Session 1: Favorite Model
Favorite Model: A Group Icebreaker
This is an interactive, teacher-colleague activity to help open the discussion about developing and using models in science and science teaching.
A lego model of the Whitewater watershed, courtesy of Nathan Stohlmann.
Teacher-Colleague Activity
Procedure
- Open to a blank page in your notebook.
- Think of your favorite teaching model in science – a diagram, equation, chart, 3D scale model, graph or other illustration that you use with your students.
- Draw this model in your notebook. (Note: It might be tempting to use a diagram from a textbook or point to a poster on the wall, but please take the time to draw this conceptual model in your notebook.)
- When finished find another teacher in the room and take a few minutes to explain your model to your partner.
- What concept(s) does it help teach?
- Why do you like using this model with students?
- How does this model help student understand the concept(s)? Provide evidence if you can.
- Now your partner gets a few minutes to introduce their model to you.
- Exchange notebooks so you now have your partner’s model. Find another teacher in the room and introduce your original partner’s model to your new partner.
- Then your new partner explains the model in their borrowed notebook to you.
- Again, exchange notebooks, find another teacher, and repeat the process.
- Repeat this process until you have spoken to all the teachers in the group, each time having explained a different model to a different person. For large groups, limit the number of notebook exchanges to four or five.
- Return notebooks to their owners.
Discussion
- What was it like to do this? What specifically made this fun and/or valuable to do?
- What was the most interesting or engaging model that you encountered (other than your own)? What are some reasons you especially liked this model?
- What do all the models have in common?
- What do you think are the components of a quality scientific model?
- Pick one model from the group.
- What are the strengths of this model, i.e., what does it explain well?
- What do you think is the level of precision of this model in illustrating the concept or system it is intended to explain?
- What are the limitations of this model in terms of presenting the phenomenon or system it represents?
- What is it about models that makes them so valuable to scientists and engineers?
- Why are models so valuable to science teaching?
- What do you think were the learning goals of this activity?
Take Two minutes for a quick evaluation of today’s session: Module 2 Session 1 Survey
Facilitator Note
If time permits, you may continue with the Constructing a Conceptual Model activity on the next page or wait to continue at your next session.