Science Content Storyline: Simple MachinesBriefly write the content story for the topic: PS2.A Forces and Motion Disciplinary Core Ideas: Each force acts on one particular object and has both strength and a direction. An object at rest typically has multiple forces acting on it, but they add to give zero net force on the object. Forces that do not sum to zero can cause changes in the object’s speed or direction of motion. (3-PS2-1). The patterns of an object’s motion in various situations can be observed and measured; when that past motion exhibits a regular pattern, future motion can be predicted from it.(3-PS2-2)Educational StandardsNGSS: 3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. [Clarification Statement: Examples could include an unbalanced force on one side of a ball can make it start moving; and, balanced forces pushing on a box from both sides will not produce any motion at all.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one variable at a time: number, size,or direction of forces. The assessment does not include quantitative force size, only qualitative and relative. Assessment is limited to gravity being addressed as a force that pulls objects down.]3-PS2-2. Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. [Clarification Statement: Examples of motion with a predictable pattern could include a child swinging in a swing, a ball rolling back and forth in a bowl, and two children on a see-saw.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include technical terms such as period and frequency.]Summary: Machines make work easier. Levers, inclined planes, and pulleys are simple machines that help us to do work. Work is moving something across a distance using force. Force is a push or a pull. Machines help us to do work by reducing the force needed or changing the direction of the force. There is a trade-off between the amount of effort and distance. (You can’t something for nothing!) 

Except where otherwise noted, Clear-Sighted Statistics is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You are free to share derivatives of this work for non-commercial purposes only. Please attribute this work to Edward Volchok.

The Portuguese language lessons of ClicaBrasil highlight aspects of Brazilian culture. They are designed for intermediate to advanced students, but are accessible to everyone. Each lesson includes videos of Brazilians from all walks of life speaking naturally about their lives and their country. All lessons integrate reading, writing, listening and comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, oral communication and cultural activities with the videos. This is also available as a free PDF textbook and as print on demand.

This course explores how citizen science can support community actions to combat climate change. Participants will learn about framing problems, design ways to gather data, gather some of their own field data, and consider how the results can enable action. Leaks in the natural gas system—a major source of methane emissions, and a powerful contributor to climate change—will be a particular focus.
The course was organized by ClimateX and Fossil Free MIT, with support from the National Science Foundation for the methane monitoring equipment. It was offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week January term at MIT.

This course has been designed to help professionals working across multiple disciplines bring a climate change adaptation lens to their current and future projects. 

This course provides a broad overview of issues related to climate change, with an emphasis on those aspects most relevant to computer scientists. Topics include climate science, climate models and simulations, decision-making under uncertainty, economics, mitigation strategies, adaptation strategies, geoengineering, policy-making, messaging, and politics.The course will culminate in a presentation of a research project which might include a paper, a blog, software etc.

We are concurrently experiencing two global crises - the climate crisis and COVID-19. What are connections between the two? Why are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities disproportionately affected by both? This asynchronous Canvas course explores these questions and more. The course includes recordings from two guest speakers. Dr. Isabel Carrera Zamanillo from Stanford University presents on climate justice connections. Dr. Carrie Tzou, Professor and Director of the Goodlad Institute for Educational Renewal at UW Bothell, shares strategies and instructional resources for teaching about COVID-19. 

This resource shares all of the documents and planning guidance for the Washington Climate Educator Book Club, which is part of the greater ClimeTime community.  The Book Club’s book study is designed to flexibly support teams of interdisciplinary K–12 educators, from schools and districts across Washington, to explore ways climate education can be integrated into all classrooms.

The primary goal of these resources and programming, created as part of a larger initiative to expand climate justice education at MIT, is to provide support to faculty members and instructors across disciplines in integrating climate justice content and related instructional approaches into their courses.
Funded by the Alumni Class Funds Grant, the Toolkit houses a wide range of climate-justice-adaptable teaching modules, a starter guide for teaching climate justice, resources for students, and climate justice data sets that can serve as supportive tools to enhance teaching content and approaches.

