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Getting to grips with describing
variables, and understanding the relationships
between them, is a key area for all
science concepts. This innovative
modelling programme allows teachers
and pupils to illustrate these relationships
with an easy-to-build interactive
model. Even the most nervous ICT model
builder can be designing and running
interactive relationships within minutes.
Unlike many commercially available
packages, this resource is not specific
to a particular concept.
The Modelling programme requires
a special piece of software (Jave
runtime) to work on your computer.
Clear instructions on how to install
this and begin Modelling are given
in the Technical sheets below. The
on-line help menu provides step-by-step
instructions for each task, for building
models and running them. The help
menu also provides access to a few
activities to get you started, with
teachers' and pupils' guides and teachers'
tips. The diagrams and screen pages
are clear and fully annotated.
The simplicity of the modelling programme,
and the fact that it can be adapted
to illustrate any concept, makes it
a very powerful teaching tool. The
learning focus for pupils is identifying
the key variables, and how they relate
to each other. This is an excellent
example of ICT as a tool for developing
scientific thinking. The programme
includes three levels of complexity,
which allow pupils to develop more
sophisticated models as their understanding
of concepts grows.
Read the Technical sheets before
you start.
You need:
- A modern browser to read the on-line
help files, accessible from the
help menu within the programme.
- A runtime version of Java 2 to
run the programme. This is provided
on the CD ROM.
- Preparation for Windows version,
MacOS and other operating systems
are given in the Technical file.
The easiest way to get started is
to build and run a simple model. For
example, pupils could be asked to
model the relationship between the
amount of time a person spends at
work and their income. Further variables
can then be added, such as time spent
on holiday. Using everyday examples
such as these, where pupils have a
clear idea of the relationships, is
one way of introducing the model building
process. It also helps clarify the
language of models, for example, variables
and relationships. Alternatively,
several ready-made models and activities
are available as part of the package,
which you could use with pupils at
appropriate points in your curriculum.
N.B. Macintosh users must be running
OSX to use the Modelling package.
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