Students analyze the relationship between wheel radius, linear velocity and angular velocity by using LEGO(TM) MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots. Given various robots with different wheel sizes and fixed motor speeds, they predict which has the fastest linear velocity. Then student teams collect and graph data to analyze the relationships between wheel size and linear velocity and find the angular velocity of the robot given its motor speed. Students explore other ways to increase linear velocity by changing motor speeds, and discuss and evaluate the optimal wheel size and desired linear velocities on vehicles.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the shared characteristics of the natural sciencesSummarize the steps of the scientific methodCompare inductive reasoning with deductive reasoningDescribe the goals of basic science and applied science

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the shared characteristics of the natural sciencesSummarize the steps of the scientific methodCompare inductive reasoning with deductive reasoningDescribe the goals of basic science and applied science

This course is an intensive introduction to the techniques of experimental chemistry and gives first year students an opportunity to learn and master the basic chemistry lab techniques for carrying out experiments. Students who successfully complete the course and obtain a “Competent Chemist” (CC) or “Expert Experimentalist” (EE) rating are likely to secure opportunities for research work in a chemistry lab at MIT.
Acknowledgements
The laboratory manual and materials for this course were prepared by Dr. Katherine J. Franz and Dr. Kevin M. Shea with the assistance of Professors Rick L. Danheiser and Timothy M. Swager. Materials have been revised by Dr. J. Haseltine, Dr. Kevin M. Shea, Dr. Sarah A. Tabacco, Dr. Kimberly L. Berkowski, Anne M. (Gorham) Rachupka, and Dr. John J. Dolhun.
WARNING NOTICE
The experiments described in these materials are potentially hazardous and require a high level of safety training, special facilities and equipment, and supervision by appropriate individuals. You bear the sole responsibility, liability, and risk for the implementation of such safety procedures and measures. MIT shall have no responsibility, liability, or risk for the content or implementation of any of the material presented.
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This is an online course in experimentation as a method of the empirical social sciences, directed at science newcomers and undergrads. We cover topics such as:
- How do we know what’s true?
- How can one recognize false conclusions?
- What is an experiment?
- What are experiments good for, and what can we learn from them?
- What makes a good experiment and how can I make a good experiment?

The aim of the course is to illustrate the principles of experimental insight. We also discuss why experiments are the gold standard in empirical social sciences and how a basic understanding of experimentation can also help us deal with questions in everyday life.

But it is not only exciting research questions and clever experimental set-ups that are needed for experiments to really work well. Experiments and the knowledge gained from them should be as freely accessible and transparent as possible, regardless of the context. Only then can other thinkers and experimenters check whether the results can be reproduced. And only then can other thinkers and experimenters build their own experiments on reliable original work. This is why the online course Open for Insight also discusses how experiments and the findings derived can be developed and communicated openly and transparently.

An experiment expedition allows you to test and refine solution(s)/intervention(s) and question underlying assumptions. There are typically many stages of prototyping before determining your ultimate intervention. Mark your current understanding of your stage of testing for this expedition (What are you testing?)

The goal of this class is practical: to interrogate, make explicit, and thus to develop the powerful musical intuitions that are at work as you make sense of the music all around you. Reflecting, we will ask how this knowledge develops in ordinary and extraordinary ways.

Students experiment with various ways to naturally dye materials using sources found in nature—roots, leaves, seeds, spices, etc.—as well as the method of extracting dyes. Then they analyze various materials using statistical methods and tackle an engineering design challenge—to find dyes that best suit the needs of a startup sustainable clothing company.

