Shodor Scholars Program

About the Community AgentSheets Model

In this model, students were able to model the interaction between people and how this affects the spread of HIV and Hepatitis through a community. To begin, students created depictions for each type of person in the community. Males and females are represented by the male and female icons (male in blue and female in pink). Males who have AIDS are depicted as a blue A, females with AIDS as a pink A, males with Hepatitis B as a blue H, and females with Hepatitis as a pink H. Students found out that AIDS can also be obtained through excessive drug use, so drug dealers are depicted as a gray D in the model. Black crosses represent the people in the community who have died from either HIV or Hepatitis.

Students researched the spread of a disease through a community and found that a certain precentage of people who have AIDS or Hepatitis are susceptible to spreading the disease to others in the community. The students had multiple infection rates, including those for homosexual interaction, as well as interaction with drugs. Each interaction between two people can be defined as a possible cause for obtaining the disease.

The 'reset' button begins the model with a fresh slate of healthy and infected people, as well as a few drug dealers. When the model is run, infected people will either infect others as they come in contact or die. These rates were researched by students, but can also be changed for further investigation.