Find Resources

MSM Unit 2: Clean Water

This unit spans across 6th grade math and science content.

MSM Unit 1, Lesson 1: Introducing Ratios

In this lesson students will participate in two activities then create their own ratio puzzles. In the first activity, they will learn about parts-to-parts ratios and complete an embedded assessment. In the second activity, they will learn about parts-to-whole ratios and complete another embedded assessment. In the third activity, students will create their own ratio puzzles to share. Throughout the lessons, the language of ratios is reinforced.

MSM Unit 3: It’s Getting Hot in Here

summary

Looking at particles with StarLogo Nova

This lesson uses StarLogo Nova to explore how particles move from gas to liquid to solid depending on the setting of the heat slider.

Painting, "Children's Games" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Shared Resources - Economics

As the human population grows, it has become increasingly important to understand how humans are impacting the environment and how resources are managed and used. Often, this type of understanding falls under the topic of Sustainability in which the needs of the present population are met without compromising the needs of future generations. In this unit, we look at a variety of resources, through the lens of complex adaptive systems, especially studying feedback and interdependence.

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.

Screen shot from Parable of the Polygons website

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!

Traffic Unit for StarLogo Nova

This unit engages students in the use of agent-based modeling to look into why we have traffic jams and test ideas to try to improve traffic flow, and demonstrates the use of simulation to solve difficult engineering problems. Specifically we focus on the problem of traffic bottleneck congestion. A secondary goal is to further students’ understanding of the network concept as a way to model real world flows of data and matter.

Urban street covered with litter, from Project GUTS powerpoint

Littering Unit

Littering is a type of non-point source pollution caused  by humans acting independently from each other, however causing a global environmental problem. Controlling this source of pollution is hard to manage despite numerous interventions. Pollution of groundwater, rivers, oceans result from these everyday littering behavior whether intentional or accidental. In this unit we will model a simple form of littering and then ways to reduce it in our community.

Photo of Love Parade stampede in Germany, 2010, from www.telegraph.co.uk

Emergency Egress

Emergency Egress is the study of people exiting a building or other social gathering space in an emergency situation. This unit explores models and other ways to analyze the safety of a building and to evaluate which elements may affect how quickly and safely a space may be evacuated. It also discusses the issues of modeling humans in emergency situations.

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.

Interview with Hal Scheintaub

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

Decoding a Model - Dissolving of NaCl in Water

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

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).

The Greenhouse Effect

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

Beaker with silver nitrate solution and copper pipe

Silver Nitrate Production video

A short video showing "Silver Production from Silver Nitrate using a Copper Pipe" - used if wet lab activity not available for CS in Science Module 4 (Chemical Reactions)

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.

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

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.

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

If you can't find what you're looking for, send us a comment about what you were expecting to find.