Emergent patterns in deterministic modelling

Abstract

Synthesis and diffusion of a pigment molecule can be simulated using deterministic equations in computer software. These lesson materials describe how tiger stripes emerge from manipulations in this code, and how students can engage in mathematical inquiry by exploring these reaction-diffusion equations.

KEYWORDS:

• Reaction-diffusion
• modelling
• inquiry
• MATLAB
• Octave

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgement

Abdalkadur Al-Sabawy worked on the mathematics and coding for this project in the spring of 2019, and without his work this paper would not be possible. Thank you Abdal. We are grateful for project input and guidance from Dr. Folashade Agusto, who supported the authors throughout development and publishing. We thank the Center for STEM Learning at KU for their support of this effort. Project support was provided by Jeffery Ross from the Center for Teaching Excellence.