The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the planet Mars. This lesson will begin by discussing the location and size of Mars relative to Earth, as well as introduce many interesting facts about this red planet. Next, the history of Martian exploration is reviewed and students discover why scientists are so interested in studying this mysterious planet. The lesson concludes with students learning about future plans to visit Mars.

Amazing Space consists of web-based educational presentations for young children about space, which were developed at the Space Telescope Science and Technology Institute. Teachers teamed up with scientists and engineers from the institute and staff members from the Office of Public Outreach to develop interactive lessons. All lessons include spectacular photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and many high quality graphics, videos, and animation designed to enhance student understanding and interest.

tells the story of America's journey to the moon. The creation of NASA, the Apollo vehicles, and the January 1967 tragedy are part of the story. On July 20, 1969, as the Eagle lunar module approached the moon, it became clear that the computer had chosen an unacceptable landing site -- a boulder-strewn crater. With 114 seconds of fuel left, astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin overrode the computers and manually landed the Eagle.

This course focuses on the archaeology of the Greek and Roman city. It investigates the relationship between urban architecture and the political, social, and economic role of cities in the Greek and Roman world. Analyzes a range of archaeological and literary evidence relevant to the use of space in Greek and Roman cities (e.g. Athens, Paestum, Rome, Pompeii) and a range of theoretical frameworks for the study of ancient urbanism.

" This is the second undergraduate design studio. It introduces a full range of architectural ideas and issues through drawing exercises, analyses of precedents, and explored design methods. Students will develop design skills by conceptualizing and representing architectural ideas and making aesthetic judgments about building design. Discussions regarding architecture's role in mediating culture, nature and technology will help develop the students' architectural vocabulary."

The project for this studio is to design a demonstration project for a site near the French Quarter in New Orleans. The objectives of the project are the following: To design more intense housing, community, educational and commercial facilities in 4 to 6 story buildings. To explore the "space between" buildings as a way of designing and shaping objects. To design at three scales - dwelling, cluster and overall. To design dwellings where the owners may be able to help build and gain a skill for employment. To provide/design facilities that can help the residents to gain education and skills.

This subject introduces skills needed to build within a landscape establishing continuities between the built and natural world. Students learn to build appropriately through analysis of landscape and climate for a chosen site, and to conceptualize design decisions through drawings and models.

This subject introduces skills needed to build within a landscape establishing continuities between the built and natural world. Students learn to build appropriately through analysis of landscape and climate for a chosen site, and to conceptualize design decisions through drawings and models.

The year is 2032 and your class has successfully achieved a manned mission to Mars! After several explorations of the Red Planet, one question is still being debated: "Is there life on Mars?" The class is challenged with the task of establishing criteria to help look for signs of life. Student explorers conduct a scientific experiment in which they evaluate three "Martian" soil samples and determine if any contain life.

In this lesson, students learn some basic facts about asteroids in our solar system. The main focus is on the size of asteroids and how that relates to the potential danger of an asteroid colliding with the Earth. Students are briefly introduced to the destruction that would ensue should a large asteroid hit, as it did 65 million years ago.

In this audio resource from NOVA, astronaut Gene Cernan recounts his harrowing experience during America's first attempt to do work in outer space.

This is the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Urban Design Studio, which is a joint program between the MIT and Tsinghua University Schools of Architecture and Planning. The goal of the studio is to foster international cooperation through the undertaking of a joint urban design and planning initiative in the city of Beijing involving important, often controversial, sites and projects. Since 1995, almost 250 MIT and Tsinghua University students and faculty have participated in this annual studio, making it one of the most successful and enduring international academic programs between China and the US. It has received the Irwin Sizer Award from MIT for outstanding innovation in education. The studio takes place over five weeks in June and July including several weeks in residence at Tsinghua University and two brief study tours to locations and projects that inform the work. It will include 18-20 MIT and 10-15 Tsinghua Architecture and Planning students. The Beijing City Planning Institute, responsible for strategic planning in the city, participates in the studio as the client.

When we look at the night sky, we see stars and the nearby planets of our own solar system. Many of those stars are actually distant galaxies and glowing clouds of dust and gases called nebulae. The universe is an immense space with distances measured in light years. The more we learn about the universe beyond our solar system, the more we realize we do not know. Students are introduced to the basic known facts about the universe, and how engineers help us explore the many mysteries of space.

Rockets need a lot of thrust to get into space. In this lesson, students learn how rocket thrust is generated with propellant. The two types of propellants are discussed and relation to their use on rockets is investigated. Students learn why engineers need to know the different properties of propellants.

Students create and decorate their own spectrographs using simple materials and holographic diffraction gratings. A holographic diffraction grating acts like a prism, showing the visual components of light. After building the spectrographs, students observe the spectra of different light sources as homework.

Have you ever wondered why it takes such a long period of time for NASA to build space exploration equipment? What is involved in manufacturing and building a rover for the Red Planet? During this lesson, students will discover the journey that a Mars rover embarks upon after being designed by engineers and before being prepared for launch. Students will investigate the fabrication techniques, tolerance concepts, assembly and field-testing associated with a Mars exploratory rover.

Coordinate system is a mathematical construct to measure distance and direction in relation to a system of rigid bodies. The connection to rigid bodies is a crucial consideration for drawing a coordinate system, with out which coordinate system has no meaning in physics.

Explores aesthetic and technical underpinnings of contemporary dance composition. Basic compositional techniques discussed and practiced with an emphasis on principles such as weight, space, time, effort, and shape. Principles of musicality considered and developed by each student. Working together, students create short compositions to help them understand the range of possibilities available when working with the medium of the human body. Selected viewing and reading exercises augment classroom work. Class attends at least two professional dance events in the Boston area.

Students find and calculate the angle that light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating using trigonometry. After finding this angle, student teams design and build their own spectrographs, researching and designing a ground- or space-based mission using their creation. At project end, teams present their findings to the class, as if they were making an engineering conference presentation. Student must have completed the associated Building a Fancy Spectrograph activity before attempting this activity. This activity is best completed over four 60-minutes sessions.