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. Students will also learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments, and about professional practices and practitioners in computational chemistry.
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. Students will learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments. They will also explore the practices of professional practitioners in computational chemistry.
This unit focuses on genetics and how the allele frequency in a population can change over time. Through a simulated selective breeding process mimicking aspects of Mendel’s work with pea plants, students investigate how the alleles in their cow population change by seeing the phenotypes and deducing the genotypes. The students will modify the code and use data to discover the dominant and recessive alleles. The unit emphasizes data collection and how the types of data collected lead to understanding the scientific phenomena of inheritance.
Photosynthesis is a dynamic process through which plants turn carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates such as glucose while releasing oxygen as a byproduct. In this unit, students will apply their knowledge of the basics of photosynthesis, as well as variables that affect the chemical reactions, to run various experiments in the NetLogo model. Students will also learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments and about professional practices and practitioners in computational biology.
This unit reviews concepts related to natural selection and Darwin’s theory of evolution. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the process of natural selection and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models. Students will learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments. They will also explore the practices of professional practitioners in computational biology.
This unit models a simple ecosystem to provide students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions of organisms in ecosystems such as the flow of energy between trophic levels. Students will explore how computer models can be used to further their understanding of ecosystems. Students will also learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments, and about professional practices and practitioners in computational biology.
This unit reviews concepts related to feedback loops for maintaining homeostasis in the human
body. It provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the process
of homeostasis and how it can be represented and demonstrated using computer models. Students will learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments. They will also explore the practices of professional practitioners in computational biology.
The unit provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of process and how they can be represented and demonstrated using computer models. Students will learn how a polymer such as starch is broken down to its constituent monomers through the catalyzing action of an enzyme. The variables to explore include the amount of enzyme and substrate as well as making modifications to the model to show how temperature affects the shape of the enzyme as it denatures. Although not named specifically, the enzyme acts like amylase breaking down the substrate starch.
In this unit, students will apply concepts related to ecosystems, such as interdependent relationships, to run various experiments in the NetLogo model. The use and modification of the computational model provides students with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems such as how the diversity of an ecosystem contributes to its balance. Students will also learn how computer models are built and used as testbeds to run simulation experiments, and about professional practices and practitioners in computational biology.
This unit introduces students to using models as scientific testbeds, the NetLogo interface, and the basics of the model code by exploring how disease spreads through a population. The science content related to infections is
not emphasized and therefore this unit can be used in a variety of contexts as a way to explore computer modeling. The main emphasis is for students to learn how to use a model, decode the model, and make modifications using
a scaffolded process.