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What is a Complex Adaptive System?

Posted July 26, 2018 by sgibbs

A brief explanation of the characteristics of Complex Adaptive Systems, with a few examples of activities that demonstrate these characteristics.

Debugging Guide

Posted May 26, 2018 by sgibbs

A short guide for identifying and fixing common bugs in StarLogo Nova 2.0.

Troubleshooting Guide

Posted May 26, 2018 by sgibbs

A brief guide to Troubleshooting for teachers and facilitators -- how to get StarLogo Nova to work correctly.

Defensive Programming Practices

Posted May 26, 2018 by sgibbs

A brief guide for teachers and facilitators to help students develop programming practices to keep them out of trouble.

Decoding Guide

Posted May 26, 2018 by sgibbs

Strategies for teaching students to read code to understand how a program or model works.

Teaching Equity Resources

Posted June 4, 2018 by sgibbs

Here are links to the resources used in CS in Science workshops to discuss equity in computer science.

Project GUTS teacher & facilitator guides

Posted June 19, 2018 by sgibbs

These guides are aimed at helping teachers or workshop facilitators help their students or participants be independent learners while working with computer models. They are a work in progress - final versions will be uploaded soon. Please feel free to point out any corrections or additions in a discussion thread -- Thanks!

Skill Building Deck

Posted June 12, 2019 by ilee

A slide deck of exercises to build CS and decoding skills

Code Blocks for CS in Science Module 1: Intro to Computer Science & Simulation

Posted July 27, 2018 by sgibbs

Here are links to the Code Blocks for CS in Science Module 1, for StarLogo Nova 1.0 (Flash version), and the Code Blocks for CS in Science Module 1 for StarLogo Nova 2.0 (HTML5/JavaScript version). This is not the one-page Blocks and Drawers Guide for StarLogo Nova (those documents are linked below).

CS Concepts Guide

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

This is a guide to CS concepts in the order they are introduced in the CS in Science modules.

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

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

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.

CS in Science: Module 1 Additional Resources

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

Ready to implement? Here are some additional resources and links to other Teachers with GUTS pages to help you with CS in Science, Module 1 (Introduction to Computer Modeling and Simulation). Some of the resources refer specifically to StarLogo Nova 1.0 (teacher videos) and others to StarLogo Nova 2.0 (link to models gallery). Check the relevant page for CS in Science Module 1 for the version of StarLogo Nova you are using.

Computer Science Concepts Guide for CS in Science Modules

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

This summary of Computer Science concepts introduced in CS in Science Modules can be used with either StarLogo Nova 1.0 or StarLogo Nova 2.0. It lists and explains the various concepts, organized by when they are introduced in the CS in Science curriculum.

CS in Science Module 1: Introduction to Computer Modeling and Simulation (StarLogo Nova 2.0)

Posted July 27, 2018 by turtle

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 2.0, a modeling and simulation environment developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Exploring the Wiggle Walk and Collisions via a Kinesthetic Activity

Posted August 4, 2017 by jhenderson

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.

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