DIY Nano
By Dana Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Spark big interest in tiny things on this super science app.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
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DIY Nano
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What’s It About?
Kids can tap on well-categorized, labeled videos to watch them (each just a few minutes long), or choose from 15 activities or experiments on DIY NANO. The activities and experiments each include a materials list (some items may be more complicated to acquire and messier than others), instructions, and detailed explanations of why they do what they do. Kids can also visit Whatisnano.org from within the app for even more nanotechnology-related information. Through email or AirPrint, users can share a PDF of an activity.
Is It Any Good?
Kids can gain real enthusiasm for all things nano by watching the informative, sometimes funny, videos and doing the activities on DIY Nano. This ingenious, uncluttered, easy-to-use app can help kids understand how tiny things act differently and can be very helpful to humans and nature in ways that are so much easier to understand than one would think of words like "nanotechnology engineering." From videos about nanocoatings and talking about a billionth of a meter to experiments about how gummy shapes are built via chemistry, this app is hugely interesting. The only small critique is that many of the ingredients or tools needed for the experiments aren't typically found in the average home. Still, DIY Nano is simply an excellent app about a complex topic for kids of a wide age span.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Help your kids choose the experiment or activity that looks most interesting to them and then gather the necessary ingredients, objects, and tools.
Reinforce the messages of how tiny things can change our everyday lives by pointing out nanotechnology in everyday items, like cooking, sports, or art materials.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Subjects: Science: engineering, biology, chemistry, gravity, measurement, substance properties, Language & Reading: following directions, vocabulary
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: applying information, investigation, part-whole relationships, Creativity: innovation
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: January 28, 2015
- Category: Education
- Topics: STEM
- Publisher: The Lawrence Hall of Science
- Version: 1.3
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 5.0 or later
- Last updated: February 13, 2020
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