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This website features work from the completion of Phase 1 of the SCALES Project.

We are currently seeking partnerships for Phase 2.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning experiences provide students with direct experiences, accompanied with a critical reflection. Instructors often select the experiences for students, but then serve as the facilitator when the experience is occurring. These experiences are often conducted in informal education settings and with clubs and organizations, but also have a place in the formal setting.

  • Labs

    A list of labs and their associated directions for the course Exploring Sea, Space & Earth: Fundamentals of Engineering Design

    Read more: Labs

  • Oral Presentation

    Your team will make a presentation to the class on your design ideas and how you plan to construct your vehicle. This presentation should be made in Powerpoint (MAC/Windows) or Keynote (MAC OS) and a PDF should be printed and posted to the course Web site. Each team member should present some aspect of the design.

    Read more: Oral Presentation

  • Lab Notebook Review

    Each class member is required to keep an up-to-date design notebook throughout the term. It is a good design practice to carefully document the history of your work. Also, notebooks are required in professional practice.

    Read more: Lab Notebook Review

  • Problem Set 6: Resource Allocation

    The objective of this problem is to allocate agricultural water to maximize profits, subject to environmental constraints.

    Read more: Problem Set 6: Resource Allocation

  • Problem Set 5: Particulate Transport

    In this problem set you will be simulating particulate emissions from a single vehicle moving along a straight road with a cross wind. You will develop a particle tracking model to visualize the particulate plume and to compute atmospheric concentrations.

    Read more: Problem Set 5: Particulate Transport

  • Problem Set 4: MATLAB Practice

    This problem set is designed to give you some practice with MATLAB programming. You should develop your own programs rather than modify those handed out in class. The programming problems given here are based on simplified versions of the Exam 1 problems.

    Read more: Problem Set 4: MATLAB Practice

  • Problem Set 3: Thermal Analysis for a Small House

    In this problem set you will be evaluating the energy performance of a house using a MATLAB model you construct. Your model will include heat gains and losses from heat conduction, convection, and radiation as well as heat gains from a thermostatically controlled furnace. You will be examining the effect of changing windows, and other structural components.

    Read more: Problem Set 3: Thermal Analysis for a Small House

  • Problem Set 2: Species Competition

    This problem builds on the class lectures about predator-prey ecosytems. Rather than predation, we consider two similar species competing for a common resource. We use the Lotka-Volterra competition model, which embodies the “competitive exclusion” principle:

    "If two competing species coexist in the same niche in a stable environment then one species will eventually crowd out the other.”

    Read more: Problem Set 2: Species Competition

  • Problem Set 1: Salination in Irrigated Agriculture

    Modeling activity for the course Ecology II: Engineering for Sustainability.

    Read more: Problem Set 1: Salination in Irrigated Agriculture

  • Field Trip

    Field trip resources and information for Introduction to Geology

    Read more: Field Trip

Notice something that doesn’t seem right? Want to make a suggestion or provide feedback about how something is classified? 
Please reach out to esi [at] mit.edu and include SCALES Website in the subject of your email.
Feedback and any actions taken with regards to the feedback, will be shared as they are addressed.