1996 Colorado Computational Science Fair

May 18, 1996

Our project simulates cell growth in a Petri dish. Our project takes into account variables such as food supply, crowding, amount of nutrients in the gel, and toxins.

This project is designed to simulate the growth of a coral reef. First we built a program which displays random growth of a reef in two dimensions that is unaffected by the various physical conditions that would normally affect a reef. Next, we built a three-dimensional program (based on the two-dimensional program). Finally, using the three-dimensional program as a starting point, we attempted to incorporate realistically some of the physical conditions and fluctuations that affect the shape and growth of a reef.

We will be focusing our study on the de-icing of surfaces by electrical means. We will be doing this by developing a mathematical model to represent the thermal conduction that is taking place in the surfacing materials. The program will make the conversions of dispersed heat through the material. This will lead us to our conclusion of whether or not this method is efficient enough to be used.

Tom Willis, no email address available

School:	Gunnison High School
	800 West Ohio
	Gunnison, CO 81230
Student(s):	William Harriman, no email address available
Sponsoring Teacher:	Kristopher Richards, krich@k12.colostate.edu
Project Title:	The Modeling of Wave Behavior

Our group consists of two computer science students (Tom Willis and Bill Harriman) from Gunnison High School in Gunnison, Colorado. We are being mentored by Dr. Howard Shaw, of Western State College with additional assistance being supplied by our teacher, Kristopher Richards. Our project is to model wave behavior, and determine how waves interfere with one another. The program's output is analyzed in Spyglass Transform visualization software to view the data as an image to envision how the waves are behaving. This leads us to the practical applications for this project. There is an ongoing study of the melting of the polar icecaps and the receding of the world's glaciers. The volume of water that would be generated from this is not enough alone to raise the level of the water all over the world; although the rise in temperature will then contribute to the greater wave amplitudes. Right now on the east coast the average wave is four feet, and every 32nd wave is a megawave (25% larger than the rest of the waves). Then there will be a five foot wave that could become a 25 foot wave if the temperature and volume of water increase. Our main goal is to model wave behavior, and this gives us the ability to predict and possibly control the effects of the larger wave fronts.

A few years ago, there were no wolves in Yellowstone National Park; they are one of the endangered species. Some ranchers claimed that wolf kill livestock and many people are still doing illegal things to destroy the wolves like shooting, trapping and poisoning. But actually, the wolves don't kill that many agricultural animals. Many wolves are found dead, because of humans, for example on the highway. With reintroducing wolf packs program in Yellowstone Park and Idaho, the number of wolves is increasing. We started with 14 wolves and now have 35 at Yellowstone Park. Our purpose of this project is to predict the number of wolves in the area in the years 2025 and 2050.

Population = current population + birth rate(time) - death rate (time) + immigration - out migration

This is the population model that we are going to use. The birth and death rates(time) will be found by the function : y=A.e^(kt) (A is the current population, k is the rate).

By this, we could investigate what effect of shipping more wolves from Canada or stopping shipping wolves would have on future population.

This project examines the structure of plant life using object-oriented technologies. Specifically, the popular Booch method of object oriented analysis and design is used to construct a model of the life of a plant and how it reacts to the various environmental factors that act upon it.

Our project concerns the destruction of the rain forests and its effects on global weather changes. We are trying to write a computational science program to determine if there is any relationship between acres destroyed and global temperature. Our computational approach is to design a model using the last 20 years of forest destroyed, and average global temperature.

COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE BIOLOGY/PHYSICS INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

School:	George Washington High School
	655 S. Monaco Parkway
	Denver. CO 80224
Student(s):	Peter Rahm-Coffey, prahm@gwhs.denver.k12.co.us
Sponsoring Teacher:	Ted J. Brucker, tbrucker@gwhs.denver.k12.co.us
Project Title:	Doomsday Meteorite Simulation

With all the asteroids and comets and other space debris that can hit the earth, we need some way of being able to tell what kind of damage they can do to us. The dinosaurs might have been killed off by a large meteorite; we would like to know when it happens to us.

I am writing a program that simulates a chunk of something hitting the earth. This will include everything from the light it gives off as it burns up, to the possibility that it knocks the earth off its axis. We will know what size of crater is left and what kind of dust could is built. This will work on all types of hunks in space -- from the Shoemaker-Levy comet to little dust particles.

About every 10,000 years a major asteroid hits the earth. Wouldn't it be nice to know ahead of time which one it is?

This project deals with large scale applications of high critical temperature superconductors; more specifically, their usage in power cables. With this I intend to show the cost effectiveness of replacing the existing electrical infrastructure with NbTi over a given period of time in any given region.

