Students take a hands-on look at the design of bridge piers (columns). First they brainstorm types of loads that might affect a Colorado bridge. Then they determine the maximum possible load for that scenario, and calculate the cross-sectional area of a column designed to support that load. Choosing from clay, foam or marshmallows, they create model columns and test their calculations.

they create original designs from boxes made of materials now, communication tools are made and students make drama with the communication tools they make.

After reading the story "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Cleary, student groups create alarm systems to protect something in the classroom, just as the main character Leigh does to protect his lunchbox from thieves. Students learn about alarms and use their creativity to devise multi-step alarm systems to protect their lockers, desk, pets or classroom door. Note: This activity can also be done without reading the Cleary book.

This book is about how to read, use, and create maps. Our exploration of maps will be informed by a contextual understanding of how maps reflect the relationship between society and technology, and how mapping is an essential form of scientific and artistic inquiry. We will also explore how mapping is used to address a variety of societal issues, such as land use planning and political gerrymandering. You will gain insight into the technical underpinnings of mapping as a science approach, complement on-going interest and activities, or provide an applied focus for research or policy.

The past decade has seen an explosion of new mechanisms for understanding and using location information in widely-accessible technologies. This Geospatial Revolution has resulted in the development of consumer GPS tools, interactive web maps, and location-aware mobile devices. This course brings together core concepts in cartography, geographic information systems, and spatial thinking with real-world examples to provide the fundamentals necessary to engage with Geographic Information Science. We explore what makes spatial information special, how spatial data is created, how spatial analysis is conducted, and how to design maps so that they're effective at telling the stories we wish to share. To gain experience using this knowledge, we work with the latest mapping and analysis software to explore geographic problems.

Based on their experience exploring the Mars rover Curiosity and learning about what engineers must go through to develop a vehicle like Curiosity, students create Android apps that can control LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots, simulating the difficulties the Curiosity rover could encounter. The activity goal is to teach students programming design and programming skills using MIT's App Inventor software as the vehicle for the learning. The (free to download) App Inventor program enables Android apps to be created using building blocks without having to actually know a programming language. At activity end, students are ready to apply what they learn to write other applications for Android devices.

Students investigate the materials properties such as acoustical absorptivity, light reflectivity, thermal conductivity, hardness, and water resistance of various materials. They use sound, light and temperature sensors to collect data on various materials. They practice making design decisions about what materials would be best to use for specific purposes and projects, such as designing houses in certain environments to meet client requirements. After testing, they use the provided/tested materials to design and build model houses to meet client specifications.

Four full-year digital course, built from the ground up and fully-aligned to the Common Core State Standards, for 7th grade Mathematics. Created using research-based approaches to teaching and learning, the Open Access Common Core Course for Mathematics is designed with student-centered learning in mind, including activities for students to develop valuable 21st century skills and academic mindset.

Zooming In On Figures

Unit Overview

Type of Unit: Concept; Project

Length of Unit: 18 days and 5 days for project

Prior Knowledge

Students should be able to:

Find the area of triangles and special quadrilaterals.
Use nets composed of triangles and rectangles in order to find the surface area of solids.
Find the volume of right rectangular prisms.
Solve proportions.

Lesson Flow

After an initial exploratory lesson that gets students thinking in general about geometry and its application in real-world contexts, the unit is divided into two concept development sections: the first focuses on two-dimensional (2-D) figures and measures, and the second looks at three-dimensional (3-D) figures and measures.
The first set of conceptual lessons looks at 2-D figures and area and length calculations. Students explore finding the area of polygons by deconstructing them into known figures. This exploration will lead to looking at regular polygons and deriving a general formula. The general formula for polygons leads to the formula for the area of a circle. Students will also investigate the ratio of circumference to diameter ( pi ). All of this will be applied toward looking at scale and the way that length and area are affected. All the lessons noted above will feature examples of real-world contexts.
The second set of conceptual development lessons focuses on 3-D figures and surface area and volume calculations. Students will revisit nets to arrive at a general formula for finding the surface area of any right prism. Students will extend their knowledge of area of polygons to surface area calculations as well as a general formula for the volume of any right prism. Students will explore the 3-D surface that results from a plane slicing through a rectangular prism or pyramid. Students will also explore 3-D figures composed of cubes, finding the surface area and volume by looking at 3-D views.
The unit ends with a unit examination and project presentations.