Imagine trying to cut your hair without metal tools. How would you do it? Join JPPM's Educator Nate Salzman as he uses experimental archaeology to answer the question "How did Native Americans cut their hair before metal tools?" Use to support the Maryland Social Studies Framework for grades 3, 4, and High School. To support the grade 3 content topic "Cultural Change Over Time," have students compare the advantages/disadvantages of the results of this experiment and how they receive a hair cut; for grade 4 topic "Native Cultures," have students either hypothesize and research how Native American tribes who did not have access to shells may have cut their hair or respond to the prompt "why did European colonists use metal tools for cutting their hair while the Native Americans used shells? Would some hair styles be easier to cut with one type of tool than the other?"; finally for HS topic "Exploration, Colonization, and Global Interaction, have students respond to the prompt "with the introduction of metal tools, how might the role of 'barber' have changed within a Native American tribe? If you evaluate or use this resource, consider responding to this short (4 question) survey at bit.ly/3G6RxUa

The Experimental Project Lab in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a two-semester course sequence: 16.621 Experimental Projects I (this course) and 16.622 Experimental Projects II. This site offers material on 16.621. In the course, two-person teams initiate a project of their own conception and design in 16.621 and then complete it in 16.622. For many students, this is a first encounter with research standards and techniques. It is a complicated course that requires a lot of interaction and support and also access to facilities and materials, but it is rewarding for students to explore an hypothesis under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
This OCW site presents the building block materials of the course, which can provide only a profile of the course because the most important learning elements are the interactions between student team, faculty, project advisor, and shop staff and also between student team members. However, this site offers some of the preparation and guidance materials for students embarking on an experimental project. To emphasize the focus on communication skills, a set of study materials and examples of student work are provided.

The Experimental Project Lab in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a two-semester course sequence: 16.621 Experimental Projects I and 16.622 Experimental Projects II (this course). Students in 16.622 gain practical insight and improved understanding of engineering experimentation through design and execution of “project” experiments. Building upon work in course 16.621, students construct and test equipment, make systematic experimental measurements of phenomena, analyze data, and compare theoretical predictions with results. Deliverables comprise a written final project report and formal oral presentations. Instructions on oral presentations and multi-section reporting are given. Experimental Projects I and II provide a valuable link between theory (16.621) and practice (16.622).

Gather your little ones for a special Halloween-themed story time with the National Air and Space Museum. Museum educator Ann Caspari reads an original story and leads us in a craft.

National Air and Space Museum. Museum educator Ann Caspari will read the original story "The Incredible Balloon Flight to Dizzying Heights."

Students work as engineers and learn to conduct controlled experiments by changing one experimental variable at a time to study its effect on the experiment outcome. Specifically, they conduct experiments to determine the angular velocity for a gear train with varying gear ratios and lengths. Student groups assemble LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots with variously sized gears in a gear train and then design programs using the NXT software to cause the motor to rotate all the gears in the gear train. They use the LEGO data logging program and light sensors to set up experiments. They run the program with the motor and the light sensor at the same time and analyze the resulting plot in order to determine the angular velocity using the provided physics-based equations. Finally, students manipulate the gear train with different gears and different lengths in order to analyze all these factors and figure out which manipulation has a higher angular velocity. They use the equations for circumference of a circle and angular velocity; and convert units between radians and degrees.

Students learn about geometric relationships by solving real mini putt examples on paper and then using putters and golf balls to experiment with the teacher’s pre-made mini put hole(s) framed by 2 x 4s, comparing their calculated (theoretical) results to real-world results. To “solve the holes,” they find the reflections of angles and then solve for those angles. They do this for 1-, 2- and 3-banked hole-in-one shots. Next, students apply their newly learned skills to design, solve and build their own mini putt holes, also made of 2 x 4s and steel corners.

In this assignment, you will conduct an experiment to simulate the greenhouse effect and global warming. You will be recording and graphing your results.

Student teams design and conduct quality-control experiments to test the reliability of several ultraviolet protection factors. Students use UV-detecting beads in their experimental designs to test the effectiveness of various types of sunscreens and sunblock. For example, they might examine zinc oxide nanoparticles versus traditional organic sun protection factors. UV intensity is quantitatively measured by UVA and UVB Vernier sensors, and students record and graph their results. By designing and conducting this experiment, students compare various substances, while learning about quality control.