Computer Science in Science PD: Introduction to Complex Adaptive Systems - Discussion

We teach weather in 8th grade science. That is a complex adaptive system involving the movement of air and water in the atmosphere and ocean currents. Students don’t initially recognize the importance of the ocean currents on our weather (we’re in the Midwest) and frequently have an aha! moment when the pieces come together.

The internet can be considered as a complex adaptive system. The global internet’s structure and behavior changes over time in a way to increase its success.

Hi,

I teach 8th grade physical science. I believe an obvious complex Adaptive System to be a chemical reaction: the individual agents are the atoms and molecules involved in the reaction; the octet rule applies whereby atoms require 8 electrons in their outer shell to be “stable” as well as the law of conservation of mass; their is no centralized leader as these individual atoms and molecules bond based on this rule alone; the patterns formed are the products of the reaction.

The law of conservation of momentum in a closed system provides us with a second example, as momentum is transferred; the individual agents are the objects upon which the forces work; the rules are Newton’s laws of motion; their is not controlling leader; and repeating patterns can be formed as in Newton’s Cradle.

Cheers JOSH

Patterns on the internet is probably one of the hottest topics for companies and government agencies as they try to analyze our behavior.

Good one! I guess in this scenario the air molecules would be the agents; bernoulli’s principle etc. would be the rules; and the patterns formed are the currents themselves.

The water cycle is a complex adaptive system where there are no leaders but it does have an order about it.

The first complex adaptive system that comes to my mind that I teach is Evolution. But, as I continue to think about it, the beginning of the universe, from what we know from theories about how it all began, is Complex Adaptive system which can then be broken down into hundreds or thousands or more complex adaptive systems.
From learning about how the universe began we can use the behaviors of adaptive complex systems to computer modeling to understand how it might all end. This is what our space scientists and are working in real life. Fascininating.

A middle school life science phenomenon that is a complex adaptive system is any species’s evolution by natural selection. There is no centralized control over evolution, organisms that have traits that help them survive in a changing environment are more likely to survive, pass on genes for those traits, and produce offspring with those traits. When the environment changes again, different traits will be advantageous and the system will adapt–or the species will go extinct. As the process of evolution often occurs from random mutations (making it nearly impossible to predict) and sometime over millions of years, it is difficult to study and understand. I believe this fits the definition of “complex”.

I think that this is a great example of the “adaptive” part of a CAS, Nicole. Invasive species fundamentally change the ecosystem. Patterns definitely emerge as the ecosystem is rebalanced around whatever damage is caused by the non-native species. There is no central leader–only native species trying to outcompete a foreign invader.

Great thought. Modeling how plants behavior under drastic environmental changes would be interesting. I thought it would also then allow for students to make predictions about environmental adaptations that plants have made to thrive in different climates.

Exactly! There are probably other variables that could go in the model as well.

We can talk about forces in terms of CAS for physics. There are very straightforward examples, like those with no friction moving in a straight line, and then more complicated examples including moving at an angle, including friction, and complex structures like bridges or machines. The movement of objects with and without force tends to be complicated for students since we have so much experience with forces without necessarily having a “physics” understanding, their are changing or dynamic elements to look at, and it is adaptive depending where the factors can be changed depending on the scenario. One can change angles, amount of force, objects being moved, and surfaces or materials used.

I do not teach science directly. I am more of the computer science/science enrichment teacher. I feel like there are lots of examples of complex adaptive systems. Of course there are ecosystems, food webs, etc. However, I believe that there are also systems at work in human social groups – political parties or social media bookmarking sites.

The two examples in my curriculum I would say fit this description would be energy transfer and molecular motion.

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Animal behaviors are CAS, and are great to use when teaching the literary conflict of Man v. Nature. Two texts that are very fun to use are “Prey,” by Michael Crichton and “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” by Carl Stephenson. The insects’ behavior (or in the case of “Prey,” the modeled behavior) creates one unified antagonist from the many singular actions of each individual part.

That’s a great point about how interdisciplinary the concept of CAS can be! They are, by nature, complex and can even overlap traditional academic subjects.

In physical science, I think about the subatomic particles in the atom and how they interact to form many different elements in a variety of patterns.

This is exactly what I was thinking!

in 7th grade science we spend a small amount of time with concept of Natural Selection, a clear complex system example. Many individual parts within any example of Natural Selection you want to discuss and often various selective forces at work over the time span this concept requires. Nothing is leading and a definite pattern/outcome emerges in every example. Change a factor in the system and the member species adapt/change as well as the outcome possibly.

I would agree - I really miss teaching that topic, as at my school it now taught by the 6th grade teacher