Classifying Shells – Teaching Teachers Lara A. Estroff, Cornell University, DMR 0845212

1. Insight into Structure of Mollusk Shell Components: Swiss-Cheese-like Single CrystalsLara A. Estroff, Cornell University, DMR 0845212 C) A) The outer layer of many mollusk shells is composed of mineral prisms embedded within an organic matrix (A and B). Analysis of these structures has shown that up to several weight percent of large organic molecules are trapped within the single crystals. The nanoscale, internal structure of these materials, however, is poorly understood. We recently used state-of-the-art imaging techniques to reveal, for the first time, how the organic macromolecules are distributed within the prisms (C). The structural features elucidated in this work have relevance to understanding the structure-property relationships and formation mechanisms of biominerals, as well as to the development of bio-inspired strategies to extrinsically tune the properties of single-crystals. B)

2. Classifying Shells – Teaching Teachers Lara A. Estroff, Cornell University, DMR 0845212 In May 2011, Miki Kunitake (graduate student) participated in a workshop for K-12 teachers in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He presented a lesson plan on classification to ~70 intermediate school teachers. Using his research on mollusk shells as the starting point, he and Prof. Estroff developed a lesson plan based on classification of sea shells based upon shape, structure, and function. This lesson plan was also translated into Spanish and distributed to all participants. Graduate student, Miki Kunitake, working on the shell classification lesson plan with middle school teachers in Puerto Rico.