Overview

OVERVIEW 

 

 

 IDEA 

 Model how chameleons change their color depending on situations. If they get angry they turn red and yellow, if they want to court a female they turn purple. 

 

 

 

 MODELING TASK 

 Simulate a scene in Madagascar where male panther chameleons display color changes in response to:  • Courtship with a female  • A confrontation with a predator  • Competition with another male 

 

 

 

 COMPUTATIONAL PRACTICES (Based on Weintrop’s Framework) 

  • Simulation and modeling practices: Designing and refining computational models. 

 

 

 

 PROGRAMMING SKILLS REQUIRED 

  • Intermediate. 

 

 

 

 STARLOGO NOVA CONTENTS 

 

• Core Agent Traits: Size, color  • Behaviors: Collisions, remote detection (sniffing), conditionals, random walks  • Interactions: Agent resizing, color change 

 

 

 

 MODELING CONCEPTS 

  • Understanding how individuals react to external stimuli.  • Translating reactions into changes in individual properties.  • Relating individual changes to external world variables. 

 

 

 

 CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS 

  • Natural Sciences: Endangered species, nanocrystals, color theory, animal communication.  • Social Sciences: Behavior in response to external stimuli, evasion, and mimicry mechanisms. 

 

 

 

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

 

 

 Types of signals sent by chameleon color change