Modeling

          To me the concept of modeling allows a student to understand something that’s too large for them to see at once. The best way to describe it is the use of scale when learning about the solar system. I remember completing this lab when I was in school. Each student was given a planet and we did a whole lot of math to figure out how large each would be at given distances away from each other (obviously scaled down by the teacher). We then drew them on paper and went out to the athletic fields. We are spaced apart according to our math and then held up our planet drawings. The idea that in the right light conditions I (from my spot on Earth) can see Mars and Venus but Pluto (still a planet to me) might as well have been standing in the next town for all I could see.

            So to me the educational value of modeling comes from breaking something down that is too large a topic for all at once and showing it in understandable terms.

            My specific topic is Oceanography and to me the drawback of teaching oceanography is that many kids have never seen the ocean. Many have never swam in anything other than a pool. So to get them to understand the feeling of the ocean a model is required. I believe a model is required to get students into the setting. Oceanography is the type of topic that benefits from experience. 

My graphic representation is of another project I did when I was in 6^th grade. I always remember back to this project because of how ‘cool’ it was and how much I learned from it. It was our final project for 6^th grade science and our teacher had us make Biomes. We were in groups and given HUGE plastic bags – and by huge I mean 10 feet across and 25 feet long. A box fan was attached to one opening and a doorway at the other end and once turned on the huge bag inflated and inside you could create your biome. My group had the desert and had a black bag so you couldn’t see in or out. We created the entire environment of a desert right there in our school’s gym. Each group created their own encased environment. It was magical.

            So for my representation I would take a bag/biome and create the ocean. Create an underwater experience. I would use color and motion (not hard to make those bags sway) and sound to simulate being underwater. I think a model like this is important to put kids inside the topic.

          To the left is a picture I found online of the bag. I would hope I could create the inside to look like this:

It would be ideal to be able to set up small lab experiments inside.