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The last session of the Modeling Your World class begin with a game initiated by Bob Panoff. The game was basically to stand-up and sit-down, but with predefined rules. The students had to do certain things depending on the situation that they found themselves in. Bob1 then discussed modeling and used the rabbits and wolves model to demostrate this concept (standing-up and sitting-down). The students used a model that depicted rabbits and wolves as dots on a grid. They worked on a set of rules that determined when the rabbit and wolves were born and their life-span. They went on to modify the rule set by making the rabbits die at different numbers of neighbors.

Next, Bob1 then passed the show over to Alton, who proceeded to tell the students about a forest fire simulation. This incorporated more than the rabbits and wolves model, because the cells had to age. The next simulation was based on Conway's Game of Life, in which cellular automata work on a simple rule set. The modified version (written by Alton) allowed the students to change the rule set easily, so that they could do the equivalent of writing their own version.

Finally, the students worked on projects of their own. They used worksheets as an outline. Then they made a model based on the worksheet. The students then presented their models to the class. After completing this the students then recieved awards for their successful completion of the Modeling Your World class.


Last Update: June 8, 1998
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