Team: 40
School: House High
Area of Science: Oceanology
Interim: Team number: 40
School name: Melrose High School and House High School
Area of science: Oceanography and Ecology
Project title: Whales vs. World
Problem Definition:
We decided to focus on the extinction of whales through pollution. We found that over 100,000 marine animals had died due to pollution in the year of 2018. We want to see how many of those mammals are whales and what whale species is affected the most. So far we have several sources stating the Orcas or Killer Whales are the most affected. They are also affected by the limited amount of food they have. Because of fishing, hunting, and pollution their preferred prey is being affected as well. This gave us the idea to do a ecology model in NetLogo with an ocean theme.
Problem Solution:
We are trying to help people realize that the Killer Whales are dying faster than we thought. We have been reading through many sites that are and have been doing scientific research. Through this research we have learned that the Killer Whales are being affected rapidly by man’s actions. We would like to help show the uniformed people what is happening to these species by doing a program on NetLogo that shows what is occurring.
Progress to date:
We are creating an ecology model, similar to what we have done in the past. We have many sources we still have to read through and gather a bit more information. One of the sites we have been reading through is from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We are also planning to go to a state library and see what information they have for us there. We have also found out that there is a Killer Whale museum in Australia and are hoping to call them and talk to a scientist who works in the field.
At present we are planning to use the base of a past model this year with adjustments so it fits the whales. It will have a migration pattern of their food source and then show the whales following their source. A second model will be a simulation of the whales and how much food they need to survive and how much plastic it takes to kill them. We have also done a model like this in the past and will be using it as a base again. The model will show different levels of the ocean, we will be adding whales and the fish they prey upon. Like the last model the whales and fish will be able to go as far up or as far down as they usually go in real life in the ocean. We will be using plastic concepts that are in our past model. We will see how much plastic the whales take instead of the fish.
Expected results:
We expect to add to the present knowledge on how to convince the world to help clean up it’s oceans, as well as being able to help restore the Killer Whale species. By the end of this project we are hoping to have two working NetLogo models. The first model will show the migration patterns of the whales when they follow their food source. The second model will show how much plastic it takes to kill a Killer Whale.
Team members: Madison and Evelyn Garrett
Sponsoring teacher: Alan Daugherty
Team Members:
Madison Garrett
Evelyn Garrett
Sponsoring Teacher: Alan Daugherty