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Content Focus
Content Focus
Scientific models are developed as a means of helping people understand scientific concepts and representing them in a visual medium. Models are used to make predictions. They may include physical and digital models, which can be refined over time by the inclusion of new scientific knowledge.
Students recognise that many scientific models have limitations and are modified as further evidence comes to light. For this reason, scientific models are continually evaluated for accuracy and applicability by the global scientific community through the process of peer review. Students construct and evaluate their own models, which are generated through practical investigation.
Models to Inform Understanding
Models to Inform Understanding
Inquiry question: What is a scientific model?
● examine the types of models that may be used in science, including:
– diagrams
– physical replicas
– mathematical representations
– analogies
– computer simulations
Diagrams
Diagrams
Physical Replicas
Physical Replicas
Mathematical Representations
Mathematical Representations
Analogies
Analogies
Examples of Analogies are:
The heart is like a machine
Your blood vessels are like pipes
The universe is like a balloon
Computer Simulations
Computer Simulations
Inquiry question: What makes scientific models useful?
● examine the use of scientific models, including but not limited to:
– epidemic models
– models of the Universe
– atomic models
– climate models
● outline how models have been used to illustrate, simplify and represent scientific concepts and processes
● explain how scientific models are used to make predictions that are difficult to analyse in the real world due to time frames, size and cost
● assess the effectiveness of models at facilitating the understanding of scientific processes, structures and mathematical relationships through the use of:
– diagrams
– physical replicas
– mathematical representations
– analogies
– computer simulations
● evaluate how scientific models draw on a growing body of data from a wide range of disciplines and technologies to refine predictions and test new hypotheses
Types of Models
Types of Models
Inquiry question: When should a particular model be used?
● explain why new evidence can challenge the use of existing scientific models and may result in
those models being contested and refined or replaced, including but not limited to the development of:
– epidemic models
– models of the Universe
– atomic models
– climate models
● compare the limitations of simple and complex scientific models
Constructing a Model
Constructing a Model
Inquiry question: How can a model be constructed to simplify understanding of a scientific concept?
● investigate a scientific concept or process that can be represented using a model, by:
– planning a model with reference to the scientific literature
– constructing a model using appropriate resources to represent the selected scientific concept
– demonstrating how the model could be used to make a prediction
– presenting and evaluating the model through peer feedback
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