The goal of this two to three day exemplar is to give students the opportunity to use the reading and writing habits theyŐve been practicing on a regular basis to absorb deep lessons from Richard FeynmanŐs recollections of interactions with his father. By reading and rereading the passage closely, and focusing their reading through a series of questions and discussion about the text, students will identify how and why Feynman started to look at the world through the eyes of a scientist. When combined with writing about the passage, students will discover how much they can learn from a memoir. This close reading exemplar is intended to model how teachers can support their students as they undergo the kind of careful reading the Common Core State Standards require. Teachers are encouraged to take these exemplars and modify them to suit the needs of their students.

An exploration of the role that communication plays in the work of the contemporary engineering and science professional. Emphasis is placed on analyzing how composition and publication contribute to work management and knowledge production, as well as the "how-to" aspects of writing specific kinds of documents in a clear style. Topics include: communication as organizational process, electronic modes such as e-mail and the Internet, the informational and social roles of specific document forms, writing as collaboration, the writing process, the elements of style, methods of oral presentation, and communication ethics. Case studies used as the basis for class discussion and some writing assignments. Several short documents, a longer report or article, and a short oral presentation are required.

Creative activity (isn't) the icing on the cake. Human creativity is the cake. (Jerry Hirschberg) Creativity - "The mastery of information and skills in the service of dreams" (Hirschberg) - is much prized in the arts, science, business and the classroom. What does the creative process look like? Under what conditions does it flourish - what ignites the creative spark? Attempting to answer these questions, this class explores ways creativity has been understood in Western culture: what we prize and fear about creativity and its wellsprings; how writers, artists, scientists and inventors have described their own creative processes; how psychologists and philosophers have theorized it; ways in which creativity has been represented in Western culture, particularly in 20th century films; and creativity in everyday life, including our own lives. Readings include portions of psychologist Rollo May's The Courage To Create, and essays by Joan Didion, John Updike, Alice Walker, Oliver Sacks, and others. In addition, we'll watch video profiles of choreographer Paul Taylor, architect Maya Lin, and jazz musician Dave Brubeck. We'll keep journals in which we note our own observations and reflections on creative process. We will also watch a film together as a class one evening early in the term.

Noted scientist Stephen Wolfram shares his perspective of how the unexpected results of simple computer experiments have forced him to consider a whole new way of looking at processes in our universe. (86 minutes)

2008 Nierenberg Award recipient James Hansen explores the global threats inherent in global warming. (55 minutes)

Learn about history of Catalonia. Try to discover and learn about "Narcís Monturiol" the submarine's inventor. It's the first game of the series "Personatges en joc". Its aim is to show the great Catalan scientists to the primary school children.

Students get a chance to see pictures of the actual scientists that performed the science research in the journals. Scientists tell students about their favorite science experiences.

Examines the relationship between popular and high culture and the problem of evaluating texts that tell stories. Treats a range of narrative and dramatic works as well as films. May be repeated for credit, with permission of instructor. Topic for Fall: Masterminds. Topic for Spring: Popular Culture in the Age of Media Convergence. Our purpose is to consider some of the most elaborate and thoughtful efforts to define and delineate "all-mastering," and to consider some of the delineations of "all-mastering the intellect" in various guises - from magicians to master spies to detectives to scientists (mad and otherwise). The major written work of the term will be an ongoing reading journal, which you will circulate to your classmates using an e-mail mailing list. The use of that list is fundamental - it is my intention to generate a sort of ongoing cyberconversation.

For the last century, precepts of scientific management and administrative rationality have concentrated power in the hands of technical specialists, which in recent decades has contributed to widespread disenfranchisement and discontent among stakeholders in natural resources cases. In this seminar we examine the limitations of scientific management as a model both for governance and for gathering and using information, and describe alternative methods for informing and organizing decision-making processes. We feature cases involving large carnivores in the West (mountain lions and grizzly bears), Northeast coastal fisheries, and adaptive management of the Colorado River. There will be nightly readings and a short written assignment.

This course examines joint fact-finding within the context of adaptive and ecosystem-based management. Challenges and obstacles to collaborative approaches for deciding environmental and natural resource policy and the institutional changes within federal agencies necessary to utilize joint fact-finding as a means to link science and societal decisions are discussed and reviewed with scientists and managers. Senior-level federal policymakers participate

Video interviews with twenty Smithsonian scientists introduce students to the wide variety of work in the sciences. Students will learn the diverse pathways that these scientists took to enter their fields and they will see that many kinds of people become scientists.

One of the biggest challenges scientists face when studying the ocean is observing the interplay between physical processes and biology in fine detail. Join Jules Jaffe, a research oceanographer in Scripps' Marine Physical Laboratory, as he describes his latest scheme to uncover these processes with swarms of inexpensive, miniaturized robotic floats that travel with currents, sense the environment and report their findings back to us. (58 minutes)

Specialists in the field of genetics share their descriptions of terms, and many terms include images, animation and links to related terms. A quiz is also included.