Students will resume their project and decide on dimensions for their buildings. They will use scale to calculate the dimensions and areas of their model buildings when full size. Students will also complete a Self Check in preparation for the Putting It Together lesson.Key ConceptsThe first part of the project is essentially a review of the unit so far. Students will find the area of a composite figure—either a polygon that can be broken down into known areas, or a regular polygon. Students will also draw the figure using scale and find actual lengths and areas.GoalsRedraw a scale drawing at a different scale.Find measurements using a scale drawing.Find the area of a composite figure.SWD: Consider what supplementary materials may benefit and support students with disabilities as they work on this project:Vocabulary resource(s) that students can reference as they work:List of formulas, with visual supports if appropriateClass summaries or lesson artifacts that help students to recall and apply newly introduced skillsChecklists of expectations and steps required to promote self-monitoring and engagementModels and examplesStudents with disabilities may take longer to develop a solid understanding of newly introduced skills and concepts. They may continue to require direct instruction and guided practice with the skills and concepts relating to finding area and creating and interpreting scale drawings. Check in with students to assess their understanding of newly introduced concepts and plan review and reinforcement of skills as needed.ELL: As academic vocabulary is reviewed, be sure to repeat it and allow students to repeat after you as needed. Consider writing the words as they are being reviewed. Allow enough time for ELLs to check their dictionaries if they wish.

Students further explore scale, taking a scale drawing floor plan and redrawing it at a different scale.Key ConceptsStudents explore change from one scale to another, focusing on the ratios. Students will draw a scale model of a house.GoalsRedraw a scale drawing at a different scale.Find measurements using a scale drawing.

This resource provides a variety of information and activities that teachers may like to use with their students to explore the Islamic Middle East collections at the V&A. It can be used to support learning in Maths and Art. Included in this resource are sections on:

Principles of Islamic art and design
Pre-visit activities
Activities to do in the museum
Activities to do back at school
Islamic art explores the geometric systems that depend upon the regular division of the circle and the study of Islamic art increases appreciation and understanding of geometry. The use of these geometric systems creates a harmony among Islamic decorative arts and architecture, which is consistent with the Islamic belief that all creation is harmoniously interrelated.

Approaching an abstract subject in a concrete way provides a means of extending maths into other curriculum areas. The context of the Museum expands and enriches students' appreciation of the application of geometry in a cultural context and develops the sense of different cultural identities. Students have the opportunity to become familiar with the relationship between geometry and design and this can give confidence to students who have never seen themselves as 'good at art'.

Students play the role of engineers as they test, design and build Mentos(TM) fountains a dramatic example of how potential energy (stored energy) can be converted to kinetic energy (motion). They are challenged to work together as a class to optimize the design of the basic soda/candy geyser made by the teacher. To do this, three research teams each investigate how a different variable nozzle shape, soda temperature, number of candies affects fountain height. They devise and run experimental tests to determine the best variable values. Then they combine their results to design the highest fountain to compete head-to-head with the teacher's geyser design.

Driving Question: How can we as 7th grade math students use surface area to make a mug that retains heat for the longest amount of time possible?

The main objective of 1.054/1.541 is to provide students with a rational basis of the design of reinforced concrete members and structures through advanced understanding of material and structural behavior. This course is offered to undergraduate (1.054) and graduate students (1.541). Topics covered include: Strength and Deformation of Concrete under Various States of Stress; Failure Criteria; Concrete Plasticity; Fracture Mechanics Concepts; Fundamental Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Structural Systems and their Members; Basis for Design and Code Constraints; High-performance Concrete Materials and their use in Innovative Design Solutions; Slabs: Yield Line Theory; Behavior Models and Nonlinear Analysis; and Complex Systems: Bridge Structures, Concrete Shells, and Containments.
Professor Oral Buyukozturk thanks Tzu-Yang Yu, a graduate student at MIT, for his valuable assistance in preparing course documents.

