This is a seminar course that explores the history of selected features of the physical environment of urban America. Among the features considered are parks, cemeteries, tenements, suburbs, zoos, skyscrapers, department stores, supermarkets, and amusement parks. The course gives students experience in working with primary documentation sources through its selection of readings and class discussions. Students then have the opportunity to apply this experience by researching their own historical questions and writing a term paper.

An intensive nine day remote collaborative workshop involving MIT and Miyagi University in Japan. The objective is to develop a small housing project using shape computation as a design methodology. Students will use and test new interactive software for designing, sharing applications with overseas partners, presenting projects on an Internet workspace, and critiquing design proposals through the web and other advanced digital technologies. Students will be expected to do most of their work in class.

In the exploration of ways to use solar energy, students investigate the thermal energy storage capacities of different test materials to determine which to use in passive solar building design.

This seminar focuses on downtowns in U.S. cities from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. Emphasis will be placed on downtown as an idea, place, and cluster of interests; on the changing character of downtown; and on recent efforts to rebuild it. Subjects to be considered will include subways, skyscrapers, highways, urban renewal, and retail centers. The focus will be on readings, discussions, and individual research projects.

Building design strongly influences the quantity of heating, cooling and electricity needed during building operation. Therefore, a correct thermal design is essential to achieve low energy and low carbon buildings, with good indoor air quality.

This course will enable you to understand the basic principles of the energy chain: demand, supply and distribution; and how they relate to design principles for sustainable and energy-efficient buildings.

Second, you will discover what type of heat losses and gains take place in buildings’ operations. You will learn how to estimate these flows using simple meteorological data and construction properties. You will acquire knowledge on how to estimate heat transfer through construction, ventilation, solar radiation or caused by internal sources or heat storage in the construction.

Third, you will learn to make estimates of buildings’ energy needs on an hourly basis by using simple static energy balances: how much energy comes in and out and which air temperature is needed? When is there heating or cooling? How much electricity is needed?

Fourth, you will discover how to extend your estimates to yearly energy demand, which is essential to make sure that a building is energy efficient and to estimate energy savings and energy costs. You will then also be able to determine the size of the needed heating and cooling equipment (which determines the costs of equipment).

Finally, you will learn how to optimize building design and will be able to find out the optimal window size or the optimum insulation thickness for your building. You will know why putting windows on the south façade is not always energy-efficient. You will understand the thermal interactions between building components and be able to make informed decisions on how to increase the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings.

This course is part of the PCP Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems. In the other courses in this program you can learn how to choose low carbon energy supply, how to create a comfortable indoor environment, and how to control and optimize HVAC systems.

In this course, you will discover the supply side of buildings’ energy chain.

The first step is to consider how to convert natural resources into the energy needed by buildings: what are the options to create heat, cold and electricity? You will learn about efficiency and use this concept to estimate building’s primary energy use and carbon emissions. This concept is widely used in many national and international policies and building regulations, and is essential to counteract climate change.

You will study the performances of single heating systems like electrical heating, gas, or renewables like biomass, solar boilers and geothermal heat, followed by single cooling systems like evaporative cooling and environmental cold.

We will also examine the systems that concurrently produce heat and cold. Do you know for instance that a heat pump and a cooling machine are identical devices? You will learn about the basic working principles of heat pumps and how to make sure they achieve high performance levels. After this course you will know how an Aquifer Thermal Storage makes smart use of the ground to deliver cold in summer and heat in winter.

Diverse electricity generation methods using turbines (wind, hydro), photovoltaics or hydrogen fuel cells will also be examined. You will learn how cogeneration of heat and power works and why this is important for the rational use of energy resources. You will also know why heat pumps are often combined with boilers or to which extent it is worth to invest in batteries for your solar panels.

By the end of the course you will be able to decide on how to combine energy conversion systems at building level in order to match buildings’ energy demand while keeping costs acceptable, using a minimum of natural resources and producing a minimum of carbon emissions.

This course is part of the program Buildings as Sustainable Energy Systems. In the other courses in this program you can learn how to design buildings with low energy demand, how to create a comfortable indoor environment, and how to control and optimize HVAC systems.

Residential and commercial buildings are the largest contributors to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions in buildings come mainly from the consumption of energy for heating, cooling, lighting, and operating various appliances, as well as from construction, materials, and maintenance.

Decarbonizing buildings is crucial in the efforts to mitigate climate change and achieve sustainable development. Building decarbonization involves energy efficiency, electrification, increased use of renewable energy sources, adoption of sustainable building practices, and supportive policies and regulations.

Students will practice describing members and locations on a city map. Students will also explain their telephone numbers and practice talking about cities.

In this activity, students will practice describing their "ideal" French plaza. Students will also take a quiz relating to directions and will practice giving directions to each other.

In this activity, students will practice giving directions and observing public plazas from French speaking countries.

