We plan to facilitate several engineering lessons that requires students to design, build ROV controllers, calculate weight, underwater thrust and buoyancy.
This lesson focuses on the biggest problem faced by any young programmer - i.e. the LOGIC BUILDING required while solving a particular problem. With programming, the solution to a particular problem lies in the head, but one is unable to convert it into a computer program. This is because the thought processes of a human are much faster than the sense of observation. If this thought process could be slowed down, logic to solve a programming problem could be found very easily. This lesson focuses on converting this psychological thought process in a step-by -step logic fashion that a computer program can understand. This lesson is recorded in a kitchen where the basic programming concepts are taught by giving examples from the process of making a mango milk shake. This lesson teaches the 4 following techniques: 1) Swapping two variables by swapping a glass of milk with a glass of crushed ice; 2) Finding max from an array by finding the biggest mango; 3) Sorting an array by arranging the jars; and 4) Understanding the concept of a function, parameters and return type by comparing it with the blender/juicer. The lesson targets those students who know the syntax of programming in any language (C or GWBASIC preferred), but are unable to build the logic for a program. It can be taught in a class of 45 to 50 minutes.
This lesson is also available in Mandarin Chinese.
The Girls Who Build Cameras workshop for high school girls is a one-day, hands-on introduction to camera physics and technology (i.e. how Instagram works!) at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Beaverworks Center. The workshop includes tearing down old dSLR cameras, building a Raspberry Pi camera, and designing Instagram filters and Photoshop tools. Participants also get to listen to keynote speakers from the camera technology industry, including Kris Clark who engineers space cameras for NASA and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and Uyanga Tsedev who creates imaging probes to help surgeons find tumors at MIT
The Girls Who Build: Make Your Own Wearables workshop for high school girls is an introduction to computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering through wearable technology. The workshop, developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory, consists of two major hands-on projects in manufacturing and wearable electronics. These include 3D printing jewelry and laser cutting a purse, as well as programming LEDs to light up when walking. Participants learn the design process, 3D computer modeling, and machine shop tools, in addition to writing code and building a circuit.
The sizes and distances of things in space are awe-inspiring, but hard to fathom. Things that are unimaginably massive can look tiny to us from Earth, and things that appear very large to us may be among the smallest in the sky. Although students can learn names and features of objects in the night sky, scale is one of the biggest stumbling blocks they need to overcome to actually understand what they’re looking at and to understand astronomy in general. But students have lots of daily life experience with bigger things looking smaller because of relative distance (and visa versa). How Big & How Far takes this experience of observing relative sizes and distances here on Earth and challenges students to apply it to night sky objects.
In this Night Sky Activity, the group measures how many fists tall a volunteer is. Then, students scatter and measure again, this time with outstretched fists and with much smaller and varied measurements. Students discuss how the distance you are from an object can make it appear larger or smaller. This activity sets them up to apply this idea afterwards as they observe night sky objects and attempt to better understand the actual sizes of the objects they see.
A lesson plan for 4th grade science. Kids create a version of the marble roll project to simulate a manufacturing process.
Subject studies how and why machines work, how they are conceived, how they are developed (drawn), and how they are utilized. Students learn from the hands-on experiences of taking things apart mentally and physically, drawing (sketching, 3D CAD) what they envision and observe, taking occasional field trips, and completing an individual term project (concept, creation, and presentation). Emphasis on understanding the physics and history of machines.
Students will design a car that is powered by air and write a resource book article on how they did it
Interview an Organism gives students the opportunity to enter the world of an organism. Students slow down and have a “conversation” with an organism of their choosing, asking questions that can be answered through more observation while paying attention to its surroundings and the scale of its world. It helps take students to a “next level” of observing and questioning as they learn to ask themselves questions that lead them to make deeper observations. In the process, they get to know their chosen organism.
In this Exploration Routine, students search for interesting organisms and observe them. Each pair of students chooses an organism to study, comes up with questions about the organism’s appearance and structures, while attempting to answer each one through observations. Then they move on to more probing questions about the organism’s behavior, ecosystem, and relationships to other organisms. Afterwards, students share with other pairs and then with the whole group.
