| Population Dynamics, Part B: Connecting Past, Present and Future, Part B:Push and Pull Forces in U.S. Colonial History |
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Author(s):
Jeffrey Potash, & Jennifer Andersen |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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The Population Dynamics series are designed to supplement existing high school history curricula and be largely self-directed by students outside of class time. The lessons are intended to introduce students to a variety of systems tools (behavior-over-time graphs, stock/flow maps, models/simulations) alongside primary and secondary historical resources. Part B focuses on population change in New England in Colonial times and how it contributed to the growth of America.
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect. Population dynamics and changes in the environment and social systems of a nation play out over time. Generations of Americans, together with streams of immigrants, had children and grandchildren, all needing space to lives. Our nation's population grew (and is still growing today due to the same forces). The settlement of America is a story about population growth and migration.
Cause within System. This systems view is organized around three sectors:population dynamics, environmental factors and changing social systems. Their interactions in New England during colonial times contributed to the settlement of America. |
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Link to the file: http://clexchange.org/curriculum/complexsystems/populationdynamics/popdynB.asp
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| Population Dynamics, Part A: Connecting Past, Present and Future, Part A:Push and Pull Forces in Settling America |
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Author(s):
Jeffrey Potash, & Jennifer Andersen |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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The Population Dynamics series are designed to supplement existing high school history curricula and be largely self-directed by students outside of class time. The lessons are intended to introduce students to a variety of systems tools (behavior-over-time graphs, stock/flow maps, models/simulations) alongside primary and secondary historical resources. Part A focuses on the impact of population on the settlement of New England (1630).
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect. The interactions of population dynamics with changes in the environment and social systems of a nation play out over time. The story of American settlement is not complete without understanding the conditions people in England experienced before deciding to cross an ocean to a new land.
Cause within System. This systems view is organized around three sectors: population dynamics, environmental factors, and changing social systems. Their interactions in England during colonial times contributed to Puritan emigration to New England. |
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Link to the file: http://clexchange.org/curriculum/complexsystems/populationdynamics/popdynA.asp
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| Modeling Dynamic Systems Section 9 |
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Author(s):
Diana Fisher |
Subject:
System Dynamics |
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Supply chain dynamics are useful for illustrating the complex system characteristic that cause and effect are often separated by both time and space. Supply chains are often global, with decisions taken today causing impacts into the future and across national boundaries. The lessons of this section can also be used in conjunction with the Oscillations curriculum, particularly the lesson on commodity cycles, to illustate that the cause of a problem is within the system. |
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 PDF
Link to the simulation: http://www.iseesystems.com
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| Modeling Dynamic Systems Section 7 |
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Author(s):
Diana Fisher |
Subject:
System Dynamics |
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The dynamics of epidemics can be used to impart an intuitive understanding of what it means to say a policy has "high leverage." Students can be tasked with conducting policy analysis to determine the leverage points in preventing an infectious illness from becoming an epidemic. Along the way they will learn why well-intensioned but low-leverage policies in real life often fail to have the desired effects in complex systems.
For some illness/disease, symptoms appear long after initial infection. Sometimes people travel great distance while infected because they are unaware of the infection. Medical "detectives" faced with an epidemic must understand how the infection spreads and how quickly. Delays in the system make this more difficult. |
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Link to the file: http://www.iseesystems.com
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| Modeling Dynamic Systems Section 10 |
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Author(s):
Diana Fisher |
Subject:
System Dynamics |
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There are several characteristics of complex systems that can be discussed with students during these lessons. The fictitious city seems to face a dilemma; the tanning industry provides needed jobs in the present, but water pollution can cause serious detrimental effects over the long term. This is closely coupled with the idea that cause and effect in complex systems are often separated by time and space.
In the case of pollution, contamination can take decades to produce measurable effects. In the meantime, the range of impact can spread far from the initial source via transport in water, wind, etc. Finally, the lesson mentions that tanning has been outsourced from this country to developing countries; a classic case of "shifting the burden." Rather than allowing the true costs of tanning to be reflected in the prices of the finished goods, the industry itself escapes pressure to reform by sending the negative consequences to other, less regulated countries. |
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PDF
Link to the simulation: http://www.iseesystems.com
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| Lessons from The Lorax: Using Graphs to Study Change |
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Author(s):
Rob Quaden, & Alan Ticotsky |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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In this lesson, students read The Lorax and draw graphs to illustrate the changes that happen over the course of the story. Using simply stated questions, readers grapple with the complex themes in the book and movie. Students will investigate how cycles compete for dominance, and think about how the needs of business and natural resources can collide.
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect, Short and Long Term Conflicts.
Short-term focus on making money results in depletion of resource and environmental degradation over time and the collapse of the business. Actions and consequences are separated by time. |
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PDF
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| How Does a Galaxy Evolve? |
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Author(s):
Carl Anderson, & Steven Cottingham |
Subject:
Student Work |
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A 1999 SyMBowl finalist paper. This paper discusses a model developed to demonstrate what happens in a galaxy as it goes into stars and eventually into white dwarfs, black holes, and neutron stars.
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect. A model of how |
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 Zipped (Models & PDF)
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| History and Biology of Smallpox: A General Introduction to the Epidemic Spread of Disease |
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Author(s):
John Heinbokel, & Jeff Potash |
Subject:
Cross-Curricular |
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This series of case-studies developed by the Waters Center for System Dynamics examines the dynamics and impacts of such epidemics primarily through the lens of one specific disease --smallpox.
Complex Systems Connection: Separate Cause and Effect.
For some illness/disease, symptoms appear long after initial infection. Sometimes people travel great distance while infected because they are unaware of the infection. Medical "detectives" faced with an epidemic must understand how the infection spreads and how quickly. Delays in the system make this more difficult. |
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Zipped (Models & PDF)
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| GET MOVING! Solutions to the Epidemic of Childhood Obesity |
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Author(s):
Omar Aboulezz, & Debra Lyneis |
Subject:
Student Work |
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What happens when kids spend hours every day watching TV or playing video games? Could these behaviors lead to obesity and serious illness? And, if so, what can we do about it? Omar Aboulezz, a fifth grader at the Flagg Street School in Worcester, Massa |
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PDF
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| From Hunter-Gatherers to Farmers: Students Study How Civilization Changed during the Neolithic Age |
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Author(s):
Jason O'Neil-Willoughby, Martha McClure, & with Alan Ticotsky |
Subject:
Social Studies |
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Human civilization underwent significant changes between the periods archaeologists characterize as the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. Why and how did people become less nomadic? What factors led to technological growth and the development of more |
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PDF
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