Resources are available to help educators teach nanotechnology topics and find curriculum materials for their classes, including published journal articles, video lectures, laboratory experiment procedures and in-person workshops. Educational materials shared by individual scientists and educators, nanotechnology research centers and professional organizations cover many fields of nanotechnology and all levels of education, both formal and informal. This article reviews these resources with the purpose of increasing their visibility and encouraging their use.

A two-week experiment is presented in which students can observe the impact of nanoparticles on the concentration of chlorophyll in plants. First-year students in an introductory nanotechnology laboratory course and a general chemistry laboratory course synthesized silver nanoparticles and then exposed stalks of Egeria densa (E. densa), a common waterweed, to the nanoparticle solution for 1 week. In the following session, students extracted chlorophyll from the plants and measured its concentration using a visible spectrometer. Compared to other, similar lab activities, this experiment generates a lower amount of waste, requires a shorter duration of plant growth, and involves the measurement of chemical species in order to determine the toxicological effects of nanomaterials. Additional ideas are discussed for implementing the experiment in high school, general chemistry, and other courses.