School:	Cheraw High School
	110 Lakeview
	Cheraw, CO 81030
Student(s):	Chris Morefield, cmorefie@k12.col.edu
Sponsoring Teacher:	Tom Hibbs, Thibbs@k12.col.edu
Project Title:	Population

This project is about the populations of yeast. The yeast was counted. The yeast send out spores and the they grow into more yeast. The yeast will grow until it uses all of the food or it pollutes its environment so bad that it will die.

A program was made to show how closed populations will build up and die. The program uses iterations to show the growth and the subsequent decline. An if-statement decides when the growth begins to slow and when it begins to decline.

This project is about dehydration. How fast does the average person dehydrate? How is dehydration affected by exercise? These are questions which are to be answered through this investigation on dehydration and hopefully with these questions answered a model can be developed that shows the relationship between the two factors, dehydration and exercise. The results of this investigation are projected to show that the more a person exercises the faster they will dehydrate. Although this hypothesis can be rationalized through common sense, this project should show percentages of the rate of dehydration per amount of exercise done which can be helpful information for athletes or people who exercise for health purposes. A program that will show the relationship between dehydration and exercise in a way that can be graphed will be needed for the success of this project.

Information on rates of dehydration and work done during an average exercise routine will be needed as well and should be found on sources on the internet as well as books and journals specifically those published by sports medicine institutions and medical facilities.

COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE MATHEMATICS GROUP PROJECT

Our problem is can a vehicle efficiently calculate the shortest distance between two points using GPS? The project that we finally decided upon consists of finding the shortest distance from one point to another in a matrix such as a large city. This city will consist of numerous points counting in the one-hundreds, and our program will calculate the shortest distance using a recursive method written in FORTRAN 90 with help from our mentor, B.J. Johnson (an education specialist whose help we will get learning the GPS systems) and Kris Richards (an expert in algorithms and programming).

The practical applications of this program will involve the future of America and the transportation system. Programs such as the one we plan to write will guide cars to their destinations using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) without the driver having to be aware of outside influences (outside the panels of the vehicle). GPS will tell the car where it is, and our program will tell the car how to get to its destination. Our idea is that this will create less vehicular traffic, and it will be better for the environment--decreasing the mindless driving around that most people execute. While bringing down the excess driving, people will also find that driving will become more cost-effective for their purposes.

Many of the programs we will use to help us will consist of Netscape 2.0 (a World Wide Web browser), Spyglass Transform (a Macintosh graphics package), and NCSA Telnet 2.6. Along with the programs we will use, we will also have help from different Power Macintosh's (5300/100 LC, and 5200/75 LC), a Sun supercomputer at Colorado State University (CSU), and a Cray supercomputer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The project we embarked upon is the making of calculus models used to solve "real world" problems numerically. We began by writing basic derivative and integral programs in FORTRAN 90. After building these basic algorithms, we then incorporated them into programs that solve fundamental calculus problems such as determining pressure and work in variable force equations.

The practical application of these programs is to allow the average person to solve for problems where calculus is needed. Even when one can solve advanced calculus equations, help from a computer can prove to be invaluable, reducing unnecessary stress and saving vast amounts of time.

The writing of our programs was done in FORTRAN 90, using Telnet and a Sun workstation located at Colorado State University. We also used Spy Glass Plotter for our linear models and Spy Glass Transform for more advanced modeling.

This project is about baseball, specifically hitting at Coors Field. Does the altitude make a difference in hitting at Coors Field? Does the temperature have any thing to do with hitting? We hope to prove that there is not a very big difference when hitting at Coors Field, or in any other stadium in Major League Baseball. We have gathered information concerning the elevation of every baseball stadium in the nation, and the average temperatures in the summer months. I have the elevation of every baseball stadium and average temperature for the city that the stadium is located. This information should prove that the altitude at Coors Field should not make a difference in choosing the National League MVP.

School:	Cherry Creek High School
	9300 E. Union Avenue
	Englewood, CO 80111
Student(s):	James Lindenbaum, james500@ix.netcom.com
	Mike Levy, XtrmVail@aol.com
Sponsoring Teacher:	Steve Lantz, No email available
Project Title:	The Accuracy and Efficiency of Neural Networks

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the most efficient size and shape of a neural network for three data types. Various sizes and shapes of networks were tested with repeating patterns, simple mathematical functions, and image recognition. It was concluded that a gradual decline, a constant number of nodes, and an "hour-glass" shape were the most efficient structures for the networks tested, respectively. It was also concluded that there should be no dramatic between the number of nodes in neighboring layers. If possible, the number of nodes in a given layer should be only one more or less than the previous layer.

