Scientific Modeling

“Progress in science proceeds in fits and starts. Some periods are filled with great breakthroughs; at other times researchers experience dry spells.

Scientists put forward results, both theoretical and experimental. The results are debated by the community, sometimes they are discarded, sometimes they are modified, and sometimes they provide inspirational jumping-off points for new and more accurate ways of understanding the physical universe.

In other words, science proceeds along a zig-zag path toward what we hope will be ultimate truth, a path that began with humanity’s earliest attempts to fathom the cosmos and whose end we cannot predict.”

From The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

What is a “Scientific Model”?

At its very core, science is the discipline of making models of reality that allow us to understand and make predictions about the world that we live in, the world around us.

These “Scientific Models” are created from observations and/or experiments.

This data from observations and experiments should always be from “actual reality” and not from opinions, bias, or virtual reality.

These models of “reality” are constantly tested and refined in the scientific community.

In fact, the highest ideal of science is to prove these “models” wrong. Conversely, if after repeated attempts to refute the model, no one has proven it wrong, we can be fairly certain that it is probably right and can be used to make predictions.

Models are of central importance in all of science.

Examples, such as the billiard ball model of a gas (left), the Bohr model of the atom (link below), Quantum Theory, the double helix model of DNA, and the Theory of Evolution are only a small part of the larger group of ideas and presentations that are called “Scientific Modeling”.

How to Build an Atom http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/build-an-atom

What is a scientific model?

A model is a representation of an object or system.

Models are used in science to help explain how something works or to describe how something is structured.

Models can also be used to make predictions or explain observations.

Models are never exactly like the real thing.

Three basic types of models:

Physical: Models that are meant to look like the thing that they are representing.

Examples: toy rocket or plastic skeleton

Mathematical: Models that are made up of numbers, equations, or other forms of data.

Example: Punnett Square

Conceptual: Models that represent systems of ideas or compare unfamiliar things with familiar things

Examples: Cell Theory, Evolution.

What are benefits and limitations of scientific

models? Scientific models are useful because they can

represent things that are very small, large, complicated, things that no longer exist or that don’t actually have a physical representation other than as an idea.

Examples: dinosaurs, a cell, natural selection

Through modeling, scientists may even discover things they haven’t thought of before.

Example: recreating dinosaurs through fossils helps scientists better understand them

Models can even be a type of hypothesis that can be tested.

Example: “concept” car

What are benefits and limitations of scientific models?

The main limitation of scientific models is that they are only models. Though they may be very close to that which they model, they are not the real thing.

Example: A Punnett Square can show you the probability of having a child with blue eyes…but the model is just that, a model. You will have to see what color eyes your children have once they

are born.

Some of the most important “Models” we use are what are called “Scientific Laws”.

A description of how a natural phenomenon will occur under certain circumstances. A law TELLS how things work…they are statements of what WILL happen.

Examples:Newton’s Law of Universal GravitationThe Law of Conservation of Energy

.

Another model that is used in science is the Hypothesis

An explanation (scientific model) of one or more phenomena in nature that can be tested by observations, experiments, or both.

In order to be considered scientific, a hypothesis must be falsifiable (preferably in an If…. Then…. form), which means that it can be proven to be incorrect.

Hypotheses

Sometimes a hypothesis may be incorrect. Maybe more information is needed. Maybe you need to approach the question from a different angle.

Scientists use hypotheses to find new answers so that their scientific knowledge can continue to grow.

TheoriesA scientific theory is an explanation that ties

together many hypotheses and observations.

Theories are conceptual models that help organize scientific thinking. They are a model that scientists can use to predict what MIGHT happen.

Examples: Cell Theory (all living things are

made up of cells)

The Theory of Evolution

The Heliocentric Theory of the Solar System

Scientific Models in this classIn this science class, you will be expected

to create your own models of various concepts that we study through the year.

In this way, you can be “scientists” yourself, utilizing the experiences from the labs, lectures, and reading to understand the fundamental workings of the world and hopefully be able to make predictions (the Unit tests) based on that model.

Scientific Models in this class

But first, in each unit, you will need to learn the terminology that will be used to construct each model.

Then, using that terminology, you can begin to piece together a conceptual framework that allows you to understand whatever concept or principle we are studying at the time. You will make a “Scientific Model”.

Scientific Models and LabsLabs are a special situation in our

science classesYou need to first learn the terms and

figure out the scientific model that we might be working with.

The Lab will then be a chance to disprove (falsify) the scientific model, or to find out that it can be used successfully to predict what might happen in the real world.