Computational Science:
Middle Schoolers, Real World
Problems, and Visualization
TIE Conference
5 October 2007
Ruidoso, New Mexico
Who are we?
Celia Einhorn
Betsy Frederick
Irene Lee
celia@pobox.com
betsy.frederick@gmail.com
lee@santafe.edu
Supercomputing Challenge
http://challenge.nm.org
Growing Up Thinking Scientifically – Project GUTS
http://projectguts.org
Computational Science, Real World Problems and Visualization
Introductions and Overview of The Challenge
What is Computational Science?
Population Growth Model – Paper Catchers
Predator Prey Model – StarLogo 2.0, StarLogo TNG
Virus Game and Infection Model
Cool networking slides
Word Walls, Concept Mapping and Cmap
Fractals and Wolves and Sheep) and Blogging
What is the Challenge?
Formed in 1990, the Supercomputing
Challenge is a statewide, school-year long
competition set in a learning environment.
Finalists, 2005
Who Are We?
Secondary students work in teams on
computational science problems. They
are supported by teachers sponsors,
mentors, and Challenge tutors.
Expo, April 2007
The Challenge Year
September – Registration, Project Proposals,
Questions for Scientists
October – Kickoff Workshops
November – School Visits, Tutorials
December – Interim Reports
January – Peer Reviews
February – First Project Evaluations
March - Tour of Sandia National Labs
April – Final Reports and Judging
Expo of team projects
Awards Day Celebration at LANL
June-July – Summer Teacher Institute
http://challenge.nm.org
Challenge emphasis
Students own interesting problems
Mentors provide support, tutorials
Computational science is emphasized
Teamwork is encouraged
Communication is oral, written, graphical
Project planning for timelines, deadlines
Community
Teacher preparation and support
Program Shifts
Four years ago:
Senator Bingaman urged us to include
middle school students.
We began a collaboration with MIT’s
Adventures in Modeling: Exploring
Complex, Dynamic Systems with
StarLogo
Program Shifts
Summer 2007
Project GUTS
Growing Up Thinking Scientifically
NSF Academy for Young Scientists
(NSFAYS)
Informal, out of school program for middle
school science, technology, engineering,
and math (STEM). GUTS is an incubator
for the Challenge.
Program Shifts for Middle School Success
Emphasis on “placed based”
Month-long projects
Data collection from multiple iterations
Programming experiences
Complex systems
Epidemics, Traffic, Emergency
egress, Pollution, Ecosystems.
What is a complex system?
Suppose you are studying traffic
congestion. You could view it as a
fluid dynamics problem and use
mathematical equations to understand
the underlying physics. You would
probably use Java or MATLAB as
your modeling tool.
What is a complex system?
Or you could look at it as a
“complex system” composed of
individual agents, drivers of cars
in this case, that react to other
drivers and to their environment.
Here you might use StarLogo to
model the problem.
Some other examples
Perhaps you are studying the spread of
a disease or you’d like to understand
bird flocking. Or the erosion in your
neighborhood is a concern. Or you are
figuring out escape routes from burning
buildings or a large sporting stadium in
case of an emergency.
What else?
Complex systems exhibit two properties
1) the system is composed of individual
interacting agents who follow rules
2) the system exhibits emergent properties,
that is, properties arising from the interaction
of agents that can not be deduced simply by
aggregating the properties of the individual
agents.
Tools and activities
Offline activities
Computer Software
Programming
StarLogo 2.0 and StarLogoTNG
Vocabulary,language and relationships
Blogs, word walls, concept mapping
Project design, teamwork, timelines
Paper Catchers – Population Growth
Paper Catchers!
Rules and patterns
No limits.
Restricted.
Greatly restricted.
Spread sheet, graph
Rabbits and Grass
A StarLogo Predator – Prey Model
What are the sliders?
How do they affect the model?
What do the rules seem to be?
What kind of curves are we seeing?
Can you set the sliders to make the ecosystem
steady?
http://education.mit.edu/starlogo
Fish and Plankton
A StarLogo TNG Predator – Prey Model
What are the sliders?
How do they affect the model?
What do the rules seem to be?
What kind of curves are we seeing?
Can you set the sliders to make the ecosystem
steady?
http://education.mit.edu/starlogo
Participatory Simulations
• Students become the “agents” in computermediated simulations of complex systems
• Provide rich learning experiences where
technology and social interaction are key
• Use relatively simple and cheap
technologies (Palms<$100) and Infrared
peer-to-peer communication
• Games include topics in economics, ecology,
behaviour, mathematics, health sciences
and the science of networks.
