NetLogo - Technology and Models

For the past week we have been learning about Ecology.  I have a number of old resources that I have been asked to use in the classroom.  With the recent talk of NGSS and STEM I was looking for ways to integrate some sort of meaningful technology into the classroom.

As I was poking through several videos on the Bozeman Science website, Paul Anderson briefly mentioned NetLogo as resource he uses in his classroom.  NetLogo is a piece of software that creates computer models of all sorts of scientific or statistical situations.  The software helps model everything from basic traffic patterns to game theory.  I found a model that helps visualize relationships between predator and prey and I was able to use it in class with great success.

The need in the classroom:

1. To quickly visualize the relationship between predator and prey over generations.
2. To quickly visualize the results of messing with the balance of predator/prey relationships.
3. To visualize and analyze the results of the corresponding data.

Gathering this type of data to has been a lengthy process in the past.  It ends up usually being too general or too painstakingly lengthy to make the exercise meaningful.  And, generating data where one of the variables changed is hypothetical and equally time-consuming.  NetLogo provided a way to quickly generate data for the situations we were looking at.

The Old Way.  *sigh*

Downloading and installing NetLogo was pretty simple.  It's a Java based program so it can be installed almost anywhere and I was impressed that it ran so smoothly on my lightweight laptop.

Here's a screenshot of the Wolf Sheep Predation model.

Shiny!

Now, here's what I'm most excited about.  The model produced data that really helped scaffold good questions.  The students were interested in the modeling and were mostly impressed at how fast data could be generated.  The data allowed me to assess the students' understanding of the principles we've been talking about in the last 4 class periods.

In each class we ran a basic simulation and we talked about the ebb and flow of both predator and prey but we were also able to play with the variables.  In one instance we had a situation where the number of sheep dipped too low and the wolves went extinct within our digital biome.  I got a reaction from a lot of the students!  I was surprised and very excited at the empathy!

After the demonstration we moved on to other classwork, but I continued to get questions about the predator/prey relationships, what-if questions, and questions about running the software themselves.  For a small investment of classroom time and an hour of my personal time I got quite a satisfying result.

Cheer Bows: A Short Discourse On Correlation and Causation

Before the tardy bell rang, I had a short conversation with a member of our school's dance team. I learned that a successful dance troupe has the following features:

1. Good moves - I believe the precise adjective used in this conversation was "sweet."
2. Large hair bows, consisting of either glitter or sequins.  The more, the better.
3. Pristine "poofs" - A term for a particularly difficult manner of doing one's hair that involves a great deal of hairspray.

The hair bows caught my attention.  I figured the "sweet" moves was an obvious skill for a dance team, and I don't have enough style to speak intelligently about the "poof."  Bows are a major part of women's sports and there is even a huge subculture of crafters who have made a business out of hair bows.  But do big bows necessarily make one a better dancer?

The dance team member I was talking to had two hair bows, one fastened to her head and another attached to her cheer bag.  I am no expert at hair accessories, but they seemed larger than is practical; both bows observed were about  6-7 inches tall and about 5 inches across.  The ribbon itself was about 3 inches wide and each iridescent sequin was placed with impressive geometric precision.

I asked, "Why are the bows so big?"

She answered, "Well, spirit, of course.  And all the best teams have them."

I ventured a bit further.  "Does the size actually cause you dance better, or are they just a staple of the best teams?"

She replied, "I don't know.  Both, maybe.  They're just cute!"

I laughed and asked,  "Both?  Now, that's something!  Perhaps big bow size means increased "cuteness," and cuteness increases spirit, which increases one's dancing skill, which increases a team's chances at success."

"Um...  Yes?"  

My keen sense of observation led me to believe the conversation needed to end, but I am convinced that there may actually be a causal relationship between bow size and team success.