SYSTEMS AND

MODELS

 SYSTEM

It is an assemblage of parts and the
relationships between them, which together
constitute an entity or whole
SYSTEM

 WAYS OF STUDYING
SYSTEMS

Traditional scientific investigations –
REDUCTIONIST APPROACH
Modern ecological investigations –
HOLISTIC APPROACH

Advantage: It can show how the

components within the whole system relate
to one another

CHARACTERISTICS OF
SYSTEMS

A system consists of storages and flows
 

Classify the following words:

Media Religion Peers
Decisions Deciding Culture
Listening School
Action Choices
Perspectives Learning



DRAWING A SYSTEMS
DIAGRAM

 The size of boxes and arrows can be drawn to
represent the magnitude of the storage or flow
 SYSTEMS APPROACH

Is a way of visualizing a complex set of
interactions which may be ecological or
societal
Tree system – draw and label the inputs,
outputs, processes and stores
SOCIETAL: Activity
 SYSTEMS APPROACH

 The interdependent components of systems are
connected through the transfer of matter and energy,
with all parts linked together and affecting each other
 Explain the above statement w.r.t. the following
examples:
 Atoms
 Cells
 Organ systems
 Ecosystems
 Solar systems
 universe
SYSTEMS APPROACH -
DISCIPLINES

 Similarities in the ways in which matter,
energy and information link together in a
variety of disciplines
SYSTEMS CONCEPT ON A
RANGE OF
 SCALES
An ecosystem is a community of interdependent
organisms and the physical environment they
inhabit.
Big scale: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9MV5CgPgIQ
Small scale https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SispCYjUTE
Largest scale: whole planet – GAIA HYPOTHESIS
 GAIA HYPOTHESIS

 Earth functions as a single
organism
Proposes that the Earth’s
elements (water, soil, rock,
atmosphere and the living
components) are closely
integrated in a complex
interacting system that maintains
the climatic and biogeochemical
conditions on Earth in a
preferred homeostasis
A social system

3 TYPES OF SYSTEMS


 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ9UCLQphtE

TO RETIERATE

 TRANSFER AND
TRANSFORMATION

 TRANSFER AND
TRANSFORMATION

 MODELS

 A simplified version of reality
 Can be used to understand how systems work and
predict how they will respond to change
 Computer models use current and past data to
generate future predictions
 Some models are complex and others are simple
 TASK
 TASK

 Watch the video link
 http://stemglobe.org/how-to-make-earthquake-alar
m-working-model-for-science-project/
 and identify the strengths and weaknesses of a model
 Strengths

  cheap and easy to make
 allow scientist to predict
 simplify complex systems
 inputs can be changed and outcomes examined
without having to wait for real events.
 results can be shown to scientists and the public
 LIMITATIONS

 might not be totally accurate as environmental
factors are very complex
 different models use slightly different data to
calculate predictions
 rely on the expertise of people making them
 different people may interpret them in different
ways
 vested interests might hijack them politically
 any model is only as good as the data goes in
and these may be suspect
 different models may show different effects
using the same data