Renew Boston Trust is a program launched by the City of Boston to improve energy efficiency in municipal buildings. By implementing energy conservation measures, such as lighting upgrades and weatherization, the program aims to reduce energy use and lower greenhouse gas emissions

1.012 introduces students to the theory, tools, and techniques of engineering design and creative problem-solving, as well as design issues and practices in civil engineering. The course includes several design cases, with an emphasis on built facilities (e.g., buildings, bridges and roads). Project design explicitly concerns technical approaches as well as consideration of the existing built environment, natural environment, economic and social factors, and expected life span. A large design case is introduced, which is used in the subsequent specialty area design subjects (1.031, 1.041, 1.051) and the capstone design subject (1.013).

This course is a global-oriented survey of the history of architecture, from the prehistoric to the sixteenth century. It treats buildings and environments, including cities, in the context of the cultural and civilizational history. It offers an introduction to design principles and analysis. Being global, it aims to give the student perspective on the larger pushes and pulls that influence architecture and its meanings, whether these be economic, political, religious or climatic.

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 complete the first part of their project, deciding on two right prisms for their models of buildings with polygon bases. They will draw two polygon bases on grid paper and find the areas of the bases.Key ConceptsProjects engage students in the application of mathematics. It is important for students to apply mathematical ways of thinking to solve rich problems. Students are more motivated to understand mathematical concepts if they are engaged in solving a problem of their own choosing.In this lesson, students are challenged to identify an interesting mathematical problem and choose a partner or a group to work collaboratively on solving that problem. Students gain valuable skills in problem solving, reasoning, and communicating mathematical ideas with others.GoalsSelect a project shape.Identify a project idea.Identify a partner or group to work collaboratively with on a math project.SWD: Consider how to group students skills-wise for the project. You may decide to group students heterogeneously to promote peer modeling for struggling students. Or you can group students by similar skill levels to allow for additional support and/or guided practice with the teacher. Or you may decide to create intentional partnerships between strong students and struggling students to promote leadership and peer instruction within the classroom.ELL: In forming groups, be aware of your ELLs and ensure that they have a learning environment where they can be productive. Sometimes, this means pairing them up with English speakers, so they can learn from others’ language skills. Other times, it means pairing them up with students who are at the same level of language skill, so they can take a more active role and work things out together. Other times, it means pairing them up with students whose proficiency level is lower, so they play the role of the supporter. They can also be paired based on their math proficiency, not just their language proficiency.

Students will explore the cross-sections that result when a plane cuts through a rectangular prism or pyramid. Students will also see examples of cross-section cuts in real-world situations.Key ConceptsStudents are very familiar with rectangular prisms, and to a lesser degree, they are familiar with rectangular pyramids. However, students haven’t been exposed to the myriad possibilities for solids that result from planar slices. The purpose of the lesson is for students to explore these possibilities.GoalsIdentify the plane figures that result from a plane cutting through a rectangular prism or pyramid.

Gallery 2Allow students who have a clear understanding of the content thus far in the unit to work on Gallery problems of their choosing. You can then use this time to provide additional help to students who need to review the unit’s concepts or have fallen behind on work.Gallery OverviewOne World Trade CenterThis task gives students an opportunity to further explore figures that have been intersected by a plane. The task also allows students to revisit scale and think about the net of a sliced prism.Sketch ThreeThis task extends students’ knowledge of nets as they think about surfaces that are triangular and won’t line up parallel. Students may need to use a protractor to keep the angles of the sides consistent.Partial Cube NetThis task provides students with further experience in thinking about the revealed surface in a sliced prism, constructing a more complex net, and estimating area based on area formulas and measuring.Round PrismsThis task extends students’ knowledge of prism measurement to cylinders, which are really no different. Students will see that the only difference is that the base is circular, and they know how to find the circumference (perimeter) and area.Project Work TimeStudents may use a Gallery day to work on their projects and get help if needed.Cube Volume and NetsUsing the 2-D/3-D tool or the parallelogram cubes, students create a solid made of cubes. Using the 2-D views as a guide, they make a net for the figure and find its surface area. Students are challenged to make the net with one piece of paper.Same Surface Area, Different VolumeStudents create two solids with the same surface area but very different volumes. They that surface areas are the same by drawing the 2-D views.Tree House 2This task gives students further practice making a scale drawing and thinking about the net of a solid. Students should also realize that the plans for a building are the 2-D views of the building and are similar to a net.

Students learn about frequency and period, particularly natural frequency using springs. They learn that the natural frequency of a system depends on two things: the stiffness and mass of the system. Students see how the natural frequency of a structure plays a big role in the building surviving an earthquake or high winds.

Students are introduced to brainstorming and the design process in problem solving as it relates to engineering. They perform an activity to develop and understand problem solving with an emphasis on learning from history. Using only paper, straws, tape and paper clips, they create structures that can support the weight of at least one textbook. In their first attempts to build the structures, they build whatever comes to mind. For the second trial, they examine examples of successful buildings from history and try again.