sounds impressive, it doesn’t mean they’re super tall. It means a nanometer is super small.
 
Exploring Structures
“Buckyballs” is a hands-on activity in which participants fold up a precut shape to make a model of a buckyball. They learn that buckyballs are tiny, soccer ball-shaped molecules made of carbon.
 
Exploring Materials
A material can act differently when it’s nanometer-sized. Visitors investigate the properties of ferrofluid and magnetic black sand, learning that the surprising difference in the behavior of these two materials is due to size. 
 Another experiment,“Liquid Crystals,” demonstrates that the way a material behaves on the macroscale is affected by its structure on the nanoscale. The kids will investigate the properties of a heat sensitive liquid crystal and make their own liquid crystal sensor to take home.
 
Exploring Forces
At the “Gravity” station, museum-goers discover that it’s easy to pour water out of a regular-sized cup, but not out of a miniature cup. They learn that size can affect the way materials like water behave. Different physical forces dominate when things get very, very small. For example, gravity is very apparent to us on the macroscale, but it’s hardly noticeable on the nanoscale.

Nano Day at LICM
Wednesday,  July 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Suitable for ages 5 and up. Free with museum admission.

Long Island Children’s Museum, Museum Row, Garden City. (516) 224-5800 or www.licm.org.