Table of Contents

• Introduction to the Program
• Demo 1 and Demo 2
• Conceptual Understanding
• Understanding the Code
• The MBSApp Class
• The BoundedGrid Class
• The Location and Direction Classes
• The Fish Class
• New Fish Classes
• Simple Subclasses
• DarterFish
• SlowFish
• Dynamic Population (Breeding and Dying)
• Programming Project

Why a Case Study?

Case studies are a teaching tool used in many disciplines. In computing, they give students an opportunity to:

• Read source code written by someone else.
• Work with a program of significant length.
• Become familiar with good coding, design, and documentation practice.
• Learn about testing in a non-trivial context.
• Think through design and implementation tradeoffs.
• Experience an approximation of the master/apprentice relationship.

The Marine Biology Simulation case study presents a model simulation program designed to help marine biologists study fish movement in a small, bounded environment such as a lake or bay. It is based on a similar case study developed for the Advanced Placement® Computer Science program, and was part of the A and AB curricula for four years starting in 2003-2004.

The case study is written as a report of a summer job experience by a computer science student named Pat.