Week 1:

NetLogo Flocking Model: This model mimics the flocking of birds (individual agents) where each bird moves forward at the same speed following three rules.  The three rules are alignment, separation and cohesion.  The rules only affect the heading and direction and can be adjusted along with other parameters like vision.

i)  A flock is not guaranteed to keep all of its members because path dependency is based on the agents behavior (decisions) according to the rules and constraints.  Agents will move towards each other until another bird is too close and the separation rule overrides the other two so that one of the agents will move in a different direction in space.

ii)  After running the model for a while, the agents will move in approximately similar headings (cardinal direction) because of the local interactions between multiple agents that result in a macro-behavior, the birds are in alignment with the other agents.  Simple rules lead to higher level patterns (complexity).

iii)  Agents often break away from the flock because of adaptation, a response to changing needs (constraints) within their environment.  If the agents become too close the separation rule overrides the other two until minimum separation is achieved because two agents can not occupy the same space at the same time.

Week 2: