What Is Modeling?
Introduction To Modeling:
Setup: A rock and a toy car.
Explain the basic premise of modeling: trying to understand something
by looking at something else that has similar characteristics, but is easier
to observe. Note that the thing you study (the model) will behave like the
thing you are modeling only partially, and part of the process of modeling is
determining how the two are the same, and how they might be different. Hold up
the rock and tell the students that you are using the rock as a model for a
car. Ask them if they think it is a good model for a car.
Place the rock on a flat surface. Ask the students "Does the rock have
wheels?" ("No.") "Does the rock have an engine?" ("No."). "What does a car
do when it doesn't have wheels or an engine?" ("It sits there, just like a
rock.")
Pick up the rock and drop it to the floor. "What happens when a car goes over
the edge of a cliff?" ("It falls, very much like a rock"). Under specific
circumstances a rock CAN represent a car - perhaps a car going off of a cliff,
but probably not a car going down a highway.
Show students the toy car. "In what ways is the toy car a good model of a
real car?" (Shape, has wheels, etc.) "In what ways is it not a good model?"
(No engine, different size).
Activity :
Setup: Several random items collected for the students. Paper and Pencil.
Students think about modeling using basic items. Place several items on the floor, at least one for every student involved.
Each student picks up an item and brainstorms an idea for what that item could
be used to model. Have the student record the idea on a the sheet of paper -
multiple ideas can be recorded. After a set period of time (eg. 1-2 mins),
students should pass their item on to another student in circular order so that
each student has a chance to think think about each item.
As a class discuss each item, and allow students to interject their ideas of how that item could be used to model something. It is an important to make sure students have a clear understanding of what it means to model something.