Student worksheet: Nanotechnology in Medicine

Part 1: speaking

Discuss questions 1–3 with your partner or group.

1. What do you know about nanotechnology?

2. How can nanotechnology be used in the medical field?
3. What does the prefix nano- mean? Nano: one billionth of the stated unit

Part 2: vocabulary

A. You’re going to read an article about nanomaterials. Before you read, look at the words and
practise saying them. The stressed syllables are in bold.

biomimetic biomimetik
bioactive agent
craniofacial
nanofiber
nanomaterial
nanoparticle
nanosheet
tissue engineering
B. Complete the definitions using words from A.

1. ____________________ : material which is made of extremely tiny particles

2. ____________________ : production of new tissues using biomedical engineering
3. ____________________ :particles of matter that is so small that it cannot be seen by the
naked eye
4. ____________________ : substance that can influence how an organism, cell or tissue
works
5. ____________________ : describes a synthetic method to copy a biological process
6. ____________________ : length of extremely small particles which has very strong
properties
7. ____________________ : layered substance made up of extremely small particles
8. ____________________ : describes the head and neck including the skull, jaws, teeth
and face

Part 3: reading

A. Click the link to read the text. Then answer the questions.

Nanomaterials for Craniofacial and Dental Tissue Engineering

1. What is the text about?

2. Why might tissue engineering be useful for craniofacial injuries or defects?
3. What sort of regeneration do nanoparticles provide a structure for?
4. Nanofibers and nanoparticles make the tissue scaffold stronger so they are useful for
____________________ and ____________________ .
5. What secondary function do nanofibers and nanoparticles perform?
6. Are nanomaterials ready for use?

B. What do you know about these examples of nanotechnology? Discuss your ideas.
 30-minute lesson plan: Nanotechnology in Medicine

Topic: nanotechnology
Timing: 30–40 mins
Lesson Type/Focus: reading and vocabulary
Level: B2-C1

Aims:
• developing topic-specific vocabulary
• reading for detail

Teaching notes and answer key

Part 1: speaking

Put students into pairs or small groups and ask them to discuss questions 1–3 on the student
worksheet. Encourage them to share examples from their own experience.

Do whole class feedback to discuss and share answers.

Suggested answers
1. What do you know about nanotechnology?
Students’ own answers
2. How can nanotechnology be used in the medical field?
Students’ answers may include:
cancer treatment, atherosclerosis treatment, vaccine delivery, tissue engineering, tissue
repair
3. What does the prefix nano- mean?
nano- means one billionth part, from Greek nanos (dwarf): introduced into scientific language
in 1947

Part 2: vocabulary

A. Ask students to look at the list of words. Model the pronunciation and have students say
each one aloud.
Don’t go through the meanings of the words as students are going to look at this in activity B.

B. Have students work in pairs to complete the definitions with words from A.

Go through the answers as a class.

Answers
1. nanomaterial 2. tissue engineering 3. nanoparticles 4. bioactive agent
5. biomimetic 6. nanofiber 7. nanosheet 8. craniofacial
Part 3: reading

A. Have students work individually or in pairs to read the text and answer the questions.
Click the link to access the article.
Nanomaterials for Craniofacial and Dental Tissue Engineering

Go through the answers as a class.

Answers
1. the use of nanotechnology in craniofacial and dental treatment
2. nanoparticles can be used for cell growth and tissue regeneration
3. bones, cartilage and teeth
4. cell attachment, migration
5. they deliver/carry the bioactive agent in bone and tooth regeneration
6. no, the technology is still in infancy

B. Look at the picture together and go through the pronunciation of the words (stressed
syllables in bold in suggested answers below). Have students work in small groups to
discuss what they know about each of the items.

Do whole class feedback to discuss and share answers.

Suggested answers
fullerene: a form of carbon which can be very strong and an excellent heat and electricity
conductor
nanopharmacology: application of nanotechnology to develop better drug delivery methods
nanorobot: also nanobot, machines whose components are on the scale of a nanometre,
they have potential for use as internal monitoring devices
nano-brain: artificial brain which is used to understand diagnosis of brain conditions
nano retina: artificial retina which replaces the function of a diseased retina to improve
quality of life of blind people
nanoelectronics: use of nanotechnology in electronic components
nanocoating: nanoscale thickness covering on the surface of an object
nanocrystalline: having crystalline properties at the nanoscale
DNA nanotechnology: design of artificial nucleic acid for synthetic structures based on DNA
graphene: a very thin, strong material made from a single layer of carbon atoms
airgel: also aerogel, the lightest of solid materials, used as thermal insulator
nano solar panels: type of solar panel coating, reduces cost of panels
nanofiltration: type of membrane filtration device which filters out almost all dissolved solutes
nanotechnology: also nanotech, use of nanoscale matter for industrial purposes
nano sensor: device that measures physical quantities and converts them into signals that
can be analysed, e.g. silicon nanowires in an IV line to monitor organ health
carbon nanotube: cylinders of one or more layers of graphene, e.g. for drug delivery