Hurricane! Saving Lives via Logical Reasoning & Computer Science
A 48-hour computer simulation shows the formation of Typhoon Malwar in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in August 2005.Copyright 2010 Atmoz, Wikmedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typhoon_Mawar_2005_computer_simulation.gif
Students use a hurricane tracking map to measure the distance from a specific latitude and longitude location of the eye of a hurricane to a city. Then they use the map's scale factor to convert the distance to miles. They also apply the distance formula by creating an x-y coordinate plane on the map. Students are challenged to analyze what data might be used by computer science engineers to write code that generates hurricane tracking models. Then students analyze a MATLAB® computer code that uses the distance formula repetitively to generate a table of data that tracks a hurricane at specific time intervals. Students come to realize that using a computer program to generate the calculations (instead of by hand) is very advantageous for a dynamic situation like tracking storm movements. Their inspection of some MATLAB code helps them understand how it communicates what to do using mathematical formulas, logical instructions and repeated tasks. They also conclude that the example program is too simplistic to really be a useful tool; useful computer model tools must necessarily be much more complex.
High school students are familiar with computer science primarily as proficient users of video games and cell phone apps and may have little idea of the programming they require. Through this activity, students are exposed to a simple computer code as a real-world application of conditional statements and the distance formula with the potential to help save lives. Students become familiar with the steps of the engineering design process as they figure out by their own methods how far the storm is and how quickly it will make landfall. They also analyze computer code, use it to obtain data, determine incorrect model assumptions and suggest ways to improve the simulator.
Computer science is a branch of engineering that focuses on writing software to solve problems. Deductive reasoning and if-then conditional statements are at the core of computer science programming. Engineering researchers use software like MATLAB to write code to solve complex mathematical problems and run simulations. Sometimes these simulations generate visual representations of the research results, helping researchers explore new setups or algorithms at low cost.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Develop and apply the distance formula and an x-y coordinate plane on a hurricane tracking map.
- Use a map scale to determine distance in miles.
- Explain the use of if-then logical reasoning statements in computer code.
- Use MATLAB computer science programming language to help understand and solve critical problems that are important to our society.