Tom and Jerry

Team: 31

School: Justice Code/International/Harrison

Area of Science: Computer Science


Proposal: What the problem is:
The problem we are trying to model is how efficiently a cat or multiple cats can eat mice in the following scenario. We start with one cat and one mouse in one room (possibly with multiple walls like a maze). We will make the mouse faster so it has a chance to get away and the cat more maneuverable so that it still has a chance to catch the mouse. We will provide the cat’s added maneuverability by allowing the cat to go through windows in the walls. Our end goal is to see how quickly the cat(s) can eat all the mice or how many mice they can eat in total. We will keep track of this with a score number at the bottom.

Purpose:
We were inspired by the cartoon Tom & Jerry to program a cat and mouse predator-prey model in StarLogo Nova. Watching the cartoon Tom & Jerry is fun and we really want to make a game that is fun to play. One of our team members has a sibling who programmed a game and got us interested in programming games.

How we plan to work on it:
We plan to use the Predator Prey Model in StarLogo Nova and the slider function for the number of starting cats, mice and pieces of cheese. The cats will reproduce at a certain base rate, which will increase based on the number of mice they eat. The mice will also reproduce at a certain base rate, which will increase based on the amount of cheese they eat. The cat will exhibit a stalking behavior by waiting by windows where the mouse cannot see and pounce on the mouse when it runs by. We may choose to allow the mice to learn by walking farther away from the window each time they are eaten by a cat when they pass by. The mice will be able to hide from the cats in holes in the wall. They will only be able to stay in the hole for a certain amount of time, after which they will have to leave to go find cheese.

Mentor: Dr. Joan Appel


Team Members:

  Monika Abuhilal
  Maisan Abuzayyad
  Noor Faroun
  Sulaf Khatib
  Deena Halabiya

Sponsoring Teacher: Caia Brown

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