Picacho Middle School (1004)

The Picacho Middle School team (#1004) is from Las Cruces. This year they've submitted a project titled New Mexico Tree Killer.

Proposal
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_proposal1112.php?team_id=1004

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=1004

Introduction
Hello, my name is Joaquin Roibal and I am a Mineral Engineering Student at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico. I am reviewing your proposal based upon the rubric that you will be judged by in April. I hope my comments can be of some help.

Problem Statement
[3.1/4]

The question being posed by Picacho Middle School is "How much rain does it take to stop the devastation from the bark beetles?". This question is rather broad and should focus on a more particular question, and from the answers and mathematical problem that you describe, I believe a better question is: "How effective are different types of bark beetle control?" such as wood peckers, chemicals, etc. Review and take into consideration other methods of analysis.

Mathematical Model
[??/4]

The mathematics described in the proposal describe a random pattern for the wood peckers. Perhaps it would be better suited to research and attempt to mathematically model woodpecker pecking rates. As stated previously, it would be more effective to either remove the woodpecker aspect of the model and focus on tree growth rates in relation to rain, or change the problem focus.

Computational Model
[??/4]

The Computational Model was not uploaded or described in this presentation. What language is this program written in, and (as mark said) what results do you hope to gain from the computational model. Your problem states that you are trying to find the rain, but then you want to know how many woodpeckers it takes to kill the beetles, but woodpeckers are also damaging to the trees themselves.

Results & Conclusions
[2.7/4]

You have described some of the changes that you have made to the program, but what are some of the results of the program.

Code
[??/4]

Your code was not posted or displayed on your proposal.

Display
[??/4]

I believe your team could benefit from better focus, and focusing will be easier to communicate your idea across in a logical and visual manner.

Conclusion
I hope that my comments were helpful and gave some insight into your project and where you are trying to go. Please email me if you have any more questions, and I will be adding to the feedback for a few more days.

--Joaquin Roibal 10:45, 1 February 2012 (PST)