School Programs

At NanoSonic, we are committed to enhancing the educational experience of area youth and supporting the national agenda to promote science, technology, engineering, and math education (STEM). Our efforts with local schools include participation in various programs for high and middle school children to learn about how technical topics are applied in a real-world laboratory and manufacturing facility. We also offer a scholarship to a local high school student who has shown exemplary achievement and interest in science and technology. We not only offer tours of our facilities where the kids see what we do, but we also provide hands-on workshops where the students experience the actual methods we use to create innovative products.

For example, in 2010 we supported the local First Lego League (FLL) team, a robotics program designed to get youth excited about science and technology - and to teach them valuable employment and life skills. Every September, FLL releases a challenge to youth, which is based on a real-world scientific topic, and then participants create an innovative solution to a problem as they program an autonomous robot using Legos.

In June 2011, engineers and scientists at NanoSonic excited and educated participants in the Giles County Public Schools’ Gifted Education Program, Summer Exploration 2011. We developed five classes for students, who ranged in age from kindergarten to sixth grade, offering hands-on experiments with polymeric goop and how to create materials for NASA.

NanoSonic is also involved in school science programs using our Nanotechnology School Kits that were developed with US Department of Education funding to help students learn about positive and negative molecular charges and the Electrostatic Self-Assembly (ESA) process.

We are able to tailor our programs to a specific curriculum based on the Virginia Standards of Learning for each grade that will reinforce and enhance the topics students are learning in school. For example, the crossword puzzle and word search below were created using terms and definitions from the Virginia Standards of Learning for the Sixth grade.

Science Puzzles for Sixth Graders

Nanotechnology: Big Things from a Tiny World (1,041 kb)
A colorful brochure that explains nanotechnology and its potential in a format that appeals to general audiences. This online version is formatted to be a printer-friendly document. Published by the US government.

Science and Matter Crossword Puzzle (101 kb)
The Science and Matter Crossword Puzzle was developed by NanoSonic using terms and definitions from the Virginia Standards of Learning for the sixth grade science curriculum.

Science and Matter Crossword Puzzle ANSWER KEY (112 kb)
ANSWER KEY to the Science and Matter Crossword Puzzle developed by NanoSonic using terms and definitions from the Virginia Standards of Learning for the sixth grade science curriculum.

Science and Matter Wordsearch Puzzle (119 kb)
The Science and Matter Wordsearch Puzzle was developed by NanoSonic using terms and definitions from the Virginia Standards of Learning for the sixth grade science curriculum.

Science and Matter Wordsearch Puzzle ANSWER KEY (280 kb)
ANSWER KEY to the Science and Matter Wordsearch Puzzle developed by NanoSonic using terms and definitions from the Virginia Standards of Learning for the sixth grade science curriculum.

NanoSonic Science & Technology Scholarship

NanoSonic offers an annual scholarship to a local high school student interested in science and technology. A college or trade school-bound senior from Narrows High School, Giles High School, Blacksburg High School, Auburn High School, Eastern Montgomery High School or Christiansburg High School in Virginia who has shown exemplary achievement and interest in the field of science and technology will be considered. Students submit a short essay describing their interest, achievements and goals in the science and technology field of study, along with a letter of recommendation from a current or former science or technology teacher.

Scholarship in Science & Technology 2012 (199 kb)
NanoSonic awards an annual scholarship to a college- or trade school-bound senior from Narrows High School, Giles High School, Blacksburg High School, Auburn High School, Eastern Montgomery High School or Christiansburg High School in Virginia. The deadline to apply for 2012 is 25 May 2012.

Patents and Inventions Workbook from WIPO

Inventions and Patents for Kids 2010 (4,547 kb)
From the World Intellectual Property Organization, this 69-page brochure describes patents, inventions and inventors, and provides exercises for students, as well as resources for teachers. It's a great introduction to the world of intellectual property for kids.

5th Grade Science Vocabulary List

Science Vocabulary for Fifth Grade Level (44 kb)
This document lists words that are learned and used in fifth grade science classes in the United States.

Nanotechnology for Students

On March 8, 2012, sixth graders from Macy McClaugherty Elementary/Middle School in Giles County, Virginia, toured our facilities for making self-assembled nanocomposites, and large and small textile production, and learned about fume hoods and other equipment in NanoSonic’s laboratories. ©2012 NanoSonic, Inc. / Liz Gladwin

NanoSonic's Advanced Materials Laboratory director William Harrison teaches local fourth grade students about measurements using the decimal or base-ten system at NanoSonic's laboratories in Virginia. ©2011 NanoSonic, Inc. / Liz Gladwin

Summer School 2011 NanoSonic Michelle Homer

Michelle Homer was one of nine NanoSonic teachers at the Giles County Public Schools’ Gifted Education Program, Summer Exploration 2011. Subjects ranged from how to create materials for NASA to chemistry experiments that allowed them to take home the recipes. ©2011 NanoSonic, Inc. / Melissa Campbell

NanoSonic engineers and scientists - such as Lacy Bush - brought high technology down to the young participants in the Giles County Public Schools’ Summer Exploration 2011 program. Lacy showed the kids how to make "green fire." ©2011 NanoSonic, Inc. / Melissa Campbell

Local home school students learn about nanotechnology during the First Lego League Challenge at NanoSonic in October 2010 as they coat slides using an electrostatic self-assembly (ESA) process. ©2010 Virginian Leader

NanoSonic created a “Nanotechnology School Kit,” based on our demonstrations of nanomaterials, synthesis techniques and material properties for local primary and middle school students. ©2011 NanoSonic, Inc.