Two applications of photovoltaic systems, one without electrical storage and the other with battery storage, are compared. Costs of designing and operating a PV system to provide current for residential evaporative cooling in arid climates will be compared with conventional costs from a local utility company.

COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

School:	George Washington High School
	655 S. Monaco Parkway
	Denver. CO 80224
Student(s):	Joel Mulhern, jmulhern@gwhs.denver.k12.co.us
Sponsoring Teacher:	Ted J. Brucker, tbrucker@gwhs.denver.k12.co.us
Project Title:	Graph Theory

Graph Theory is a young and developing field of mathematics. Much study has revolved around finding the shortest path from one point on the graph to another point. I have developed a series of programs to compute the shortest path in large and complex graphs. To produce these programs, I had to find specific algorithms.

The programs in this project, with slight modifications, can be used to find the most efficient route for transport of materials. Likewise, such programs have many applications in the design or computer chips and boards. This is a good project for supercomputing because of the large number of computations. Even the best algorithms that I have found require the manipulation of large data arrays.

I have created several programs that use the basic algorithms to perform various practical tasks, such as those presented above.

Cry~togr~aphy: The New Frontier on the Net. Man's strive for power, has led to many tactics of war. Because of the need to confuse the enemy, cryptography was created. Cryptography is the coding of letters so that none but the intended recipient can read it.

COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE MATHEMATICS INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

Project Title: Ordered Chaos

Problem: Joe Dohn is a computational mathematician. He was recently on a camping trip where he observed many natural phenomena, such as trees, leaves, flowers, and clouds. When he went home, he decided to put all these things into his computer. However, when he tried, he found that some of the things were infinitesimally repeating. He also found that some of the things had patterns too chaotic for his computer's relatively simple mathematics to explain. He went to his wife, Kathy, and posed his question. She was equally stumped. This problem is explored in this project.

My projects measures the amount of "snow" on the martian polar caps. The snow is in dry ice and is measured in kg/m^2. This year I'll look at Mars in a constant orbit. Next year I'll compute the true orbit and compare the different values.

This project involves cellular automata, a system of computer modeling used in all sciences, as well as mathematics. A cellular automaton is a lattice composed of a tessellated shape(s) for which a transition function is assigned that affects a site based on the configuration of a specified, localized neighborhood. Stochastic, or probabilistic, cellular automata were utilized in this project, causing the evolution of the automaton to occur in continuous time and discrete space. The parameters for the project assigned three possible states for each site. The following parameters were given as transition rates: 0 to l = l.0, l to 2 = l.0, and 2 to 0 is the variable where 0 is empty, l is healthy, and 2 is infected. The propagation rate of state 2 through state l sites was then found for a 25 x 25 wrapped lattice. This was compared with species densities found by Dr. Marek Grabowski and Dr. R. E. Camley at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. For 2 to 0 values ranging from 0.0202 to 0.5974 the propagation rate of state 2 was found to have minimal sensitivity to the 2 to 0 rate. Instead, the sensitivity lies in the "survival" of state 2 to propagate. For this it was found that the survival rate greatly decreases as the death rate increases.

I will be looking at the rate at which the Ebola virus spreads according to its infection mechanisms. Then I will predict the rate if it were to become an airborne virus.

This project will show you how to make a hole-in-one using reflections and slopes.

This nine-hole golf course will help you to understand the mathematics in reflections. The holes are polygons that vary in shape, size, and difficulty.

The goals of this project are to summarize current problems with traffic flow and use this data to project how traffic will be affected in the future. The number of Denver area residents is increasing. As a result we can expect more traffic related problems such as congestion, accidents, and pollution in the future. Using the program as a toll, the rate of increase for each of these problems will be calculated over time. The result will then be graphed on either a fluctuating or constant base line, whichever best fits the data. This will show how the increasing population will affect commuters and residents in the future.

Four different methods of altitude tracking of model rockets are compared. The first three methods are 1) single station elevation only (SSEO), 2) dual-station azimuth-elevation (DSAE) and 3) three-station elevation only (TSEO). The fourth method is a computational approach involving geometry. The purpose is the show which method is most accurate.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GROUP PROJECT

We're composing a page featuring the various aspects of the Colorado History Museum, including Mining, Buffalo Soldiers, Native Americans, 1950's lifestyles, and a timeline listing every important date in Colorado's history from the last few centuries. The page will include sound, graphics, and text.

For the past 10 years George Washington High School has held an open house to show the public some of the things that students do at the school. For the first time the entire booklet describing each student presenter, his/her project, the location of the presentation, and each student's picture was put on-line. Throughout the school computers were set up with this interactive Web page on the screen. We used frames, HTML codes, digital pictures, and clickable maps to make it easy and entertaining for our guests.

