Preview - Evolution Of Populations

Making Computational Models of Ecosystems

Let's start with building a simple model.

  1. Scroll down the page and interact with the setup and go (play) button.
  2. Drag blocks over to tell the wolves how to behave. Anytime you make changes click on the "recompile" button followed by setup and go (play). 
  3. You can use blocks multiple times.
  4. Blocks can be dragged to the trash to take them out of the code.

Try the following challenges:

  1. Get the wolf to move around the field.
  2. Get the wolf to move around the field more realistically (hint: think about how wolves might move in real life)
  3. Get the wolf to draw a dashed line or another pattern.

Questions

Please answer the questions below.

Which blocks did you use to make the wolf move around the field? Choose all that apply.

wolf actions
wolf meets moose
forward
left
right
pen down
pen up

Does the wolf look like it’s walking around the whole field or is it just going in a straight line or circles? If the moose aren't moving does the wolf get to all of them over time? Choose all that apply. Hint: Use the pen down block to have the wolf mark it's path.

The wolf is moving around in circles.
The wolf is moving in a straight line.
The wolf is only moving around on some of the field.
The wolf is moving around the whole field realistically.
The wolf isn't moving.

After you have gotten your wolf moving, spend time trying to figure out the best block combination needed to get more realistic wolf movement. Try changing the numbers found in some of the blocks. What combination of blocks did you use to get realistic movement?

What blocks did you use to get the wolf to draw a dashed line?

wolf actions
wolf meets moose
forward
left
right
pen down
pen up
hatch
die
ask nearby moose
chance

If you could, what other types of behavior blocks would you add to make a more realistic wolf and moose predator/prey model?

Notes

These notes will appear on every page in this lesson so feel free to put anything here you'd like to keep track of.