Oscillations

Sometimes it seems as though it's impossible to understand what's causing all of the "craziness" of life's ups and downs. Many situations in a variety of contexts display this up-and-down oscillatory behavior.

The lessons below allow students to play with different oscillating systems. By asking "what if" questions as part of an exploration, they can discover that the structure of a system itself creates the resulting variations. Given this understanding, students can look beyond blame to see the deeper nature of what is causing particular behaviors to occur.

spring dynamics

Fun with Springs (Level A)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Exploring Springs: A Little Bounce in the World (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Springs Everywhere: Exploring Spring-mass Dynamics (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

relationships

Playground Ups & Downs (Level A)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Romeo and Juliet - Parallel Universe (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Romeo and Juliet - In Rapturous Oscillation? (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

Predator and Prey

Too Many Animals? (Level A)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Why are there not more Elephants?: Population Dynamics (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Rabbits, Rabbits, and more Rabbits: Logistic Growth in Animal Populations (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

Predator and Prey - Cyclic Behavior

Up and Down in the Wild: Predator and Prey (Level A)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Wild Things: Interacting Populations (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Waves of Change: Predator and Prey Dynamics (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

Predator, Prey, and food

All Together Now: Predator, Prey, and Plants (Level A)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Circles of Interaction: Predator, Prey, and Plants (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Eat and Be Eaten: Prey as Predator, Predator as Prey (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

burnout

Running in Circles: How Fast Can We Go? (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

The Big Squeeze: Pressure, Achievement and Burnout (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

economics of commodities

From Farm to Table: The Ups and Downs of What We Buy (Level B)
Simulation | PDF Lesson

Hog Wild: Fluctuations in Commodities Market (Level C)
Simulation | PDF Lesson
Background Information

The visual impact of a system can be described as the "tip of an iceberg". Much of the mass of the iceberg is hidden below the surface - much like complex systems. This iceberg visual helps conceptualize the complexity of the oscillating systems in this curriculum series

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