Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi im doing a project in nanotechnology. my topic is Good Stewardship towards nanotechnology, at the moment im struggling witha point of departure. how do i start? please assist

Hi,

I'm not sure what you mean by stewardship--safe and responsible use of nanomaterials? Are you interested in a certain type of nanomaterial like carbon nanofibers or tubes? Here's the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy statement on evaluating nanomaterials for safety and toxicity: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/index.html

What questions were you thinking about asking? How safe nanomaterials are to animals like fish? Where do nanomaterials end up in the environment after air or water contamination? How to protect factory workers from potentially harmful nanomaterials? What are the effects of long-term exposure to nanoparticles?

There are a lot of things you can do with a project on nanotechnology, but you did not supply us with any information about where YOU want to go with it, so we can't advise you. Do some more reading about nanotech, think about it and repost with your project ideas and SPECIFIC details about hypothesis and methods. Scibuddies has a good tutorial on how to develop an interesting, workable science project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

Get back to us and we'll guide you in creating a great project.

Sybee

Hello there,

I also agree with SciB that it would be more helpful to us and for you if you let us know what the main question of your project is, what the hypothesis you're trying to test is, and what experimental procedure you are planning to use. I'd like to add that when coming up with a question, keep in mind what is feasible to answer given the equipment to which you have access. It's completely fine if you don't know whether a question you find interesting is feasible or not--just post back and all the experts will try to help you! But for example, if you are doing this project in a high school lab, you have to consider what you have available to you for doing experiments. On the other hand, if you are able to get help from a local university lab, then you may be able to attack questions that require more sophisticated methods.

Do some more research on your topic--it will really help you brainstorm ideas. Post back if you have any questions and we'd be happy to help and discuss with you!

Connie