CS199 Distributions

Plan

• Discuss Fig 10 from the lynx & hare model, or, "how do we model the number of hare that the lynx kill"
  • semantics
  • qualitative behavior
  • trying to make it make sense
  • introducing a sub-model
  • families of functions: linear, monotonic increasing, s-curves, other
• estimation exercise
• Finish discussing summary statistics (location, spread)
• Random Data in Excel
• Sorting Data in Excel
• Histogramming Data in Excel
• Excel functions
  • randbetween(min,max)
  • average(range)
  • median(range)
  • mode(range)
  • var(range)
  • stdev(range)
  • avedev(range)
  • quartile(range,quart)
  • percentile(range,percent)
• Distributions
  • binomial
  • negative binomial
  • Poisson
  • Empirical Table

Lynx Hunting

Let's consider as a class how we might use the idea of a binomial in a predator/prey simulation, based on the following not-completely-insane assumptions:

• the time step is such that each lynx hunts only once per time step
• each lynx's chance of success is independent
• the chance of success depends on the density of hare, in some reasonable way.

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