EJMT Abstract

While the usage of powerful mathematics software packages plays a key role in mathematics courses such as calculus, linear algebra, etc., shortcomings in these software packages exist — namely, issues of price, portability, and integration into a dynamic classroom technological environment. With these limitations in mind, this research expounds upon the mentally stimulating “Zombie Population Models” first developed by Munz, Hudea, Imad, and Smith[8]. Specifically, we modify these models to be visualized online via Sage, an open-source mathematics software based in the Python programming language, that allows for direct user interaction. Sage is very portable and does not require the user to download large software packages or learn extremely confined programming languages. We then focus on viewing mathematically “realistic” population trajectories for the different classes of zombies from Left 4 Dead, Valve Corporation’s immensely popular zombie video game series. All outcomes are numerically (and visually!) realized with online Sage tools, constructed using the @intreract command in Sage, and are available for viewing, manipulation, and use in a mobile environment at http://matrix.skku.ac.kr/2014-Zombie-Model/main.htm.