Virus!
…an interactive computer simulation
of the spread of an infectious
disease through a population.
• StarLogo TNG Infection Model
Like the Rabbits and Grass
Model, in this example
students can experiment with
different initial conditions to
make observations about
phenomena.
Networks as complex systems
Networking is used more and more
to study complex topics across
broad areas of interest.
What is a network? What are
some characteristics of networks?
Some examples of networks…..TB
Some examples of networks…Les Miserables
Network of Rivers
Some examples of networks…Relationships
neuronal morphologies in the auditory cortex
"Texture of the Nervous System of Man and the Vertebrates" by Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
Word Walls, Concept Mapping, Blogging
Language is an important part of middle
school curricula.
Word walls
Concept map – Cmap
Blogs
Fractals, Sheep and Wolves, Cogno’s Challenge
Fractal Foundation Fractal activities, lesson
plans and download Xaos, the free fractal
zoomer http://www.fractalfoundation.org/
Wolves and Sheep
Cogno’s Weekly Challenges
Resources
NECC – Atlanta- June 25, 2007
Links for Computational Science: Middle Schoolers, Real World Problems, and Visualization
NM Supercomputing Challenge is an established school-year long project in which teams of
secondary students design and implement computational science projects of their own
choosing. The mission of the Supercomputing Challenge is to improve students' understanding
and use of technology by developing their skills in scientific inquiry, modeling, computing,
communication, and teamwork. http://challenge.nm.org Betsy Frederick, Supercomputing
Challenge Program betsy.frederick@gmail.com
Project GUTS gives students the opportunity to conduct scientific research right in their own
school and around their neighborhood. Students will learn to use technology to explore realworld problems and analyze them with scientific tools. Later, they will have a chance to share
their experiences and findings to advise local decision makers and inform fellow students.
http://www.projectguts.org Irene Lee, Project Guts, Santa Fe Institute lee@santafe.edu
StarLogo and TNG (The Next Generation) StarLogo is a programmable modeling
environment for exploring the workings of decentralized systems -- systems that are organized
without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. With StarLogo, you can model (and
gain insights into) many real-life phenomena, such as bird flocks, traffic jams, ant colonies, and
market economies. http://education.mit.edu/starlogo/ StarLogo – Irene Lee, Santa Fe Institutel
ee@santafe.edu TNG - Hal Scheintaub, The Governor’s Academy, MIT hscheintaub@gda.org
Resources, continued
Participatory Simulations use Palm OS handheld computers to embed people
inside of simulations. Interactions between players in the game are mediated by
peer to peer beaming These simulations have been used with students (from fourth
grade through graduate school) and teachers (in science, math, technology, and
social sciences). Most PDA simulations have a related StarLogo activity.
http://education.mit.edu/pda/pda@education.mit.edu
Research Tips from Oregon School Library
Information System share citation maker links along with Research Process, Search
Strategies, Gathering & Organizing Information, Beyond Surfing, Evaluating
Information, Citing Sources, Presenting Results and Online Tools.
http://www.oslis.org/secondary/index.php
Cmap Excellent free concept modeling software. http://cmap.ihmc.us/
Fractal Foundation Fractal activities, lesson plans and download Xaos, the free
fractal zoomer http://www.fractalfoundation.org/
Triazzle PuzzleMosaic puzzles for problem solving, geometry and team
buildingwww.triazzle.com/
NETS Standards Addressed: grades 6-8 and 9-12
Emphasis on Collaboration and Simulations
• Use content-specific tools, software, and simulations to support learning
and research. (3,5)
• Apply productivity tools... to support group collaboration, and learning
throughout the curriculum. (3,6)
• Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using telecommunications and
collaborative tools to investigate curriculum related problems.... (4,5)
• Select and use appropriate tools and technology resources to accomplish
a variety of tasks and solve problems. (5,6)
• Select and apply technology tools for research, information analysis,
problem-solving, and decision-making in content learning. (4,5)
• Investigate and apply expert systems, intelligent agents, and simulations in
real-world situations. (3,5,6)
• Collaborate with peers, experts, and others to contribute to a contentrelated knowledge base by using technology to compile, synthesize,
produce, and disseminate information, models, and other creative works.
(4,5,6)