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Locating the Epicenter of an Earthquake Lesson

Identify the location of an earthquake epicenter using a travel time graph and three seismograph tracings. The epicenter is the point on Earth's surface directly above an earthquake. Seismic stations detect earthquakes by the tracings made on seismographs. Tracings made at three separate seismic stations are needed to locate an earthquake epicenter.

Daisy world

A model demonstrating the albedo effect of black or white surfaces. Use as a part of the Climate Change and Agriculture Project GUTS Curricular Unit, or as a stand-alone model, activity, and video.

Lightbot and StarLogo NOVA

This on-line activity asks students to complete the first 8 exercises of the popular "Lightbot" program within the Hour of Code activities. Then, students try to recreate a similar program in StarLogo Nova, where an unfamiliar user could use keyboard controls, widgets, or procedures to get the robot to follow a pattern. It practices several computing skills (procedures, loops) and conveys the idea that games students see and play on-line have been created and coded by someone.

Swords and Shields

Swords and Shields is an interactive simulation game which teaches students some of the basic ideas of complex adaptive systems. After playing, you can show the students a model of the game in StarLogo TNG or StarLogo Nova to discuss basic concepts of agent-based modeling. Try it, it's fun! See also the variation to this activity in Resources, and see the related activity of TryAngles.

Rock Paper Scissors

The classic game of Rock Paper Scissors is known to all students. This common experience can then be used to encourage students to think about Complex Adaptive Systems in terms of unpredictability, which comes from the simple rules of agents. The off-line activity gives students a set of rules that will then be programmed into their computer model using Boolean logic and collisions.

Project GUTS MOOC

Project GUTS presented the CS in Science curriculum modules in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). The links below will allow you access to the original MOOC site, to see not only the written curriculum but also screencasts of building the related StarLogo Nova models and other background information for teachers and facilitators. The MOOC was also translated in Spanish (see link below).

For the 2017 course, please go to guts-2017.appspot.com

Battle of the Agents

A take on the classic board game Battleship, this paper and pencil activity is a fun way to help students understand the use of x and y coordinates in StarLogo Nova. After the activity, students can use the StarLogo Nova model to experiment with x and y locations in a game-like context.

Dengue outbreak simulation

This model simulates the transmission of the dengue virus in a neighborhood of four blocks during 180 (one hundred and eighty) days. The vector of the virus is the mosquito Aedes egyptii. The simulation shows a chart of the evolution of the outbreak (the change in the number of healthy people and infected people), another graph with the evolution of the mosquito population and some monitors that indicate the state of the mosquito population and how many people were infected.

Simulación de un brote de Dengue

Este modelo simula la transmisión del virus del dengue en un barrio de cuatro manzanas durante 180 días. El vector del virus es el mosquito Aedes egyptii. La simulación muestra un gráfico con la evolución del brote (el cambio en la cantidad de personas sanas y de personas infectadas), otro gráfico con la evolución de la población de mosquitos y unos monitores que indican el estado de la población de mosquitos y cuántas personas fueron infectadas.

Guía de conceptos de ciencias de la computación

Se trata de una guía que describe varios conceptos de ciencias de la computación agrupados por categorías como eventos, instrucciones y programas, iteraciones, etc.
Explica y ejemplifica diferentes conceptos como por ejemplo: ¿Qué es un bucle o loop?

Skill Building Deck

A slide deck of exercises to build CS and decoding skills

Bloques de código para modelo de cambio climático

Es una hoja de referencia con los bloques de código necesarios para el modelo de cambio climático. Se explica bloque por bloque qué función cumple cada estructura en cada pestaña de la programación con StarLogo NOVA.

Alternative Intro to StarLogo Nova - Modeling Change Lesson 1

The first part of the Modeling Change Unit can be used as a fun stand-alone programming activity for students unfamiliar with StarLogo Nova. It guides students to build a model that use keyboard controls to change the two-dimensional location of agents (in section 1a) and change other traits including the third dimension (z), shape, color, and heading (in section 1b).

Modeling Change

This contributed curriculum physics unit introduces and builds models to explore concepts of independent and dependent change, constant and variable x and y change, gravity, and projectile motion. Each lesson contains detailed instructions on how to build each model, and links to base models and completed projects. Modeling Change Lesson 1 is also uploaded as an independent resource (since it can serve as an alternative introduction to StarLogo Nova).

Exploring the Wiggle Walk and Collisions via a Kinesthetic Activity

This activity teaches the Wiggle Walk blocks (random right by ___ degrees, random left by___ degrees), through a kinesthetic activity and explores when a programmer would want to code agents to move this way. It avoids the statical analysis of the random probabilities found in Module One, Lesson 4 Activity 1: Probability with Dice and Data and Colliding Turtles, while still addressing the end goals of the Module One Lesson 4.

CS in Science Module 4: Chemical Reactions (for StarLogo Nova 2.0)

This Physical Science module explores chemical reactions: the conditions under which they occur, the evidence that a chemical reaction has taken place, limiting reactants versus reactants in excess, and when chemical reactions stop. The base model for this unit simulates the chemical reaction between silver nitrate and copper. The pacing guide and models have been updated for StarLogo Nova 2.0 (HTML5/JavaScript version).

Debugging Challenges for StarLogo Nova

These challenges ask students to identify and correct common coding errors within StarLogo Nova programs. The first challenge is generic, all others relate to the content area module from CS in Science. Students like to solve the problems and fix the code, and learn about debugging skills while engaging further with content area modules. It is also a good review for instructions/facilitators before building code with students.

Coding Challenges

Coding Challenge are a series of short challenges that focus on improving coding skills using StarLogo Nova. Each set of challenges focuses on a specific concept: degrees & heading, x & y coordinates and randomness, conditions including absolute value and percent chance, adding color to the terrain and repeat loops, using the z coordinate, and other computer science concepts (logic blocks, data collection),.

Walk & Turn for StarLogo Nova

This is the CS in Science, Module 1, Activity 1 activity. Students participate in an activity acting as agents, then view a computer model, to introduce concepts of computer science and complex adaptive systems.

Science of Friendship

Why do humans help some people and not others?  This Project GUTS unit explores this question and allows students to test their own assumptions. Using methods and data from anthropology, sociology and psychology and computer modeling in NetLogo, students investigate the role of cooperation in human interactions—and how cooperation plays a role in global issues such as resource management, health equity and climate change.