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RESOURCE	GRADE LEVEL	MEDIA TYPE
Atomic Arrangements in Solids This video/animation asks the question "So if the same molecules are in the solid, liquid, and vapor forms of water, why are their properties so different?" The properties of a material are affected not just by the kinds of atom in it, but also by how they are arranged, and how free they are to move around. Forms of carbon are introduced, from graphite to buckyballs.	6-12	Video
Bend, Twist and Break: Beyond the Laboratory Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that when scientists study fracture surfaces from controlled experiments to understand the resulting shapes and features, they can use their understanding to deduce what happened when they were not around to see the material fail or break. Further they can predict what will have to a larger or smaller piece of material under stress. This process is how scientists and engineers translate a lab experiment into a design for an airplane, bridge or even a bike frame.	6-12	Video
Bend, Twist and Break: Breaking Glass Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that researchers learn about the scientific basis for failure of materials by running experiments in the lab, using a simple shape like a glass rod to calculate the strength of material and predict its failure. The same tests can be done at the micro and nano scale using tiny specimens. Students can run a similar experiment with a bar of chocolate.	6-12	Video
Bend, Twist and Break: Fracture Surfaces Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that fracture surfaces can reveal how and why a material has failed. An image of a fracture surface has features or shapes that we can use to understand where a material failed and why. Scientists use an optical microscope or a scanning electron microscope to read a fracture surface at high magnifications, much like we read maps to find our way.	6-12	Video
Bend, Twist and Break: The Bridge Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that the arrangement of atoms in a material determines the properties. He drops an iPod to illustrate how the arrangement of atoms can protect it from damage; he narrates footage of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the 1940s to show how the deformation of materials can cause the collapse of a structure.	6-12	Video
Breaking Things on Purpose *Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!	9-12	Lesson Plan
Building Blocks of Matter Structure of matter.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators and Exciting Materials (HS) In this lesson plan, Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators, and Exciting Materials, high school students learn that heating up a material can rearrange its atoms, and change its properties. The change in the material (a nitinol wire shortens due to heat) activates a lever that exerts force.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators and Exciting Materials (MS) In this lesson plan, Changing Materials Without Touching - Levers, Actuators, and Exciting Materials, middle school students learn that heating up a material can rearrange its atoms, and change its properties. The change in the material (a nitinol wire shortens due to heat) activates a lever that exerts force.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Do Materials Get Tired- Do Rubber Bands Get Longer During Use? (MS) This lesson plan allows students to determine what happens to materials as they get tired. Will rubber bands slowly deform when a constant force or displacement is applied to them?	6-8	Lesson Plan
Do Materials Get Tired? Creep This video explains that materials will deform slowly or “creep” under the right conditions, when constant force is applied. “Strain” is illustrated with rubber bands and we learn that engineers can calculate creep strain as a function of time.	6-12	Video
Do Materials Get Tired? Do Rubber Bands Get Longer During Use? (HS) This lesson plan investigates how materials slowly deform when constant force is applied to them. By testing the strain of weights on rubber bands, students will mimic engineers who measure the maximum stress a material can withstand before it fails.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Do Materials Get Tired? Fatigue This video explains how the strength of a material can be measured in the laboratory and used to design structures, like bikes, airplanes, and even chairs. We see a controlled lab experiment that applies precise force to a paperclip until it breaks.	6-12	Video
Do Materials Get Tired? How Long Will a Paperclip Last? (MS) This lesson plan investigates how materials fail or break under prolonged stress, using paperclips as an example. Engineers run careful experiments so that they can be sure that things will not break due to fatigue while you are using them.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Do Materials Get Tired? How Long will a Paperclip Last? (HS) This lesson plan investigates how materials fail under prolonged stress. By rotating the angle and type of paperclips, students mimic tests done by engineers who make sure that things will not break due to fatigue while you are using them.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Do Materials Get Tired? Intro This video explains matter is made up of atoms that dictate the properties of materials. Mechanical engineers measure the stress a material can take until it breaks. Their ultimate goal is to make a material that will repair itself.	6-12	Video
Electrons in Motion A materials science and engineering professor, Dr. Chris Muhlstein of Penn State University, explains how electrons flowing through a wire can be turned into mechanical work using a motor.	6-12	Video
Fracture Surfaces of Paperclips This video features a Penn State University professor, Dr. Chris Muhlstein, who explains that the fracture surface of a paper clip is a map of how it failed, to a trained eye. He invites us to view a variety of surfaces with a virtual microscope.	6-12	Video
How Hard is Chocolate? Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.	9-12	Lesson Plan
How Structure Can Affect Properties Through Phase Changes Structure-Property Relationships	6-8	Lesson Plan
Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Hard is your Chocolate? Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Strong is your Chocolate? *Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!	6-8	Lesson Plan
Moving Atoms A materials science and engineering professor, Dr. Chris Muhlstein of Penn State University, explains how to rearrange atoms without touching them with your hands.	6-12	Video
Structure-Property Relationships Structure and property changes of water.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Structure and Property Changes of Water Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains the challenge of studying materials that are too small to see with the naked eye. The technique some scientists use to observe individual atoms is similar to the technique of using touch to find out the size, shape, and location of objects in a dark room. By using a very small, sharp sensor, scientists can create an image of atoms.	6-12	Video
The Structure of Materials Structure of matter.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Taking Pictures of Things You Can't See Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains the challenge of studying materials that are too small to see with the naked eye. The technique some scientists use to observe individual atoms is similar to the technique of using touch to find out the size, shape, and location of objects in a dark room. By using a very small, sharp sensor, scientists can create an image of atoms.	6-12	Video
Turning Electricity and Magnetism into Mechanical Work with a Simple Motor (MS) Students will explore what happens at the atomic level when electricity and magnetism interact to create a force. They will watch a video about electrons in motion, build a simple motor, and observe and predict ways to manipulate its operation.	6-8	Lesson Plan
Turning Electricity and Magnetism into Mechanical Work with a Simple Motor (HS) Students will explore what happens at the atomic level when electricity and magnetism interact to create a force. They will watch a video about electrons in motion, build a simple motor, and observe and predict ways to manipulate its operation.	9-12	Lesson Plan
Using Nanoscience to Understand the Properties of Matter Atoms and molecules are the basic units of matter. The properties of matter that you can see and touch are dictated by the kinds of atoms and bonds that make it up. But if atoms are too small to see, how can scientists figure out their properties? The video shows some special tools that allow scientists to take pictures of and make changes to very tiny or nanoscale materials.	6-12	Video
What Holds a Molecule Together? This video/animation illustrates that a molecule is a small group of atoms that is stuck or bonded together with electrons. Dr. Chris Muhlstein introduces the idea of three primary types of bonds: ionic, covalent and metallic; animations show how they form at the atomic level, and give everyday examples	9-12	Video
What is a Molecule? This video/animation shows that a molecule of water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. When oxygen and hydrogen atoms exist alone, their properties are different from the properties they have when they are chemically combined to form a water molecule	6-12	Video
What is Matter? This video/animation defines matter, mass, and volume using water as an example. The size, electrical charge and location of the subatomic particles of matter are described. Different types of atoms are called elements and organized in the periodic table. What happens to the properties of atoms when they exist alone or together?	6-12	Video

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