• 9-12: 3A/H1. Technological problems and advances often create a demand for new scientific knowledge, and new technologies make it possible for scientists to extend their research in new ways or to undertake entirely new lines of research. The very availability of new technology itself often sparks scientific advances.

• 6-8: 11B/M1. Models are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly. They are also used for processes that are too vast, too complex, or too dangerous to study.

• 9-12: 12B/H7. Trace the source of any large disparity between an estimate and the calculated answer.

• 11D (9-12) #2.  Because different properties are not affected to the same degree by changes in scale, large changes in scale typically change the way that things work in physical, biological, or social systems.

• 12B (9-12) #6.  Express and compare very small and very large numbers using powers-of-ten notation.

Just how small IS the "nanoscale"? The challenge in this activity is: cut a piece of paper in half as many times as you can until you reach 10 nanometers wide. Students first predict how many times they will have to cut the paper, then they start cutting. They may do actual measuring or use a calculator. Editor's Note: Of course, no one will be able to cut the paper this small. Expect students to gain appreciation of just how small 10 nanometers is.

• Physical Sciences K-8 Teaching Nanoscale Science Unit
• Physics First Teaching Nanoscale Science Unit
• Conceptual Physics Teaching Nanoscale Science Unit