Teaching Contemporary Mathematics Conference January 25, 2013 Christine Belledin NC School of Science and Mathematics

Patches Turtles Links

 Variable Definitions  Global variables  Agentset-specific variables  Setup Procedures  Clear variables  Use patches and turtles to create environment  Reset tick counter  Go Procedures  Define steps that are carries out on the agents at each tick  Use subroutines to add structure and clarity

 NetLogo tutorials  My students work independently through the tutorials from the NetLogo website.tutorials  Tutorial 1: Students learn to use and explore existing models  Tutorial 2: Students learn to write command and modify existing models  Tutorial 3: Students build a simple NetLogo model  For less experiences students, you may want to complete Tutorial 3 together as a class.  Write a program as a class  Show students the Fire model from the NetLogo library.  Introduce modified problem (see next slide) and develop model  First homework: students make one addition/modification to our class model

Suppose 30% of the wooded areas along the western edge of a region catch fire. There are 5 houses scattered throughout the area. In each step, if a neighbor of a patch is on fire, then the patch has a 50% chance of catching fire. Which house is most likely to burn?

Step 1: Create the environment.  Turn patches green and brown  Randomly place houses  Set fires along western edge Step 2: Spread the fire.  Spread the fire through the green patches  Show a house burns by turning grey Step 3: Make improvements.  Identify problems in the simulation and address them  Try to have a stopping point for the simulation Step 4: Add in extras.  Allow user to input forest density, number of houses, etc.  Report the impact of the fire numerically or graphically

 Start with the NetLogo tutorials from the NetLogo User ManualNetLogo User Manual  Explore existing models from the Models Library  Look through the code of a few models and try to understand the logic  Try making modifications to existing models  Search the “Code Examples” section for simple examples of particular behaviors  Use the NetLogo dictionary to search for relevant commandsNetLogo dictionary  Check out the NetLogo Resources page for collections of modelsNetLogo Resources  Recommended book: Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling: A Practical Introduction (2011) by Steven F. Railsback and Volker GrimmAgent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling: A Practical Introduction