This course introduces students to climate studies, including beginnings of the solar system, time scales, and climate in human history. It is offered to both undergraduate and graduate students with different requirements.

Grounded in the belief that students need to explore climate change for themselves, the high school-level Climate Project course from the OER Project equips students with the knowledge and skills to take action. The course aims to understand the climate crisis by examining facts, impacts, and solutions, fostering civic action, education, and career readiness, and promoting constructive discussion. Through an inquiry-based approach, students interrogate diverse sources, build data and digital literacy skills, and engage with timely materials. Flexible in design, the course can be taught as a comprehensive semester program or through standalone lessons, culminating in projects ranging from climate-focused careers to community civic action.

This course provides strategies and resources students can apply to their current, and ongoing, knowledge of a given science topic using the Science and Engineering Practice of Modeling and Student Explanations.

This course is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards K - 12. It promotes the use of the Crosscutting Concepts to improve student sense-making.

This Workbook is designed to be used by college faculty and secondary school science teachers. To teach our students and also to share this knowledge with the public and be credible, science teachers at all levels must acquire a good grasp of the science of climate change and must also develop skills for affecting attitudes in and out of the classroom.

The goal of this site is to summarize the most important lines of evidence for human-caused climate change. It confronts the stickier questions about uncertainty in our projections, engages in a discussion of risk and risk management, and concludes by presenting different options for taking action. This site sticks to the facts and does not get into politics. We hope that the facts prepare you for more effective conversations with your community about values, trade-offs, politics, and actions.

The goal of the Climate Primer website is to summarize the most important lines of evidence for human-caused climate change. It confronts the stickier questions about uncertainty in our projections, engages in a discussion of risk and risk managment, and concludes by presenting different options for taking action. We hope that the facts prepare you for more effective conversations with your community about values, trade-offs, politics, and actions.
In March 2024, the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative launched the first major update to the Climate Primer. The updated Primer includes more precise estimates of future global warming and its effects on global temperatures and extreme weather events, important advances in climate modeling, new actions taken around the world to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and the latest data about the pace at which clean energy and other critical climate solutions are being deployed. Read more about the update on the MIT Environmental Solutions website.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of how the human brain works in health and disease, and is intended for both the Brain and Cognitive Sciences major and the non-Brain and Cognitive Sciences major. Knowledge of how the human brain works is important for all citizens, and the lessons to be learned have enormous implications for public policy makers and educators.
The course will cover the regional anatomy of the brain and provide an introduction to the cellular function of neurons, synapses and neurotransmitters. Commonly used drugs that alter brain function can be understood through a knowledge of neurotransmitters. Along similar lines, common diseases that illustrate normal brain function will be discussed. Experimental animal studies that reveal how the brain works will be reviewed.
Throughout the seminar we will discuss clinical cases from Dr. Byrne’s experience that illustrate brain function; in addition, articles from the scientific literature will be discussed in each class.

In this pathway you will learn how to use productivity and collaboration tools, such as GoogleDocs, GoogleSheets, and GoogleSlides to create word processing documents, spreadsheets, surveys and forms such as personal budgets and invitations.

Is your understanding of Cloud GIS a bit hazy? Does thinking about it leave you in a fog? We've designed GEOG 865, Cloud and Server GIS, to help you understand how all of the various pieces of architecture fit together. By the end of the class you'll have a clear understanding of esri's and others' offerings in the space, how to implement ArcGIS Enterprise on Amazon EC2, make online maps with Carto and Mapbox, and engage in some blue sky thinking of your own in our weekly discussions about trends and directions.

Has your attention recently been caught by news of coastal catastrophes such as hurricanes and tsunamis? Do you wonder why so many coastal communities in the world are vulnerable to flooding and other coastal hazards? Have you considered what coastal flood protections cities like Houston and Miami will need in the future to protect their residents? This course will provide a better understanding of these phenomena. We present a global perspective of coastal landscapes, the geologic processes responsible for their formation, and ways that society responds to hazards like sea level rise and catastrophic weather events. You will participate in active learning exercises such as analyzing real-world datasets and applying critical thinking to real-world societal problems while investigating a coastal community.