Chais2025_Heb_and_Eng-web

50 E Simulations Storybook: Supporting Young Children’s Growing Understanding of Complex Systems (Short paper) (NGSS, 2013). Technological advances have turned storybooks into interactive tools with varied success (Bus & Anstadt, 2021; Hoel & Jernes, 2024). Literature Review Computer simulations model scientific phenomena, aiding exploration of processes like molecules (Epstein, 2008). While research often focuses on adults and teens, young children remain underrepresented (Peppler et al., 2020). Combining digital storybooks with simulations integrates storytelling and interactive learning, expanding their role in education (Hoel & Jernes, 2024). Prior studies have used storytelling with computational tools, like simulating bees or embedding programming (Danish et al., 2011; Horn et al., 2013). This study centers on complex systems—interactions where individual actions influence the whole, like ant colonies—focusing on physical and social systems. Complex systems pose challenges due to misconceptions about control and causality (Hmelo- Silver & Pfeffer, 2004). Targeted interventions addressing system levels, interactions, and emergent processes can help (Jacobson, 2001; Wilensky & Resnick, 1999). This study examines predator-prey relationships and disease spread through a digital storybook. Research questions: 1. Changes to systems-thinking: How do children's use of complex systems concepts change through interacting with the Simulations Storybook? 2. Impact of system domain on systems-thinking: How do their understanding differ between physical and social systems? 3. Simulations Storybook interaction characterization: What typifies their process of interacting with the storybook? Method A mixed-methods pretest-intervention-posttest design (Creswell, 2012) was used with semi- structured interviews. Fifteen Israeli kindergarteners (five females, M = 5.9 years, SD = 0.36) participated with IRB and Ministry of Education approvals. One child was chosen for detailed analysis based on cooperation and verbosity. Each child completed six 20-minute sessions: two pretests on physical and social systems, two sessions with the storybook, and two posttests. Questions were validated in prior research (Sacks 2018), and video recordings captured screen activity and behavior. The Simulations Storybook Design Two NetLogo (Wilensky, 1999) agent-based models were embedded in a Hebrew story about a child caring for rabbits and growing carrots. The first model "Feeding Rabbits" (Figure 1), based on NetLogo's wolf-sheep predation model (Wilensky, 1997), simulates interactions between rabbits, carrots, and hay with simplified controls. The second model, "Sick Carrots" (Figure 2), inspired by NetLogo's disease model (Wilensky, 2005), introduces infected carrots, allowing children to adjust a "chance of getting sick" slider and observe disease spread.