ABSTRACT
Simple models-sometimes called “first-approximation models”, are important because they allow students to understand how the representation maps onto the real world. This allows students to use the model as a tool for thinking about the relationships between the different parts. However, students can go much deeper if pressed to think about revising the model itself. If students are asked to figure out how they might change the rules, and the parts of the model, to make the simulation more “realistic,” what they are really doing is revising the model based upon what they know about the real-life phenomena under consideration. Sometimes in school science, teachers operate from a basic conception of modeling that only seeks to represent the phenomenon. Scientists use models as tools for reasoning, and this is a worthy goal for their use in science classrooms too.
