Jackson Mid School (53)

The Jackson Mid School team (#53) is from Albuquerque. This year they've submitted a project titled How Much Food and Water Can Animals Survive Without In New Mexico?.

Team Members

 * Adam Greenwood
 * Randie Terrill

Sponsoring Teacher

 * Karen Glennon

Proposal
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_proposal1112.php?team_id=53

Proposal: We are going to study effects of water and food on animals to show what they need to survive in New Mexico. Adam is going to use his Star Logo project from last year to add on to it by adding plants and making other changes. Randie is going to evaluate the steps of the survival of the plants with examples. (Graphs, charts, diagrams etc.) We are going to research past climates that animals need and what has been happening to compare.

Interim Report
http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/get_interim1112.php?team_id=53

After working on our project for a year, we have had some things happen to us. Adam is having a hard time to get Star Logo TNG working but has done some things to it, such as upgrading drinking for the animals and trying to make rain. Both of us have done some research on animals such as jackrabbits and coyotes. We have had a hard time finding the average they can drink and how long they can survive without dehydration but we think that we can find the answer. Once Adam get’s Star Logo TNG working again we think that we can add them to our model. A mentor Christopher Koch gave us some things to think about. At the beginning we mentioned Adam’s Project from last year and asked us to explain. What the project had was dogs and bunnies. They were not specific species, it was suppose to be anywhere in the world. It had grass and water for bunnies to eat and drink while wolves hunted and drank. Adam could set specific energy range for water and food while if they didn’t get enough they died. He also asked how we would be researching this data. Chris also suggested a site to look at which is www.nmepscor.org/dataportal/ Adam could not find anything on that website but will check again next semester. Other sources are Wikipedia, a book about coyotes, Desert USA, and kids planet.

Interim Comments Reviews
Hello Team 53,

My name is Teri Roberts and I have been asked to review your Interim Report. My background and training are in Computer Science and Software Engineering. I work at Los Alamos National Laboratory and I have been working with the Challenge for many years in a variety of roles.

First let me say that I admire your tenacity. You have been working through adversity and making progress. In your report you mentioned some of the variables in your model (animals {bunnies & wolves}, food, water). You even mention how the variables are related (bunnies consume food and water) (wolves consume food {bunnies?} and water) (without food and water animals die). It would be good to include the mathematical equations that implement the relationships between the model variables in your report.

You might find the following resource on modeling ecosystems helpful for comparing your model to an existing model: http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_02/BL_02.html. This resource may represent a larger problem than you are modeling, but it might help you think about how to represent or organize your model.

Your report mentions some resources, but is not specific enough to give the authors the credit they deserve. You might try looking at a description of the expected details in a citation. Here is a resource that can guide you in the citation task: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation.

You might also try to find a mentor who is familiar with ecosystems and modeling them. This mentor could help you clarify, simplify and focus your model.

Finally, don't forget to run a spell-checker and review the grammar in your report. I believe you mean 'supposed' instead of 'suppose'. Check for frequently misspelled words and misused words. Most word processing software contains these utilities and give you hints as you type by underlining words that represent a spelling or grammar mistake.

Thank you for allowing me to review your Interim Report. Good Luck for a strong finish!

Patricia Meyer GUTS Facilitator

In your presentation (in the next two weeks) you really want to sound specific and knowledgeable. I believe you are and can show it, but as your reviewer stated you have some suggestions for making your words demonstrate what you know.

Make sure that your variables are clear, your editing should show clarity too, and know your references well. It is always good to know what variable you thought effected things based on evidence in research and/or your model. Being vague is never a strong point when making presentations, be specific and assume that your audience does not know what you are thinking.

Give yourself credit for the time you have put into this.

Good Luck!