Find Resources

Physics+C — Kinematics I: Car on a Ramp

This unit reviews concepts related to kinematics and the motion of a car on a ramp. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of concepts used to describe motion, including displacement, velocity, and acceleration.

Chemistry+C — Matter: Physical Change of Salt in Water

This unit reviews concepts related to matter. Students will gain a deeper understanding of processes involved in the physical change of an ionic compound dissolving in water and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Chemistry+C — Titration: Acid-base Neutralization

This unit reviews concepts related to acid-base chemistry. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of processes involved in chemical reactions and how they can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Chemistry+C — Periodic Trends: Ionic Compound Interactions

This unit reviews concepts in atomic structure and then provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the size of an atom as the number of valence electrons increases and the interactions with other atoms.

Chemistry+C — Redox: Electrolysis within a Battery

This unit reviews concepts of oxidation and reduction through electrolysis. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of processes involved in influencing the equilibrium of charges within a battery and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Physics+C — Electricity: Series Circuits

This unit reviews concepts in electricity, including Ohm’s law and series circuit design. The model allows students to explore the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance and the connection between current and the average velocity of electrons in a circuit.

Chemistry+C — Kinetics: Rate of Reactions

This unit reviews concepts of kinetics and rates of reaction. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of processes involved in changing the reaction speed and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Chemistry+C — Chemical Reactions: Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

This unit reviews concepts of a commonly known chemical reaction concept (conservation of matter) and then provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of processes involved in the energy transfer during a chemical reaction and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Physics+C — Simple Harmonic Motion: Mass on a Spring

This unit reviews simple harmonic motion through experiments with a NetLogo model that simulates a horizontal mass-spring system. The model allows students to displace a mass that is attached to a horizontal spring and observe the motion of the mass.

Physics+C — Kinematics II: Motion of a Ball

This unit reviews concepts related to kinematics and the motion of a ball near the Earth’s surface. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of 1-dimensional motion (a ball falling and accelerating due to gravity, a ball rolling on a horizontal frictionless surface) and/or 2-dimensional motion (projectile motion) and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models.

Physics+C — Mechanical Waves: Sound through Different Media

This unit reviews mechanical waves through experiments with a NetLogo model that simulates a sound wave traveling through a medium.

Physics+C — Nuclear Physics: Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

This unit reviews the structure of the atom through experiments with a NetLogo model that simulates Rutherford’s gold foil experiment. The model allows students to shoot alpha particles at a gold foil and observe any changes in the path of the alpha particles.

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.

Decoding a Model - Dissolving of NaCl in Water

Start of a lesson on dissolving a solid in water by decoding on a model.

Interview with Hal Scheintaub

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

Screen shot from model showing projectile motion

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).

Screen shot of code from completed model

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).

Search for "[keyword]" across the whole site.