Reflect on the complex adaptive system you identified after watching the Complex Adaptive Systems video. Describe the phenomenon in terms of how you might model it answering the questions posed in the Model Observation Form document.
What is the phenomenon you thought was a complex adaptive system?
Who/what are the agents?
What is the environment?
What are the interactions between agents and/or between agents and the environment?
Post your thoughts to the forum below, and come back later to read other entries and comment on another teacher’s response.
The phenomenon I am choosing is the formation of a tornado. Agents and environment would included the temperature aloft, the temperature at ground level, humidity levels, instability in the atmosphere, and ground level and upper level wind speed and direction (among other factors). The difference between temperatures could lead to the creation of convection, the amount of moisture can cause the creation of cumulus clouds, instability can also increase the chances of rotation, etc. All of these factors interact together to increase the chances of the formation of a tornado. I think (I could be wrong) that predictions that lead to tornado watches and warning are based on this type of modeling.
The phenomenon that I chose was the same as the one in the example video. I chose to model predator and prey relationships and how those relationships impact the size of the population of each. My agents would be the predator and the prey. The environment is the ecosystem in which they live. The interactions would be that the prey disappear when in contact with the predator. When their isn’t enough interactions between the predator and prey the number of predators decreases!
Now that I have seen this video, my original thought will not work. I think I will need to change it to see how different birds wing shapes effect how far and fast they fly in different wind conditions. The birds and the wind speed will be the agents, and environmental factors like type of land( water or land), and topography will be the environment. The interactions will effect how far and fast the bird flys (with and without flapping its wings!).
The agents in matter would have to be the particles (atoms) in the state. The environment would include the energy in the system. Interactions would include coherence of the particles to each other and the amount of matter. Maybe even be able to predict what happens in a black hole???
I chose the immune system. The agents would be pathogens, white blood cells, and antibodies. The environment would be the human body. The interactions would be between different types of white blood cells and anti bodies recognizing and fighting the pathogens.
A phenomenon that many experience everyday is traffic. The agents are the cars, motorcycles, 18-wheeled trucks, and heavy equipment haulers. The environment is the freeway systems. The interactions between the agents are the stop and go of the vehicles, the passing of the vehicles in traffic and the vehicles moving together in traffic without colliding. The agents also interact with the environment as they enter and exit freeway systems.
I would use it to model invasive species as it relates to the Everglades Ecosystem. The agents are the pythons, the raccoons, deer, panthers, alligators, and food sources. The environment is the Everglades. The interactions would be between the animals and the food source (environment). We would run several trials without the pythons and then introduce them into the model and compare the difference in how the ecosystem balance is effected with the introduction of an invasive species.
The phenomenon I chose was the same as the one in the example video. and The model would be used to show how predator/prey relationships impact the size of each population. The agents would be the predator and the prey. The environment is the habitat in which the organisms live. The interactions would be that the prey die or disappear once touched by the predator. The more interactions between the predator and prey the more the predators would increase. Less interactions would cause a decrease in the predator population.
This is a great real life application of modeling. I love the complexity. This really shows students the many factors involved with the formation of a tornado.
I think I would like to model Heat Transfer. Molecular motion and different types of heat transfer. The interactions of the molecules. Key issue Global Warming
The complex adaptive system I chose was symbiosis. If we modeled mutualism the agents would be the two species and the environment would be the ecosystem they live in including food, shelter, weather, predators, and temperature. The interaction between the agents would be the beneficial interaction between the two species as they try to to survive predation, find shelter, obtain food, and reproduce.
One of the systems I mentioned was airfoils. The agents would be the air molecules, the differences in air pressure, the shape of wing. the speed of the molecules. The model could show effects of different shaped wings or angle of wing to the amount and direction of airfoils. They could experiment with changing speed of air and how much lift is created and they could also experiment with the angle of the wing as it comes in contact with the air.
The adaptive system I chose was symbiosis, if we modeled mutualism the agents would be the two species and the environment would be the ecosystem where they live. The interaction between the agents would be the beneficial interaction between the two species as they try to to survive, find shelter, obtain food, and ultimately reproduce.
The adaptive system that I would like to choose is the Florida Panther population. I would like to see what organisms would be required to maintain the Florida Panther population and what organisms would be required to increase the Florida Panther population.
I identified a food web as a complex adaptive system. In a computer science model, the agents would be the predator and prey (maybe grass, rabbit, fox, hawk). The environment would be a forest ecosystem and the interactions would be rabbit eating grass, fox eating rabbit and grass, hawk eating rabbit. As in the video posted, organisms that receive a certain amount of energy would be able to reproduce.
Once a hurricane is formed, its movement is called propagation. I would choose to study the combination of factors that play a part in where the hurricane moves. Such factors (agents) are trade winds, high and low pressure systems, wind speed, Coriolis force, and latitude. This would help my students understand that there are numerous factors which affect an outcome and would also help them appreciate the complexity of natural systems.