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

I would like to model water use in a community/city/state. The agents would be the water (?) and the people/different groups using the water. The environment would be the community/city/state. Temperature and rainfall would need to be included. I see how Agent Based Modeling works for predator/prey relationships as explained in the example. I am having a little difficulty translating it to water use but I think it can be done.

The system I thought of was Populations.

The agents would be individual members of the population.
The environment could be anywhere populations are found.
The interactions would be between the members of the community.

Considering matter as the complex adaptive system, the agents are the atoms and/or molecules making up the sample. The environment included the temperature, pressure, and volume acting on or available to these particles. The interactions between agents include attractive or repulsive forces between agents and collisions with other particle agents and the resulting transfers of energy. The environment contrains the energy, hence the motion, of the particle agents,

The phenomenon would be the greenhouse effect.
Agents: Temperature change, CO2 emmission, water salinity, population, fresh water supply
Interactions: natural disasters that may be the result of temperature change in the arctic poles, the salinity of oceans and the change in the conveyor belt, the depletion of fresh water resource, food supply as it may relate to population increase or decrease… I am sure I am forgetting a ton…

The phenomena I’m interested in investigating via agent-based modeling would be increasing global temperatures on food resources. Human population continues to skyrocket and the temperature of our planet is changing. How will will feed our planet efficiently and in a healthy manner?

The phenomenon I chose was the interaction of particles of matter. Agents and the environment would include which specific particles of matter are present and how much energy is available in the system. Interactions would include bonding and chemical reactions taking place.

I think this would work well for your idea of water usage.

The phenomenon that I chose was the the effect of a change in temperature on predator prey relationships in a stream . This is adding another layer to the example in the video. By adding that the death rate would be higher for something that was low on the food chain when temp changed by a couple of degrees, students could see how it impacts the predator prey relationship in the stream. The environment is the ecosystem of the stream. The interactions would be that the prey disappear when temp changes and when in contact with the predator.

The concept of phenomena I choose is global warming. This is such an issue due to politics, business, and inconsistencies from scientists that students are divided as to which side they believe. Given the agents that lead to global warming, students can conduct an investigation and base their stand on the data collected and their conclusion.

I am thinking of modeling the complex adaptive system in a creek, The agents would be water temps, dissolved oxygen levels, volume/flow, macro invertebrates (populations). I would like to explore the relationships of the water and the organisms in the water to see how changes in land use impact the ecosystems.

I was thinking that the agent based modeling would be good to show action reaction simulation in car crashes based on speed and mass of object it was hitting would show reaction of car would show what happens in a car crash.

Symbiotic relationships can be modeled with the agents being the organisms and the environment the ecosystem or community. The interactions are demonstrated through the relationships based on the type and results of the relationship.

That’s a great idea!

this is a great example

The topic that I chose was modeling weather as a complex-adaptive system. In this case, air masses would be the agents, and the environment would be the temperature and humidity differentials caused by the uneven heating of Earth’s atmosphere by the sun, as well as topographical features (land masses vs. oceans).

The phenomenon that I had identified before was a viral epidemic. The agents would be the virus and the organisms that it infects. The environment could be a particular area that the outbreak begins and the the areas that it spreads to. A close interaction between the virus and and their hosts can cause a spread of the virus.

The phenomenon I thought of as a complex adaptive system is a spread of a disease, caused by a bacteria or virus, among a species of organism. The agents are the disease causing pathogen, the species of organism, and the resources (food) in which the species depend on. The environment is the ecosystem in which the species live. The interactions: the more resources the species is able to obtain, the higher the chances the species has to survive and reproduce, increasing its population. But if the species come into contact with the pathogen, the species will get the disease, become sick, and die, decreasing its population.

Agents are the reactants in a chemical reaction and the variables in the system would be the temperature; amount of substance, etc. which will constitute as the environment and the interactions would the type of chemical reaction and the product form.

My complex systems would be too grand to study using this technology. There are too many agents and behaviors to model effectively. However, you could look at the development of a specific type of technology - such as a communication device - the cell phone. The agents would be the hardware technicians, software technicians and the end users. As new hardware becomes available, software has to be written to use the hardware. As users create new demands for features, the software technicians try to develop new code. Sometimes the new code requires a new type of hardware.

I would use the predator/ prey ecosystem model as well but maybe to demonstrate natural selection and how populations can change over time.