Computer Science in Science PD: Agent Based Modeling of Complex Adaptive Systems - Discussion

I think this would be a good example. The kids were obsessed with Zika this past year.

The phenomenon that may be a complex adaptive system is the virus ebola. In a model that measures how virus spreads, the agent would be the virus itself. The environment would be the affected area of the virus. The interactions that are being observed are how the virus spreads, the contact the infected person have with other in the environment to try and help predict the behavior of the virus on a large scale.

Hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical are some of the most unpredictable but fun to study adaptive systems.

I like this model because students can easily relate to it. This would be a great way to introduce a science concept as an example.

Phenomenon - Effect of invasive pythons on Everglades animal populations

Agents - Alligators, small mammals, birds, pythons

Environment - the Everglades ; weather - will cool temperatures affect python population as it does with iguanas.

Interactions - predators & prey

Phenomenon: Climate change and its effects on the water cycle
Agents: water/hydrosphere, ice/cryosphere, temperature/atmosphere, life/biosphere, and solid Earth/geosphere
Environment: all of Earth’s systems
Interactions: water cycle processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, evapotranspiration, runoff, percolation/infiltration, sublimation, and crystallization

I was trying to come up with some ideas related to the space part of the 6th grade curriculum and think that modeling how matter and energy is affected during a supernova explosion would be pretty interesting.

Complex adaptive system: a cell in its environment in regards to diffusion
agent: cell wall, interior of cell, cell environment, molecules

An example of a Complex adaptive system would be the immune system fighting off a disease. The white blood cells, antibodies and pathogens and the interaction of these once an antibiotic or medicine is introduced to combat the infection or disease. The human body would be the environment.

Well, the complex adaptive system that I remember was the flock of birds, I think, but I think I’d rather answer it with the fish, sharks and kelp. Those are the agents. The environment is a swamp. The interaction between the agents is that the fish eat kelp, gain energy and then reproduce. The kelp independently reproduces. While sharks eat fish and then reproduce when they have enough energy. The fish and sharks swim in the swamp, while the kelp grows stationary in the swamp.

In Chemistry, one could use agent based modeling of complex adaptive systems by observing chemicals. One could use chemical substances as the agent. Then examine who various chemicals interact. Some chemicals will not react. Other chemicals can cause a chemical reaction. The environments can vary from the human body to nature.

Being a Physics teacher, I can help but think about a double-pendulum, driven by some external source of mechanical energy, in a gravitational field, with dissapative forces present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_pendulum

The agents are the forces present in the system, which can arguably also be given by the environment (in Earth’s gravitational field and atmosphere, for example): Gravity, Air resistance, Driving force.

The environment is Earth, with Air resistance and the Gravitational field included.

The phenomenon I am interested in for the agent based modelling of complex adaptive systems is how do you know something is not functioning as expected in the body? Based on the complex and chemical composition of the human body system.
The agents are the various systems of the body- circulatory, skeletal, muscular etc.
The environment is the human body
The interactions between the agents and the environment is that all the systems are connected one way or the other.

As I was thinking about adaptability of animals in their environments, the walking sticks and their predators would be the agents in the model. The environment would be where they are and the result would be how many of the walking sticks get eaten in relation to how many are able to reproduce and thus having a sustainable ecosystem.

Getting on here, there are a lot of great ideas of ways to incorporate modeling. I think that modeling the effect of temperature on molecular motion would be good for the kids to see. The agents would be atoms in different phases of matter, their motion, and the temperature. The environment would be the phase of matter that the atoms are part of. The interactions would be that as temperature increases the atoms would move faster (potentially to a melting or evaporation point). Where if they cooled, they would slow down and potentially condense or freeze. I hope that I am not missing the mark, this is all still very new to me.

Looking at the ecosystem of the Great Lakes( environment) using the peach and lamprey ( agents) the lamprey is the predator with plenty of food sources.

The system I identified was an ecosystem. In the video they used an agent based model to compare fish, sharks and kelp.

I could see this being done in other ecosystems to model the interaction between other predator/prey relationships such as grass, gazelles and lions on the African Savannah or plankton, tadpoles, frogs and fish in a pond ecosystem.

Regardless of ecosystem, the agents involved have a complex relationship and are dependent on one another to maintain equilibrium.

The movement of galaxies. the agents would be the stars and space dust. Their environment will be space and gravity around a Black Hole.

It seems animals is the most common answer.

I chose the zika virus affecting the human population in this country. How long will it take for the symptoms to be gone before male and females will be able to reproduce without treat to the fetus? The environment will be warmer climate areas such as DFW. The relationship is parasite/ host.