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In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed
- Charles Darwin

 

Links to Friends...

Greybeards - My husband's mathematics site

thericeschool.org - my school site. I'm the webmaster but there is so much here about K12 teachning

Martyd.com - my commercial site

Jombiestuff.com - buy the Jombie Towel for your athletic activities.

NetLogo

BFOIT Programming - Guy Haas developed this curriculum which I use with my programming class.

My Facebook

Homeostasispepper moths

Create the model in Vensim found on this page.

Post Lab

Copy the following questions into a word document and complete.

  1. What is homeostasis?
  2. What is negative feedback?
  3. How is this model an example of negative feedback?
  4. In your model what is the ideal temperature?
  5. What happens when the room becomes too hot?
  6. What happens when the room becomes too cool?
  7. If the actual temperature of the room is 87oF how long will it take to the set temperature of 75 oF?
  8. If the actual temperature of the room is 90oF how long will it take to the set temperature of 70oF?
  9. If the actual temperature of the room is 75oF how long will it take to the set temperature of 65 oF?
  10. If the actual temperature of the room is 70oF how long will it take to the set temperature of 75 oF?
  11. After the actual temperature is equal to the set temperature, what does the air conditioner do to maintain the room temperature?  ( Hint: you will need to use your graph and take number to explain)
  12. What is a model?
  13. Why do scientists use models?
  14. All models have limitations because they are a simplified version of the real world.   What are some limitations of your model of the air conditioner? Be very specific.  You will need to come up with at least 3 limitations.

Read the following scenario and use your model to answer the question.

You and your family are going on vacation for 4 weeks to Mexico. With the current energy costs your parents do not want to leave the air conditioner on 75° Fahrenheit for the 4 weeks while no one is at home.   The outdoor temperature is 105° Fahrenheit.  In order to help your parents save money on electricity (so they can use that extra savings to get you that Ipod you've been wanting); you will need to run your model to determine the temperature your family should set the air conditioner on.  It needs to be set at a temperature that will save you money but will also cool off to 75° Fahrenheit after only 25 minutes.

12. At what temperature will you set the air conditioner?


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