Navajo Prep (92)

The Navajo Prep team (#92) is from Farmington. This year they've submitted a project titled One Sheep, Two Sheep...Too Many Sheep.

Proposal
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_proposal1112.php?team_id=92

Team: 92

School: Navajo Preparatory

Area of Science: Environmental Science

Proposal: Is a grazing regulation still valid on the Navajo Nation even though the number of livestock owners is decreasing? It is important because the intention of the law was to prevent overgrazing. We plan on using NetLogo to simulate the variables associated with raising livestock. Our variables include grass, sheep, predators, time, and humans.

Team Members:

 * Damon Clark
 * Jamie Sagg
 * Bruce Wood Jr.
 * Korey Mike
 * Kaitlin Pine

Sponsoring Teacher:

 * Mavis Yazzie

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=92

Interim:

Problem Definition:
During the early 1930's, the Navajo Nation regulated the amount of livestock that Navajo families were allowed to own. Grazing rights were created to prevent overgrazing on the reservation. Since the implementation of the grazing regulations on the reservation, the amount of livestock has been controlled. Because of the great reduction in livestock ownership, does the Navajo Nation still need the law today?

Problem Solution:
Our group will create a simulation that will reflect the behavioral traits of a herd of sheep grazing on the land. We will simulate out program similar to the government's solution and collect data. Another program will be created using our own solutions to overgrazing. We will compare the results and determine whether of not the laws are still needed today.

With the use of the Netlogo, our group will represent a certain area of the reservation and use virtual turtles as sheep and the green patches will represent the rich, fertile, healthy grassy pasture. The sheep will randomly roam the land and eat the grass. As soon as a certain percentage of the grass patch is eaten, the patch will turn brown. Next, we will add the energy level on the sheep so that the sheep will either reproduce or die from other factors such as old age, diseases, or predators.

Progress to date:
We are "borrowing" a program that was already built. We changed a couple factors and would like to add graphs showing how long and how much vegetation a sheep intakes during different time intervals. We have slowly added different factors to make the virtual simulation as real as possible. We still need to research more as to how acres are permitted with one grazing permit and how long does it take for grass to grow to become healthy again.

Expected Results:
Once our program has been set up to meet the real life factors on the reservations, we hope to run the simulation several times and get similar data. Because a certain amount of permits were issued nearly eighty years ago, we hope our project will help determine if these laws are still necessary today.

Interim Comments
Team 92,

My name is Victor Kuhns. I am a Parallel Systems Engineer with Cray, Inc. I've supported large super computers for close to 13 years and was originally a challenge alumni starting in 1994.

I see that your team is already on the road to working on a computer model by using an existing model. From reading your report, it sounds like you have a understanding of the data you will present to your audience. I'd like to emphasize that you take time to discuss and understand what the "borrowed" computer model does, and how it works. Hearing the details will show us that you understood the base foundation of the program. The judges will have a better appreciation for anything after you were able to introduce into the current model. Also, how will you discuss that your data is correct? With net logo, its easy to show that something in the model is working, but is the data correct? Find ways to show us examples or to discuss the calculations and how the results are achieved.

Since you already have a base model, perhaps making a flow chart of your work will be beneficial for your team and your audience to see the direction you went. This flow chart can explain the logic of the code/data and hopefully help you structure the code in Net Logo.

Take a look at this Wiki link for examples

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowchart

Also be sure to list all your sources used in your project.

I wish your team best of luck and look forward to seeing your progress. Please be sure to contact the challenge board if you have any questions or need help with your project.

Regards, Victor Kuhns