CS382:Predator-Prey

Predator Prey ( Lynx Hare )

Overview

Some prose describing the unit.

Background Reading for Teachers and TAs

• US Department of Energy's very nice (if ugly) intro to System Dynamics
  • Great compilation of knowledge on the subject. Is the primary source for the present lecture notes.

Reading Assignments for Students

• An item and synopsis.

Reference Material

• Page on Lynx - Hare Populations
• Talks about Lynx - Hare as a Pred/Prey model
• Wolf Sheep Agent based netlogo model
• Wolf Sheep Systems Dynamics netlogo model
• US Department of Energy's very nice (if ugly) intro to System Dynamics
• Systems Dynamics Society SD Wiki

Lecture Notes

Outline of the lectures designed to fit into 2 1:20 slots per week.

Lecture 1:

• Intro & Concepts
  • What is system dynamics?
  • What is it for?
  • What does it let you do?
  • Why use System Dynamics? When should you use it?
  • Strengths / Weaknesses
• Basic Terminology (Building Blocks)
  • Time Paths
    • System Dynamics is interested in the behavior of systems over a period of time. Time paths are critical to expressing this.
  • Types of Time Paths
    • Linear Family
      • Growth
      • Decline
      • Equilibrium
        • The expression of a system under which there is no pressure for change, or a system in which all variables reach their desired state at the same point in time
        • Note that this is an extremely artificial scenario, most systems do NOT reach or maintain equilibrium.
    • Exponential Family
      • Paths showing exponential growth and exponential decay. Real systems tend to grow along exponential paths rather than linear paths.
    • Goal-Seeking Family
      • Displayed in most living, and some nonliving systems
    • Oscillation Family
    • S-Shaped Family
      • This is extremely visible in the Wolf Sheep Agent based netlogo model when the grass is taken out of the equation. The sheep population goes too high, which in turn causes the wolf population to increase too much, which leads to an irrecoverable crash in the sheep population (Extinction)
      • This is referred to as an "Overshoot and crash" system.

• Notes cut from the previous lecture
  • Link
    • Feedback Loop
  • Flow
  • Stock
• Applications of Basic Terminology
  • Casual Loop Diagram

Lecture 2:

Lecture 3:

Lab

Some prose describing the process, outcomes, etc.

Software

What title, version, supported platforms, license, etc.

Bill of Materials

A list of all the required stuff with quantities and cost estimates.

Evaluation

CRS Questions

• A question.

Quiz Questions

• A question.

<The Unit's Name> Metadata

This section contains information about the goals of the unit and the approaches taken to meet them.

Scheduling

A note about early, late or doesn't matter, dependencies.

Concepts and Techniques

This is a placeholder for a list of items from the context page.

General Education Alignment

• Analytical Reasoning Requirement
  • Abstract Reasoning - From the [Catalog Description] Courses qualifying for credit in Abstract Reasoning typically share these characteristics:
    • They focus substantially on properties of classes of abstract models and operations that apply to them.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • They provide experience in generalizing from specific instances to appropriate classes of abstract models.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • They provide experience in solving concrete problems by a process of abstraction and manipulation at the abstract level. Typically this experience is provided by word problems which require students to formalize real-world problems in abstract terms, to solve them with techniques that apply at that abstract level, and to convert the solutions back into concrete results.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
  • Quantitative Reasoning - From the [Catalog Description] General Education courses in Quantitative Reasoning foster students' abilities to generate, interpret and evaluate quantitative information. In particular, Quantitative Reasoning courses help students develop abilities in such areas as:
    • Using and interpreting formulas, graphs and tables.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Representing mathematical ideas symbolically, graphically, numerically and verbally.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Using mathematical and statistical ideas to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Using simple models such as linear dependence, exponential growth or decay, or normal distribution.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Understanding basic statistical ideas such as averages, variability and probability.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Making estimates and checking the reasonableness of answers.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
    • Recognizing the limitations of mathematical and statistical methods.
      • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
• Scientific Inquiry Requirement - From the [Catalog Description] Scientific inquiry:
  • Develops students' understanding of the natural world.
    • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
  • Strengthens students' knowledge of the scientific way of knowing — the use of systematic observation and experimentation to develop theories and test hypotheses.
    • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.
  • Emphasizes and provides first-hand experience with both theoretical analysis and the collection of empirical data.
    • Analysis of this unit's support or not for this item.

Scaffolded Learning

Some prose.

Inquiry Based Learning

Some prose.