Brenda O'Neal (seated) and Leigh McKenzie (standing, center), both teachers in the Eufaula City School System, are shown working in the lab at UA with chemistry graduate student Roger Campbell (far left) and Dr. Martin Bakker (far right), associate professor of chemistry. Download a high-resolution version

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Brenda O'Neal and Leigh McKenzie, both teachers in the Eufaula City School System, spent their summer at The University of Alabama conducting nanoscience research as part of a summer research program funded by the National Science Foundation through the UA Center for Materials for Information Technology.

The goals of this program are to get materials science topics into the middle school curriculum and to provide an experience that the teachers can take back to their classes in a form that their students can understand.

Nanoscience is the study of objects that are measured on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter or one hundred-thousandth of the diameter of a human hair.

The teachers worked with Dr. Martin Bakker, associate professor of chemistry, and they joined a team of UA researchers working on using detergents to control the structure of materials at the nanometer scale. They learned basic research methods in the synthesis, characterization, and application of these nanostructured materials.

The materials they made are being developed for use in fuel cells and batteries for electric vehicles. This summer's research project utilized the same approach that is used to make mayonnaise and salad dressings, the teachers noted.

The teachers planned to share their research experiences with their students and to show their classes microscope pictures of the materials. The teachers have also been involved in developing computer games to teach middle school students about chemistry and will be taking part in a large study this fall to test the program.