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Maine Learning Results: Models

As of this past October, Maine's revised Learning Results are out and in effect. One of the new elements they contain are the Unifying Themes that cut across all science areas. On part one of its series of themes related to the Learning Results, MSTA is taking on the topic of models. Models are an important concept in science, and as a science teacher, you and your students use models every day in discussing and doing science. Let MSTA take you on a brief tour of this big science idea and help you consider how to help your students learn about and use models in science.

Are we living in a computer simulation?

Models Articles
Are we living in a computer simulation? It may not be a question you ask yourself too often unless you read a lot of science fiction, but one researcher has spent several years asking himself that question, and has decided that the answer is...a definite maybe.
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Teaching with Models

Models Articles
There are big things on the horizon for Maine science teachers -- big topics, that is. Maine's revised Learning Results contain a new section called Unifying Themes. These larger ideas stretch beyond any one science topic to appear in all areas of science. In our regular featured site-wide segments this year, MSTA will provide a look into each of these unifying themes. We begin our journey with models.
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Making Models with Students

Models Articles
To have students understand something best, it often helps to have them make a model of it themselves. When they can do this, you know that they have reached the level of understanding required to show how the object or system works at a deeper level. A series of steps can help you guide your students to create their own functional models.
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Movie corner: Models and Reality

Models Articles
Your students may be more interested in models than you think -- Hollywood has been using them as fodder for its films and television shows for much longer than they have been alive. Below are a few of our favorite movies that address the idea of models in some way, along with a few thoughts. This list is far from complete, however, and begs for more additions. In fact, we're sure you're thinking of a favorite movie that we've missed right now. Go ahead--help out your colleagues across the state by listing your faves down below in the comments!
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Models and Misconceptions

Models Articles
By all accounts, teachers should love models. They make it easier to understand things that are too big or far away to see in person, and they can simplify complex ideas to help students see the things that are really important about an object or concept. But models have one big problem: they lie.
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