LEGO bricks can be used for a number of demonstrations of chemical structures and properties, especially at the nanoscale level. These bricks can also be used to model instrumentation that probes these structures and properties. Detailed resources about many of these demonstrations are located on the extensive Web site “Exploring the Nanoworld with LEGO Bricks” at . This article describes the major features of the Web site, some of the site history and recent additions, and some related efforts that have had origins in this site.

FriXion erasable pens contain thermochromic inks that have colored lowtemperature forms and colorless high-temperature forms. Liquid nitrogen can be used to kinetically trap the high-temperature forms of the ink at temperatures at which ordinarily the low-temperature forms are more thermodynamically stable.

Plastic water bottles are convenient containers for demonstrations of gas properties illustrating Boyle’s law, Charles’s law, and Avogadro’s law. The contents of iron-based disposable hand warmer packets can be used to remove oxygen gas from the air within an unfilled plastic water bottle.