Diana Fisher's Modeling Dynamic Systems: Lessons for a First Course, the follow-up to her popular Lessons in Mathematics: A Dynamic Approach, provides a set of tools that enable educators at the secondary and college levels to teach a one-semester or one-year course in System Dynamics modeling. Developed for beginning modelers, the lessons contained in this book can be used for a core curriculum or for independent study.

Course materials meet National Science Education Standards (NSES) and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and are out-of-the-box ready for use in your classroom today.

Modeling has been used for years to help scientists and policy makers find solutions to complex problems. It is one of the most valuable and useful applications of mathematics. However, most models are difficult to understand and require significant mathematics to interpret.

Systems Thinking software like Stella offers an opportunity to create visual models that actively engage students to study a wide variety of problems. Creating a model allows for “real-time” analysis and a more stimulating environment to glean insights. Modeling Dynamic Systems: Lessons for a First Course provides an easy-to-use set of teaching materials that are paced gently enough for students to learn to create dynamic models using the Stella software.

This book is the teacher's edition and includes a download containing PDFs of all student exercises, as well as the save-disabled version of the Stella software that can be used by students to complete the exercises.