We still gave each guest and participant a copy of the open house booklet. But for the first time the booklet was printed after the on-line presentation was built.

The purpose of this exhibit is to highlight the importance of the tank in World War II. We will include specifications of different tanks, pictures, maps, and other informative materials.

GeorgeWeb has become a huge collaborative project involving many people and many interests. It is our job to provide the overall design strategy and management to insure that there is a certain sense of continuity throughout GeorgeWeb. In addition it is our job to edit pages and maintain links so that GeorgeWeb operates as its users wish. We are also constantly in search of new talent, new ideas, and new technology to improve our product.

This page informs people about all the sports programs and teams that participate at the high school level in Denver Public Schools. The page is updated frequently so that current league standings are reflected. It is hoped that every athlete in DPS will soon be able to access this page.

We are planning on having a "recruiter's corner" to assist college/university coaches in gaining more information about individual athletes.

Armed with the mantra change is inevitable, growth is optional, the Aspen School District technology committee completed its strategic technology plan and immediately met the challenge of hiring a district technology coordinator. With the arrival of Patty Goodson in August of 1995, as the district's first technology coordinator, part one of the strategic plan had been accomplished. The next component of the strategic technology plan was to secure funding through the passage of a $3.15 million technology bond. Under the direction of Patty Goodson, staff, students and community members rallied to encourage Aspen voters to say yes on November 7, 1995. Due to the tremendous efforts of our technology bond supporters, the election was successful and ASD's technology plan was officially launched. Our initiative to move forward with technology has been realized, and year one of the strategic plan is well underway. The following pages chronicle the efforts and events of a dynamic year in Aspen School District. The creation of the Aspen World Wide Web is an attempt not only to support other school districts in their pursuit of technology, but also informs the Aspen community of ASD's progress in preparing our children for a technological future.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

This is a World Wide Web site dedicated to the Bent's Old Fort Historic Site. This site takes you through the Fort room by room, giving a summary of each room, and a link to more information on each room. The information supplied is authentic and was given to me by the parks service. There will be a picture of every room as a background, or for the slower connections it will be a small picture at the top of the page.

This project shows a variety of programs that are used in various ways on our WWW Server, GeorgeWeb. Included are Java applets that show animation of graphics and pictures, text manipulation, and other interesting effects. I will also show several programs in CGI that demonstrate user interfaces with HTML. Included will be a calendar program that is used to maintain the school daily announcements.

I am an exchange student from China. That is part of the reason why I created a home page on traveling in China. I put in some pictures of the sights in China on it and listed some interesting cities in there.

My project attempts to predict the mortality rate in case of a nuclear attack on a city. It will use data from Hiroshima as an example. Other areas of the project will focus on determining the temperature of the atmosphere in different areas and times after and during an atomic bomb blast.

The American Verse is a World Wide Web homepage written mostly in Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) and JavaScript. This homepage contains multiple patriotic American documents, speeches, and song lyrics which can be easily accessed by students all over the world. Visitors to this page can also continue their WWW search directly on yahoo from this page. They can also access the sites that I have used as resources for The American Verse.

This project is a combination of HTML 3.0 and JavaScript. It allows any person who has permission to use the system to take a test over the Internet. The program will automatically calculate the tester's score, and allow the tester to get a summary of how they did on the test. The test used is an actual test that is used at Cheraw School to test students' math abilities.

VISUALIZATION PROJECT

For our project we used Virtus Walkthrough Stereo to make a virtual reality school of Platte Canyon High School to put on the internet. We have made one file which held the VRML of the outside of the school and we are finishing up the inside of the school. We are making a computer for the usage of our project. Because of the large size of our project we needed a computer that would handle all of the surfaces that are included in the inside of our school. We have already put the HTML on the internet and have made the HTML available in Java Script.

My project is on C programming and Internet games. It will be focusing on how programming can create something fun and not just boring spreadsheet/CPA programs. My project is a Mud (Multi-User-Domain), a D&D type role playing game where you can interact in real time with users from across the country.

Of all the interstellar phenomena, stars are among the most spectacular, and the most complicated. How is a star born? That is what this project intends to answer, or rather, how to represent this birth mathematically and graphically. The program included will take the initial size and mass of the nebulous cloud and outline what type of star it will eventually form.

Our project is to design a home page for the Clear Creek Emergency Services. This page will contain pictures of all of their equipment along with information about the county and services provided in an emergency situation.

Our project is on how it is how we see homepages in the future, how they are going to develop and get more complex.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Questions may be directed to: Rachelle Daily, NCAR, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000 Telephone: 303-497-1267 Fax: 303-497-1298 mouse@ncar.ucar.edu WWW:http://www.ucar.edu/SCD/CCSF/intro.html