Animal Collective

Using a blank sheet of paper and colored pencils, students are guided through drawing a detailed graphic of their social network to illustrate the complexity of living in groups.

Students learn about group living in animals and make predictions about types of benefits and costs. The role of natural selection is discussed when analyzing examples.

Students are introduced to methods of studying animal groups, both in laboratory settings and the natural environment.

In the next lesson, students will dive into the unexpected group properties that arise from complexity.

Students review the definition of complexity by applying it to a video of starlings.

Students learn the basics of the Game of Life by John Conway.

Using a computer simulation, students make predictions and conduct tests of the Game of Life.

Students explain emergence using examples from the previous computer simulation.

Emergence in real life is introduced using the example of an online video going viral.

Use the detailed teacher guide to lead students in a discussion of the three basics of flocking behavior; alignment, cohesion, and separation.

Students go through multiple rounds of the flocking activity in a gymnasium or outdoors.

With guided reflection questions, students discuss or write about what they observed and learned about emergence during the flocking activity.

Students review the definition of emergence by recalling real-life examples. Through guided discussion, students recall the experimental methods of studying emergence from lesson 1.

Can we use a simulation to understand the schooling behavior of shiners? With guided exploration questions, students engage with the Swimming in the Dark simulation of schooling behavior.

Students gather data to understand more about individual "rules" that contribute to emergence of schooling behavior in shiners.

Students interpret data from a related study of collective shiner behavior and relate it back to the conclusions from their experiment.

Students briefly review conclusions from the previous experiment and discuss ideas about how "schools of thought" emerge online.

How do simple human tendencies affect the emergent properties of opinions and friendships? With guided group discussion, students are introduced to the EchoDemo simulation of online social networks.

Students manipulate variables including unfriending, tolerance, and influence to discover the emergence of online echo chambers.

After watching a short news clip about echo chambers, students connect what they learned during the EchoDemo simulation to real life. Analysis questions allow students to share opinions and engage in discussion/debate.

Have students examine their own social media network and consider the friends, groups, and influencers they are connected to and follow. How different are the opinions that they see and hear? Do different “schools of thought” exist? What is their own unfriending behavior? Tolerance level?

Potential debate prompts include:

• "social media fuels echo chambers"
• "influencer content should be moderated"
• "social media can facilitate collective action on global challenges"

Students can prepare for structured discussions around questions such as:

• "What can individuals do to ensure they stay open-minded and exposed to a variety of ideas?"
• "Should social media be reformed? Should there be limits placed on posting, reposting, friending, or unfriending?"
• "What makes someone a social media influencer, and what responsibilities should come with the status?"