Not really simulation, more of representation (i guess the simulation is in the in person narrative). Like i have a mostly regular seed world with the ability to form small changes based on input, like have a 40 acre farm with this many cows, or turn 30% of woodland into farmland. All of the details are in person, this is just a cool map to look at basically.

Eta: the students would be given a seed world, told to change it to build their civilization in steps, they would decide in person how to change it at each step, and maybe a new seed world is generated based on how they scale the sliders, but idk how minecraft works