Unit Purpose:
By using a computer model of a dynamic system, the students can assimilate
the process of biodegradable processes in nature. The students will
evaluate, analyze and control the relationships among the natural and
man-made factors that affect these natural processes. With laboratory
experiments, the students can use the computer model to design and
implement a system to control the environmental processes. The students
will explore the concepts of chemical reactions, chemical equilibria,
reaction rates, reaction mechanisms, catalyses, orders of reactions,
reaction kenetics and chemical kenetics.
Unit Objective:
The unit objective is to develop a model which will simulate the
biodegradable process of man-made waste released into a stream. The
students can design, experiment, collect data, build a computer model,
evaluate the model, and redesign it to produce a working model applying
appropriate mathematics and chemistry concepts. The model is derived from
Chemodynamics by Louis J.
Thibodeaux, copyright 1979, published by Wiley-Interscience
Publication, New York, NY.
Unit Overview:
The stream simulation is a STELLA model that deals with oxygen levels in a
stream. the amount of a given kind of waste dumped into the stream. A
factory is locat$ Then, the stream flows into a larger body of water. The
factory dumps waste int$ varying amounts, and the waste affects oxygen
concentration in the water throug$ biodegradable processes. When the
oxygen concentration gets below a given conce$ fish in the stream begin to
suffocate. The goal of the model is to find the max$ waste that can be
released, without killing the stream.
Concepts:
The model can be used to introduce students to chemical reactions,
chemical equilibria, reaction rates, reaction mechanisms, catalyses, order
of reactions, reaction kinetics and chemical kinetics.
Student Outcomes:
Students will gain skills in:
Student Assessments:
By adding new factors or changing the variables of the model, students
will be able to form new hypothesis and contruct another model to adapt to
the changes.
Acknowledgements:
The original idea and the STELLA II implementation for this Instructional
Activity was conceived and constructed by Sanjit Mohapatra for his
Modeling and Simulation course during the 1994-95 year at the Blair Magnet
Program.
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This page last modified 22 March 1996 by cschultz@binx.mbhs.edu