Today, Bob Panoff taught the class about computer modeling using modeling software such as AgentSheets, Vensim, and Netlogo. He pointed out that you need to always have a plan before you start a model. This allows the creator to visualize how things interact with each other as well as creat an overall layout/outline. In the beginning of class, he talked about binary numbers and changing how you represent numbers in order to make problems easier to understand. He also used card tricks to teach them about algorithms. These concepts are extremely important in computer modeling and other computational science fields. Dr. Panoff had the students think about something that they wanted to model. The students used what they had learned from the previous activities and started out with a plan of their models before they started the real AgentSheets model.
The rest of the day the class went on to Netlogo. Everybody was very astonished by the models already created and got the opportunity to change variables and add different functions in them. Dr. Panoff explained how you can create a procedure and what the different buttons' functions were. Later on in the day they used Vensim to create a model of healthy people that turn into sick people. Dr. Panoff went into detail of how you would show the healthy people getting sick and adding equations into the model. He ended class with explaining a project they will need to finish in the next two days. The students seemed very excited about the opportunity to create their own models with these programs.