From: Andrew.Probert@f20.n772.z3.fidonet.org (Andrew Probert)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.tag
Subject: A project
Date: Sun, 03 Jan 93 01:03:04 PDT
Organization: FidoNet node 3:772/20 - IBM NZ Ltd Gate, Auckland

Hello again , Lori. I felt that I should have a separate message for the
topic I wish to raise with you.  I'd better explain.

I have recently started up a conversation with a social studies teacher
in New York state. In his last message he suggested that I and he and
his 7th grade pupils start up a simple project together, exploring some
basic concepts in economics and geography. I have been having a good old
think about this and have come up with an idea.
I was playing the simulation program SimCity the other day and I got to
thinking how this program would make a wonderful educational tool to
introduce people to the importance of concepts such as Gross Domestic
Product, and rates of population growth, in the life of our society.
In SimCity the player is required to manage and guide the growth of a
city over a period of hundreds fof years. The program adopts a
simplistic format for a modern city describing our modern cities in
terms of zoning or functional areas, communication services, and
specialist services and units such as power plants and stadiums. The
player is then each month of playtime given running data about the
population size, rate and direction of growth and mood, and about the
productivity for that period in terms of a balancing of the books. The
simplistic description of a city can be applied to almost any modern
city. Moreover, in running the city the player is required to pay close
attention to data such as the GDP of the city for each year ( ie the
amount that the city earns each year) and to the rate and direction of
population growth. In playin the simulation the these concepts become
very relevant and so interesting to the player.

I was thinking that this simulation package could be used asn the basis
for a project. I'll describe the steps that would be involved in order
of

1) Each participant would familiarise herself or himself with how
SimCity works. I don't think anyone would consider this a chore.

2) Then each participant would then pick a real city to study,
preferably the city in which she lives, or one near to where she lives.

3) Each participant would then individually or in groups proceed to
analyse their chosen city in terms of the simplistic format seen in
SimCity. This would probably involve some research. But it would be
entirely up to the participant how he or she goes about getting the
data. The sort of data that would be required would include the zoning
scheme for the city expressed in simple terms;, the population of the
city and the pattern of population change over the past few years; the
mood of the population as reflected in any recent polls that have been
conducted; the wealth of the city and the pattern of changes in wealth
of the city over the past few years; etc.

4) The participant would then distill this data into the format seen in
SimCity, to obtain a very basic outline of the character and "health "
of the city. I have myself often found such a distilling process to be
incredibly useful in trying to come to grips with new information and
new concepts.

5) The participant would then present a report, though it needn't be all
that formal, about her chosen city , telling us the basic character of
this city and about how well off or healthy the participant perceives
the city to be.

At the end of the exercise each participant should have a working
knowledge of his or her chosen city. Moreover, the exercise will cause
the participant to get a good grasp of what is entailed in such concepts
such as GDP and ppopulation rates of growth, and how such concepts can
be used to understand such human institutions as cities.
In fact, we need not restrict ourselves to cities. There is another
simulation package called Civilisation which requires the player to
manage a whole country or civilisation over a period of 1000s of years.
in conjunction with this program we could start up a project looking at
the character of whole countries.

The reason that i am telling you all this Lori, is that I would like to
invite yourself and your kids to join in the exercise.  I am not sure
et whether that social studies teacher I was talking about will like
the idea, however even if he does not there is nothing to stop us
starting such a project by ourselves, assuming of course that you and
your kids would like to.

Anyway, I do hope that the idea appeals to you and your kids, and even
if it doesn't I would welcome your comments on it.

Thanks for listening

Yours,   Andrew
___
 * SLMR 2.0 * All wiyht.  Rho sritched mg kegtops awound?


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