DECODE NYC Virtual Lesson Plan - MODIFYING A MODEL: OMNIVOROUS FOXES

Posted January 27, 2021 by wellina
Omnivorous Foxes

Original author

AMNH

Resource type

Content area

Use type

Tools

Project name

INTRODUCTION

This remote lesson serves as an opportunity for students to modify the code of an agent-based model to reflect the complexity of real-world food webs. Students will evaluate theeffectiveness of the modifications based on their understanding of population dynamics.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Identify the foundational assumptions of a scientific model
  • Modify the code of an agent-based model to reflect a real world ecosystem
  • Collect data from a scientific model to test a hypothesis

TIME FRAME

  • Introduction (10 min)
    • Discuss fox diet (connect to earlier lesson about animal scat) and introduce activity
  • Group Activity (25 min)
    • Students work in groups to collect data, modify model, and test their hypotheses
  • Whole Class Discussion (10 min)
    • Discuss students’ findings and evaluate the new model’s effectiveness
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