Strand3_Spreadsheet_model_and_sim_Simulation

Theory

 * Computer generated-versions of real-world objects (for example, a sky scraper or chemical molechules) or processes (for example, population growth or biological decay). They may be presented in 2-dimensional, text-driven formats, or, increasingly 3-dimensional, multimedia formats. (Nicole Strangman and Tracy Hall; Virtual reality/computer simulations; National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum)


 * Is the manipulation of a model in such a way that it operates on time or space to compress it, thus enabling one to perceive the interactions that would not otherwise be apparent because of their separation in time or space. (Modeling & Simulations, An Introduction; (http://www.systems-thinking.org/modsim/modsim.htm)


 * Is an attempt to model a real-life or hypothetical situation on a computer so that it can be studied to see how the system works. By changing variables, predictions may be made about the behaviour of the system. (Ciomputer Simulation; (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SimulationComputer_simulation)


 * Computer simulation is the discipline of designing a model of an actual or theoretical physical system, executing the model on a digital computer, and analyzing the execution output. Simulation embodies the principle of ``learning by doing'' --- to learn about the system we must first build a model of some sort and then operate the model. eg. the airplane simulator ([])

(by Jordan Contreras) Now-a-days simulations are something we are really familiar to; we used them to teach things, train personnel, or predict the weather for the weekend. Yet, few people are aware of what a simulation is and what other means it may have.
 * What is a Simulation

Basically, a simulation is a fictional recreation of something real, state affairs or processes in a physical, virtual or behavioural way. Also, many people relates simulations with computers, but actually a simulation may not always require a computer as in the case of a physical simulation.

As I have said previously, there are different types of simulation; physical, virtual or behavioural. In the case of a physical simulation, computers are not required. Here, people recreate different scenarios or certain situations. Most of physical simulations are used to train people; for instance, firemen sometimes run simulations of a certain situation to train them how act on that specific situation. Another example may be when earthquake simulations or drills are run. In these cases people are also trained to react in case of an earthquake. On the other hand, virtual simulations are a recreation of a situation through a computer using models of buildings, cars, aircraft, etc. These simulations are also to train people, but in really specific and professional things, which also tend to be more expensive or dangerous. For example, pilots are most of the time trained with a flight simulator, in order to learn the necessary stuff in a safety and relatively cheaper way. Also, it is being introduced the use of simulators for medicine. In this type of simulators doctors learn and practice procedures before performing them on a real patient. Finally, behavioural simulations recreate situations, but with out the actual intervention of human, only a computer based most of the times on a mathematical model predict the behaviour of variables, stated by humans, in certain situations. These kinds of simulations are mainly used to predict certain behaviours over a long period of time, like population growth. Also, in games like sim city or zoo tycoon this kind of simulation is shown, though human intervention is more, as scenarios and some model reactions are manipulated by human hand.

Simulations give lots of advantages but also create concerns among people. For instance, procedures to create simulations and models inside them must be really accurate, to real life situations in order to be very reliable. Actually, flight simulations, are fairly different in terms of physics to reality, making pilots struggle when facing real life procedures. Similarly, as simulations do not actually present any kind of danger for people at the situations they recreate, users may not take situations too seriously, and allow more mistakes, depending on how rigorous is the model used in the simulation.

Conclusively, simulations have different types; physical, virtual and behavioural. These are used on diverse situations, and their main function is to recreate real life situations in order to train, evaluate or predict reactions or behaviours of variables. However, there are certain concerns like the reliability and accuracy, as well as the importance people give to simulations when they become part of the variables.

Examples
Traffic simulator []

September 11 Simulation []

Militia Simulations []

The Habitable Planet Simulations []