This is a fast-paced introductory course to the C++ programming language. It is intended for those with little programming background, though prior programming experience will make it easier, and those with previous experience will still learn C++-specific constructs and concepts.
This course is an introduction to software engineering, using the Java™ programming language. It covers concepts useful to 6.005. Students will learn the fundamentals of Java. The focus is on developing high quality, working software that solves real problems.
The aim of this video lesson is to teach students about the different topologies of computer networks and how they function. The approach that is used is highly correlated with common knowledge about weddings and the local Malay culture associated with weddings. Students should be able to relate the act of delivering food to a large crowd of people to the basic principles of network topologies and the method of data transfer within each type of topology. The lesson will begin in a classroom with students working in small groups, answering assigned questions. Teaching aids such as color cards will be used. One student from each group will be appointed as the wedding event manager, and she/he will have to discuss and act out with group members in order to answer more challenging questions. At the end of the lesson, students will be asked to come up with their own version of a hybrid computer network topology. The lesson concept taught here not only educates students on computer topologies, but also introduces students to an important cultural perspective of Malaysia. Above all, this video is designed to assist students with their study of Computer Literacy in schools. The lesson will take up to 60 minutes to complete. Materials needed include: 10 red cards representing waitresses; 10 green cards representing waiters; 10 blue cards representing tables in the hall; a sketch book; and classroom tables and chairs.
Consistent housing is a continual issue for our community, evidence of this is readily observable in the neighborhoods surrounding our classrooms. Over the course of 15 classroom hours, students will be exploring how they can insulate structures to protect from extreme hot and extreme cold using recycled and/or repurposed materials.
Students will make observations and collect data related to temperature. Student findings will be communicated through science journals, student generated models (charts, 3D structures, drawings, etc.).
LEGO® robotics uses LEGO®s as a fun tool to explore robotics, mechanical systems, electronics, and programming. This seminar is primarily a lab experience which provides students with resources to design, build, and program functional robots constructed from LEGO®s and a few other parts such as motors and sensors.
This course introduces the fundamentals of machine tool and computer tool use. Students work with a variety of machine tools including the bandsaw, milling machine, and lathe. Instruction given on MATLAB®, MAPLE®, XESS™, and CAD. Emphasis is on problem solving, not programming or algorithmic development.
As students are learning about substances, mixtures, and solutions, they will participate in several experiments that involve chemical reactions using regular household products. Some experiments will produce gas or create something that will grow. Students will work in groups of 2-3 students to make a car move using the result of a chemical reaction from combining two or more household substances. They will present their project to the class.
A collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the CK-12 Foundation, this book provides high school mathematics and physics teachers with an introduction to the main principles of modeling and simulation used in science and engineering. An appendix of lesson plans is included.
In this Night Sky Activity, students use a simple indoor Earth-Moon-Sun model to explore and learn about Moon phases and eclipses. Many children (and adults) have misconceptions about what causes the phases of the Moon, and helping them confront those misconceptions with evidence makes this activity pretty enthralling. While it’s pretty easy to see the phases of the Moon in the sky, it’s not possible from our perspective to observe the entire system, which often leads to inaccurate explanations of what’s going on, most commonly that Moon phases are caused by Earth’s shadow. It’s a perfect situation to use a scientific model. Students are challenged to use the model to struggle to figure out, develop understanding of, and explain the phases of the Moon, discuss ideas with others, then adjust their ideas based on evidence from the model. This activity usually includes a lot of big, “aha’s!” as participants encounter evidence while using the model that often contradicts what they previously thought was going on.
The focus of this unit is to introduce the concepts of force and motion. Specifically this unit will address the forces of push, pull, gravity, and work. It also introduces students to the concepts of friction and slope. The unit begins with an introduction to the scientific method and addresses the differences between scientists and engineers. Students will be both scientists and engineers while completing this unit.
Students work to build a dam that protects Salmon (fish) on the McKenzie River while creating hydroelectric power.