Find Resources

Pond Ecosystem Biograph project

Ecosystems are made up of interacting, interdependent parts, which are always interacting with and changing each other. Healthy ecosystems are long-lasting. In a long-lasting ecosystem the number of plants and animals may increase and decrease over time, but there are always enough individuals to reproduce and establish the next generation. In this Biograph Virtual Lab your challenge is to build a model of a long-lasting, healthy pond ecosystem using Toolblox programming blocks.

Bumper Turtles for StarLogo TNG

A coding activity to introduce students to conditional logic -- this version follows the "Pixelated Paths" activity and builds the model in Star Logo TNG. 

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.

Walk & Turn for StarLogo TNG

In this activity, students will participate in an activity called “Walk & Turn”, will see a computer model based on the same activity. Of particular interest is the interleaving of activity types; live off-line activities and computer simulations, and the juxtaposition of real and virtual worlds. Following the activity students will use the CAST to analyze the activity as a complex adaptive system. For this activity using StarLogo Nova, see CS in Science, Module 1.

Painted Turtles for StarLogo TNG

An fun introductory coding activity in StarLogo TNG using the random blocks, which demonstrates the power of parallel programming by simultaneously using many turtles to create patterns on the screen. For StarLogo Nova, see this activity in CS in Science, Module 1.

What are the chances?

This activity to explore randomness and how to program percent chance in StarLogo Nova.

Random Walks with code blocks for StarLogo Nova

Modeling the movement of agents (people,molecules, cars or ideas) is an important part of modeling systems. Different agents will have varying amount of randomness in their “walks” which can have an impact on systems. In this activity, students will apply the concept of randomness to a simple StarLogo program in which the agents will use ‘random’ blocks to ‘wiggle’ as they move around SpaceLand. This programming activity follows the ‘What are the Chances?" activity.

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.

Math Challenges in StarLogo TNG

This activity reviews the use of angles, heading, x, y, and z coordinates, and random ranges in StarLogo TNG. It corresponds to the coding challenges for StarLogo Nova (see related link). .

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.

Battleship activity in StarLogo Nova

This activity uses the idea of the classic "battleship" game to review x and y coordinates in StarLogo Nova.  Students do a pen and paper simulation of the game, and then use a base model in StarLogo Nova to review the coordinates.

Decoding a model

Decoding a model is an on computer activity in which students are challenged to decode a model.

Traffic Patterns for StarLogo TNG

Why do traffic jams form?

Each year the number of paved miles grows by roughly 20,000 miles. When traffic gets too congested, traffic engineers must consider changes to existing roads or intersections. This unit engages students in interactive activities to explore pattern formation in complex systems, and in the use, modification, and creation of agent-based models to conduct experiments on simple virtual traffic systems, to study whether proposed road changes will the desired effect.

Archived Material: CS in Science Module 1 (for StarLogo Nova 1.0)

Archived Material: Module 1 introduces basic concepts in modeling complex systems through hands-on activities and participatory simulations. A scaffolded series of highly-engaging design and build activities guide students through developing their first computer model in StarLogo Nova 1.0, a modeling and simulation environment developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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.

What are the chances?

An off-line activity to introduce students to concepts of randomness and how to program percent chance using a slider in StarLogo Nova.

Segregation Model

This model shows how a small preference for looking like one's neighbors can lead to a segregated society. The unit so far includes the model as a mystery model to be discussed and decoded by students, a partial piece of code with to use for decoding practice, a finished model, some background information, and a link to an on-line resource demonstrating these concepts. We are developing an off-line activity and other curriculum for this module -- stay tuned!

Spring Introductory Unit for Project GUTS after-school clubs

The Project GUTS after-school clubs were structured to have 10-12 week units in the Fall and Spring Semesters, with a 4-5 weeks Introduction to StarLogo Nova and computer science concepts, followed by a 5-6 week content unit. This is the curriculum page for the Spring Semester Unit introductory weeks. It assumes students had participated in the Project GUTS club during the Fall Semester, so might require building some background knowledge and skills for students new to StarLogo Nova.