ABSTRACT
Explanation and argument are intrinsic to modeling, which is the conceptual anchor of our classroom research. Students come to understand scientific ideas by generating, revising, and critiquing models. This goal requires organizing classrooms around knowledge-building: students make decisions about fruitful questions, measures, physical arrangements for studying the world, and structuring and interpreting data. Students in the elementary and middle school grades pursue extended study of conceptual rich systems (such as local ecologies). A sustained professional development effort for teachers supports these efforts. The research follows a design study approach and focuses on simultaneously supporting and documenting students’ evolving representational competence across grades of instruction.
