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MSM Unit 1: Things Break Apart

This is the page for Making Sense of Models Unit 1: Things Break Apart.

Natural Selection Prey and Predator

This post includes a link to a model that can be used with the OpenSciEd Bacteria Food Hunt Unit net logo simulation.

Image of sugar moving into bloodstream from MIT Biograph materials

Sugar Transport Activity

Have you ever drank a can of soda and suddenly felt more energetic? In this Biograph Virtual Lab, you will use a simulation to explore how the glucose molecules from the soda move from the lumen of your small intestine, across the membranes of your epithelial cells, and into your bloodstream. (Ultimately, the glucose in your bloodstream will move into your body’s cells).

Papeles en el viento ("Papercatchers")

"Papeles en el viento" (Papercatchers) es una simulación participativa en la que los estudiantes aprenden sobre el crecimiento de la población y los límites al crecimiento. Los estudiantes desempeñan el papel de miembros de una población creciente, siguen reglas sencillas que rigen la supervivencia y la reproducción, y recopilan y grafican datos.

Tiburón en medio de un cardumen de peces en el fondo del océano

¿Complejo o complicado?

¿Complejo o Complicado? utiliza una presentación de diapositivas para crear una actividad que se utiliza para involucrar a los estudiantes en argumentar basándose en evidencias y mejorar su comprensión sobre los sistemas adaptativos complejos.

Modeling MRSA in Chicago (scientist talk)

This is a talk Dr. Chick Macal gave to GUTS teachers at a Chicago PD workshop in 2015.

Interview with Hal Scheintaub

Teachers with GUTS interviewed Hal Scheintaub and demo of StarLogo Nova models created by his students on August 2, 2017.

Elementary School Water Cycle overlay module - Water as a Shared Resource

This is an overlay for a 5th grade that adds computational thinking, modeling and simulation on top of an existing Water Cycle lesson.

CS in Science Curriculum (binder) compatible with StarLogo Nova 2.0

This is the pdf of the complete CS in Science curriculum. Print copies can be ordered from Mimeo.

The Greenhouse Effect

A short video on the basics of the greenhouse effect, used in CS in Science, Module 2 (Greenhouse gas model).

CS in Science Module 2: Shared Water Resources (StarLogo Nova 2.0)

In this Earth Science module, students will investigate the importance of ground water and the impacts of water usage on aquifer levels. They will also explore how to model important parts of the water cycle, including evaporation and infiltration of water into different types of soils to recharge the aquifers. This updated resource corresponds to StarLogo Nova 2.0 (HTML5/JavaScript version), a modeling and simulation environment developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Papercatchers

Papercatchers is a participatory simulation in which students learn about population growth and limits to growth. Students play the role of members of a growing population, follow simple rules governing survival and reproduction, and collect and graph data.

Cover page for CS in Science Module 3 Instructor's Manual

CS in Science Module 3: Ecosystems as Complex Systems (for StarLogo Nova 2.0)

This Life Science module begins with an exploration of a simple predator-prey model to consider who eats whom—and what happens when one population grows faster than another. Students develop their own model of a local ecosystem and learn about ecosystem dynamics, producers and consumers, and interdependent relationships within an ecosystem. This module has been updated for StarLogo Nova 2.0 (HTML5/JavaScript version, updated 2017).

Screen shot of greenhouse gasses model in StarLogo Nova

CS in Science Module 5: Greenhouse Gases

This Earth Science module explores greenhouse gases and climate change. The global climate system is presented as a complex system with feedback loops and interconnected processes. The goal is to clarify what is known, what scientists believe is happening and how climate change impacts our environment and species. Students use, modify, and customize an agent-based model of the build-up of greenhouse gases and its impact on the climate. This is an alternative to the Module 2: Water Resources

What's Represented?

These exercises ask the learner to identify abstractions in the computer model as compared to a diagram or image of a natural phenomenon.

Preparing STEM Teachers to offer Computer Science for All (2017)

ACM SIGCSE 2017

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.

COVID-19 Modelling Challenge

Learn basic StarLogo Nova skills then use those skills to customize your model to reflect how Coronavirus spreads. To that model, you can add different strategies and study the impact of the strategies on containing COVID-19’s spread.

Decode NYC Models

In the NSF-funded DecodeNYC program at the American Museum of Natural History, middle school students use the agent-based game and simulation programming environment StarLogo Nova to use, modify, decode, and create scientific models to test different strategies for fighting Lyme disease and answer questions about their urban ecosystem.

Gene Regulation and Protein Synthesis

Every cell in your body has a full set of genes, or ‘recipes,’ to build many different kinds of proteins (including enzymes). What causes a gene to go from its normal ‘turned off’ state (when it IS NOT building proteins) to its ‘turned on’ state (when it IS building proteins)? To answer this question, we will zoom in and take a closer look at a gene and its environment to see how and why a specific protein is made.

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