Educator Guide: Emotional Responses and Nanonoodles

Take a seat, “angel hair” pasta. Scientists just fine-spun the world’s thinnest spaghetti. This nano-noodle recipe calls for modern electrospinning technology blended with creative culinary science — and, of course, a handful of pasta dough. Learn how electrospinning works by comparing the technique to the function of an old-fashioned spinning wheel, at the same time answering questions about polymers and connecting chemistry concepts to textile manufacturing.

Use this activity to have your students collect, graph and analyze anonymous class data about where different emotional responses are felt in their bodies. Then compare the class data with the findings of two recent studies, one collecting modern data and the other drawing on ancient data. To better understand why people experience emotions in different areas of the body, have students explore the physiological chains of emotional responses.