Students are introduced to the classification of animals and animal interactions. Students also learn why engineers need to know about animals and how they use that knowledge to design technologies that help other animals and/or humans. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

In this multi-day activity, students explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a scale model biodome, following the steps of the engineering design process. The Procedure section provides activity instructions for Biodomes unit, lessons 2-6, as students work through Parts 1-6 to develop their model biodome. Subjects include energy flow and food chains, basic needs of plants and animals, and the importance of decomposers. Students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our own communities. This activity can be conducted as either a very structured or open-ended design.

Students investigate decomposers and the role of decomposers in maintaining the flow of nutrients in an environment. Students also learn how engineers use decomposers to help clean up wastes in a process known as bioremediation. This lesson concludes a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

This course is about social life in the on-line world. Its focus is on how the design of the interface influences people's interactions with each other and shapes the cultural mores and structures they develop. We will examine the ways social cues are communicated in the real and the virtual world, discuss the limits imposed upon on-line communities by their mediated nature, and explore directions that virtual societies can take that are impossible for physical ones. Readings range from classic papers in cognitive science, anthropology and urban studies to recent studies in the sociology of online communities. The work for this class includes reading articles, analyzing existing systems and designing innovative interfaces. From the course home page: The instructor's own web site for this course is available at http://smg.media.mit.edu/classes/SociableDesign2001/.

In this activity, students create a web to identify and demonstrate the interactions among the living and non-living parts of an environment. This information allows students to better understand what an environment is and to also consider how engineers use teamwork to solve problems.

Students are introduced to the concept of an environment and the interactions within it through written and hands-on webbing activities. They also learn about environmental engineering careers and the roles of these engineers in our society.

An introduction to pharmacology. Topics include mechanisms of drug action, dose-response relations, pharmacokinetics, drug delivery systems, drug metabolism, toxicity of pharmacological agents, drug interactions, and substance abuse. Selected agents and classes of agents examined in detail.

" This project-based course explores new design strategies for social interaction in the computer mediated world. Through weekly readings and design Assignments and Labs we will examine topics such as: Data-based portraiture Depicting growth, change and the passage of time Visualizing conversations, crowds, and networks Interfaces for the connected city Mobile social technologies The course emphasizes developing visual and interactive literacy. "

Seminar explores approaches to representation for very distributed cinematic storytelling. The relationship between story creation and story appreciation is analyzed. Readings are drawn from literary, cinematic criticism, as well as from artist's descriptions of interactive, distributed works. Students analyze a range of storytelling techniques, develop a previsualization, story construction, or audience participation model. Individual or group final projects.