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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.

Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning involves the student engaging in authentic, self-directed learning. Often inquiry-based learning is collaborative. Ideally the instructor is the facilitator of the learning experience(s. In more guided inquiry experiences the instructor sets initial parameters and students follow a line of inquiry tied to the parameters.

  • CI Reports

    Both of these reports should be well-structured, with introductions, body and conclusions. 

    • Review of a current (major) engineering challenge and why it’s important to society today. Stories taken from current news and events, and popular magazines (Popular Science, Science, Nature, Scientific American, New Scientist, Time, US News and World Reports, etc) related to major engineering challenges facing society today. 
    • Ethics position paper (PDF). This position paper will convey your personal opinion relating to the ethical dilemma presented in an assigned reading. You will not be graded on your opinion, but how you convince the reader that your opinion is valid and should be considered. This should be approximately 2 pages
    Read more: CI Reports

  • Paper Three

    For this paper, you may choose your own topic, so long as it is about the cultural, political, religious, and / or economic dimensions of biological science—in short, so long as it is about matters we have discussed in class. 

    Read more: Paper Three

  • Term Project

    The purpose of the term projects is to research and study an energy conversion technology in greater depth than possible in class. The project should incorporate thermodynamic analysis if dealing with thermal energy as well as the energy source/fuel, methods of conversion, targeted power range, political and economic constraints, and competing technologies. A technical report and a presentation session will be the final deliverables for the project.

    Read more: Term Project

  • Final Project

    Each student is expected to research, present, and write-up a final project. The presentations will be about 15 minutes long and take place during the last three class sessions. The final project write-up should be about 15 pages long (other formats possible for non-standard projects—see instructor for permission).

    Read more: Final Project

  • Term Project

    Household to global scale term projects on water, climate change and health solutions will be developed in teams or individually. You and your team decide on the format—a model, a video, a website, an app, a proposal, an artistic expression, a research paper, a competition entry. This can take any form. 

    Read more: Term Project

  • Dream Project/Term Project Proposal

    The proposal describes your dream project. The proposal is your opportunity to detail the scope of your project, its context, what you need to make this happen, your timeline and milestones, who are your teammates if you have teammates, or if you are planning to proceed individually.

    In the first deliverable, it does not need to be a fully formed proposal but a rough first draft. There’s no specific page requirement, but 4 to 8 pages of text total, or perhaps 10+ PowerPoint slides might be a good length.

    Read more: Dream Project/Term Project Proposal

  • Dream Project Exercise

    Take an index card, and prepare a short summary.

    Step 1 (on side 1 of the index card): Describe your dream project (drawing from any combo of disciplines, any scale, however far-fetched or down-to-earth).

    • Dream project name/title
    • Dream project summary (50 words maximum)
    • What else do you need to make this dream a reality?

    If you don’t have a dream project yet, describe a sector or geographical area in which you would like to be focused.

    Step 2 (on side 2 of the index card): Get yourself recruited into a Dream Team! What are your special gifts?

    • Reason a team should want to recruit you—ie., your special skills and capabilities (50 words maximum)
    • Types of project sought
    • Does your dream project fit in the Drawdown and/or 2020 framework?
    Read more: Dream Project Exercise

  • Drawdown

    Browse the Drawdown solutions and pick one that interests you. Come prepared to class to present that solution, either informally (sitting at your seat and just talking) or formally (preparing some slides for class presentation, and/or some related material you have dug up on that solution). Your presentation might take 5 minutes or so.

    Read more: Drawdown

  • Tutorials

    The tutorial is an opportunity to pick a topic of your choice from the universe of topics pertaining to the subjects of water, climate change, and health and share that with the class. The tutorial will be undertaken either with one teammate, or individually. It can be done in any format of your choice, with creative, non-traditional pedagogies (eg. demos, games, workshops, other activities) most welcome. 

    There will be roughly one tutorial per week.

    Read more: Tutorials

  • Graduate Course Project

    Each graduate student taking this class for credit should decide on a term-project. We ask for a 10-page written report (maximum length), and a 20 minute oral presentation to the class before the end of term. Undergraduates do not have to give an oral report (but may, if they wish) and a six-page paper is acceptable. Projects can expand on something covered in class, or be some climate-relevant project not touched upon. In the past, most such projects have been reviews of some interesting topics. A few students have succeeded in doing an original piece of work, but this is certainly not a requirement.

    Read more: Graduate Course Project

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.