ABSTRACT

The representation is one possible simplification—emphasising some things, ignoring others—and observing some particular conventions that have developed. Modelling is a core scientific activity, and therefore an authentic science education should introduce learners to ideas about and the processes of models and modelling. Scientific models represent some natural system or specific aspects of some natural system considered to be of particular interest. Models are ubiquitous in science but arguably become especially important in teaching and learning chemistry at school level. To complicate matters for the teacher, chemistry teaching engages with several different types of models, and so it is useful for the teacher to be aware of the different types of model and the roles they play in teaching and learning the subject. A complication is that often what is taught in school chemistry is not a scientific model itself but some further simplification considered more suitable for students of a certain age and level of background knowledge.