Mechatronic system design deals with the design of controlled motion systems by the integration of functional elements from a multitude of disciplines. It starts with thinking how the required function can be realised by the combination of different subsystems according to a Systems Engineering approach (V-model).

Some supporting disciplines, like power-electronics and electromechanics, are not part of the BSc program of mechanical engineers. For this reason this course introduces these disciplines in connection with PID-motion control principles to realise an optimally designed motion system.
The target application for the lectures are motion systems that combine high speed movements with extreme precision.
The course covers the following four main subjects:

Dynamics of motion systems in the time and frequency domain, including analytical frequency transfer functions that are represented in Bode and Nyquist plots.
Motion control with PID-feedback and model-based feed forward control-principles that effectively deal with the mechanical dynamic anomalies of the plant.
Electromechanical actuators, mainly based on the electromagnetic Lorentz principle. Reluctance force and piezoelectric actuators will be shortly presented to complete the overview.
Power electronics that are used for driving electromagnetic actuators.
The fifth relevant discipline, position measurement systems is dealt with in another course: WB2303, Electronics and measurement.
The most important educational element that will be addressed is the necessary knowledge of the physical phenomena that act on motion systems, to be able to critically judge results obtained with simulation software.
The lectures challenge the capability of students to match simulation models with reality, to translate a real system into a sufficiently simplified dynamic model and use the derived dynamic properties to design a suitable, practically realiseable controller.
This course increases the understanding what a position control system does in reality in terms of virtual mechanical properties like stiffness and damping that are added to the mechanical plant by a closed loop feedback controller.

It is shown how a motion system can be analysed and modelled top-down with approximating (scalar) calculations by hand, giving a sufficient feel of the problem to make valuable concept design decisions in an early stage.
With this method students learn to work more efficiently by starting their design with a quick and dirty global analysis to prove feasibility or direct further detailed modelling in specific problem areas.

This course is an introduction to designing mechatronic systems, which require integration of the mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines within a unified framework. There are significant laboratory-based design experiences. Topics covered in the course include: Low-level interfacing of software with hardware; use of high-level graphical programming tools to implement real-time computation tasks; digital logic; analog interfacing and power amplifiers; measurement and sensing; electromagnetic and optical transducers; control of mechatronic systems.

This workshop explores the potential of media technology and the Internet to enhance communication and transform city design and community development in inner-city neighborhoods. The class introduces a variety of methods for describing or representing a place and its residents, for simulating actions and changes, for presenting visions of the future, and for engaging multiple actors in the process of envisioning change and guiding action. Students will engage one neighborhood, meet real people working on real projects, put theory into practice, and reflect on insights gained in the process.
This year the course will examine what it means to be an urban designer/planner and how to create a digital teaching tool (using digital storytelling) that supports others in learning about the relationship between design and planning professionals, on the one hand, and members of the communities they serve, on the other. What is the nature of the knowledge that resides in a community and how can designers and planners learn about, tap, and use that knowledge? What is the relationship between community organizing and urban design and planning? What are the relationships between you as a professional, the place(s) in which you work, and the values and care you bring to that work?
We will explore these themes in the context of Camfield Estates in Lower Roxbury, MA and its participation in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Demonstration Disposition Project. There have been many stories written about Camfield Estates’ participation in the Demonstration Disposition project, for it has been widely regarded as a model of success. There are two stories that have not yet been told, however: the story of the residents who organized the community and the story of the architects and planners who participated in the project. This course will use digital storytelling to reconstruct and connect these two stories.

In this course students create digital visual images and analyze designs from historical and theoretical perspectives with an emphasis on art and design, examining visual experience in broad terms, and from the perspectives of both creators and viewers. The course addresses key topics such as: image making as a cognitive and perceptual practice, the production of visual significance and meaning, and the role of technology in creating and understanding digitally produced images. Students will be given design problems growing out of their reading and present solutions using technologies such as the Adobe Creative Suite and/or similar applications.