TryEngineering: Be A Scanning Probe Microscope

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published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
supported by the International Business Machines

This lesson suggests a physical model to explore how scanning probe microscopes work to "see" nanoscale samples and translate the data into a 3D image. The lesson opens with background information about scanning probe and atomic force microscopes. Next, blindfolds are applied and learners use only the tip of a pencil to explore and identify the shape of objects they cannot see, just as the SPM does at the nano level. The driving question of the lesson: How do scientists measure the surface of objects that are too small to see?

This lesson follows a module format that includes student guides, recommended reading, illustrated procedures, worksheets, and background information about the engineering connections. This collection is part of TryEngineering.org, a website maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

See Related Materials for links to high-quality animated tutorials of scanning probe microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

https://tryengineering.org/teacher/be-scanning-probe-microscope/

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Practices - Active Learning = Modeling General Physics - Equipment = Electronic Equipment Modern Physics - Atomic Physics = Atomic Models - Nanoscience	- High School - Middle School	- Instructional Material = Activity = Instructor Guide/Manual = Laboratory = Lesson/Lesson Plan = Problem/Problem Set = Student Guide - Audio/Visual = Image/Image Set

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Physical Science - Physics First - Conceptual Physics	- Lesson Plan - Activity - Laboratory - Assessment - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Educator
Learner
Formats:: text/html
application/ms-word
application/pdf
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2012 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Keywords:: AFM model, SPM model, applied physics, engineering activity, engineering lessons, microscopy, microscopy model, nanoscale microscopy, nanoscale science, probe microscopes, probing microscopes
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created July 26, 2012 by Gnana Subramaniam
Record Updated:: August 10, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: July 26, 2012

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

3. The Nature of Technology

3A. Technology and Science

6-8: 3A/M2. Technology is essential to science for such purposes as access to outer space and other remote locations, sample collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage, computation, and communication of information.

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter

6-8: 4D/M1a. All matter is made up of atoms, which are far too small to see directly through a microscope.
9-12: 4D/H8. The configuration of atoms in a molecule determines the molecule's properties. Shapes are particularly important in how large molecules interact with others.

8. The Designed World

8B. Materials and Manufacturing

9-12: 8B/H4. Increased knowledge of the properties of particular molecular structures helps in the design and synthesis of new materials for special purposes.

11. Common Themes

11B. Models

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: 11B/H5. The behavior of a physical model cannot ever be expected to represent the full-scale phenomenon with complete accuracy, not even in the limited set of characteristics being studied. The inappropriateness of a model may be related to differences between the model and what is being modeled.

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