My favorite one to model for an agent based model would be similar to what I watched in the video: a predator - prey relationship. The environment could be a land or water ecosystem. The interactions will be between the predator and the prey. The predators will eat the prey but at a certain point the prey will be scarce and the predators will die because of non availability of food.
I thought the idea of studying complex adaptive systems was fascinating in that it allows us to think about solving Complex problems like evacuation, fire-fighting and traffic using models.
I remember being fascinated that Grand Central station in New York was built around this type of idea and this prevents people from running into each other.
The phenomenon that i chose was similar to the one in the video. I chose the interactions that occur between organisms in an ecosystem. since the grade level i teach doesn’t go too much in depth about predator/prey relationships and co-evolutionary relationships, i might need to adjust my original idea for the complex adaptive system.
I would change my complex adaptive system idea to the body system. we start with each level or orgainization as the agents. cell, tissue, organ, organ system, and organisms. we could make these specific to a certain organ system and put together a model of how each level needs to work together to work properly and healthy to maintain a balanced and healthy organisms.
I am still a little confused. In terms of coding, what is difference between agents and the environment? Kelp, fish, sharks are clearly the agents. They are given a set of behavior instructions while alone and while interacting with another agent. What was the environment in her example?
What is the phenomenon you thought was a complex adaptive system? Orbital Motion
Who/what are the agents? Gravity, forward velocity, mass of spherical objects.
What is the environment? Space
What are the interactions between agents and/or between agents and the environment? Gravity and forward velocity need to be balanced in such a way that it holds various sized spherical objects in an orbital path without flying out/away, or getting pulled towards objects with more mass.
It’s a great idea to keep it to a specific disease. The different agents you’ve included is interesting and I would like to see how the students interpret the outcome and the purpose behind choosing those agents.
The predator - prey relationship is another example
Distribution of heat within a system. The agents would be molecules and a heat source. The environment would be a closed container. As the molecule agent interacts with the heat source agent then the molecule would move faster bumping into the constrains of the container and other molecules transferring heat and energy as it moves.
The phenomenon I am choosing is a food web, modeling the complex relationships in a particular ecosystem.The agents should be predator and prey (lions and deers), and the environment a terrestrial ecosystem analyzing changes in the balance of a deer population.
I agree with your assumption. There is not a leader, but there is a perfect pattern describing a complex adaptive system working synchronically .
One of my ideas was to model diffusion. I could have different molecules as the agents and the environment would have a membrane with holes that may not be big enough for all molecules. Molecules would randomly move around and bounce off each other and the membrane. If they encounter a hole they could move to the other side. We could change the temperature or time to speed up/slow down the interactions.
The effects of fertilizer runoff in a stream is a complex adaptive system. The agents would be the amount of fertilizer run-off entering the stream, algae, snails, small fish and/or oxygen levels. It would be an underwater or aquatic environment. The algae would increase or decrease based on the amount of run-off entering the system, the snails consume the algae and fish consume the snails. If there is too much algae, the oxygen levels will decrease and the snails and fish will die off.
My original idea won’t work, so I think I will change it to be similar to the the video but in a desert habitat. The agents would be the animals and plants of the desert (mice, rabbits, fox,) the environmental factors rain fall. Interaction would be how rainfall effects the growth of grasses/plants. Then how that affects the animal population in the ecosystem.
Beehives are interesting complex adaptive systems I would like to model. The agents would be honey bees, flowers, and humans. The environment would be the hive and the surrounding area in which the bees gather pollen. The interactions would be between the bees and humans, specifically observing the effect of pesticides and other landscaping modifications.
The system would be passive and active transfer of molecules through a cell membrane. The agents would be type and size of molecules, and concentrations gradients on both sides of the membrane. The environment would be the inside and outside of the cell. The interaction would be how molecules will move to the inside/or outside of the cell depending on the concentration gradients and the size of the molecules, and whether active transport or passive transport will be needed.
The complex adaptive system I chose was an ecosystem in a pond. The agents would be different types of microorganisms including algae. The environment would be a pond. The interactions would be they would disappear when eaten by a predator, reproduction when energy needs are met, and dying off when not enough food is available.
I chose the immune system. Its agents would include white blood cells, pathogens, and antibodies. Its environment would be the body. The interactions would be the white blood cells and antibodies detecting and fighting off pathogens.
I talked about a school and the people in it. This goes right along with agent based modeling. You have the different people in a school, the school being the environment.
The system I chose is that of wolves being reintroduced at Yellowstone. The agents would be all the living and even some non-loving parts of Yellowstone Park. The environment is also that of Yellowstone Park. The interactions show that the wolves decreased the Elk population and in so doing- increased the plant biodiversity, which in turn brought up the animal diversity. Beavers became ecosystem changers- rivers changed course (because of beaver dams). They also shored up the banks of the rivers and ponds.
The System I choose is the predator prey system of rabbits and hawks in a dessert environment with a few adaptive rabbits whose skin can camouflage in the sand colors.The simulation would show the Natural Selection process in motion