Leaning Into The Science and ENgineering Practices: Develop and Use Models

(Note: This is part 3 of a series of posts.  To read the introduction to the series, click here.)
 
“Develop and use models.”
 
Sounds boring, doesn’t it?
 
No, I think it’s worse than that.  It sounds like homework.  The worst kind of homework.  A project.  A big, do-it-at-home project.  The kind of project you spring on your parents at the last minute, make them take you on a 9pm-the-night-before-it-is-due shopping trip, and that they end up staying up all night doing for you.  

Rest easy.  It doesn't have to be that way.

Let's let the evidence speak for itself.  Do these kids look bored, disengaged, or like they're forcing an all-nighter on their parents to you?

​Heck, even the kids on Zoom love it!

The second NGSS Science and Engineering Practice I want to lean into is "Developing and Using Models." ​

I’ll go ahead and confess it now - this is the one I look forward to most.
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When Will I use This Pratice?

It depends.

One of the best parts of the Next Generation Science Standards is that they pre-assign a Science and Engineering Practice to each content area.  Most states have either adopted these standards or modeled their standards in this way.  So if you teach in one of these states (as I do), when you use this practice will be decided for you.  For example, it comes up once in this particular 6th grade unit I taught last year:
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If you teach in a state that hasn't adopted the NGSS at all, you'll simply have to decide for each standard if "Develop and Use Models" is a good choice of practice for the standard or not.  For example, I looked up four middle school standards from Florida, and one of them seems like a good bet for developing and using models, one might be, and two wouldn’t be:
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What are the Barriers to leaning into this practice?

 In the introduction to this series, I listed the eight reasons I recently heard teachers give for not having the kind of exciting, engaging, and dynamic science classrooms we dream of:

1. I’ve never seen a dynamic science class, so I don't know what to aim for
2. I don’t have enough time to teach the science content and do all that stuff
3. I want to keep using the lesson plans I already have
4. I don't have the training, tools, or strategies to manage that kind of class
5. I fear that I’ll fail
6. I’m not convinced it will actually improve motivation or learning
7. I don’t have what I need to do this
8. I’m afraid I’ll get low evaluations from my administration 

​Some of these barriers may apply to your situation while others may not.  Personally, at some point or another, I've dealt with all of these except for #6.
 
Admittedly, "Developing and Using Models" has some baggage that makes it one of the harder practices to lean into.  Nonetheless, it is my hope that I can convince you to go for it by the end of this post, no matter which barriers above are holding you back.
 
So, what do you need to know about the practice of "Developing and Using Models" to make your classroom sparkle and sing?
 
​Let's lean in.

STEP #1 - EXPAND WHAT “COUNTS” AS A MODEL

When most people hear the word “model,” what they instinctively imagine is something you build.

The number 2 result when Googling "scientific model"

The working definition of “scientific model” that I have found clicks with students is “models make scientific concepts visible that would otherwise be too small, too large, too slow, or too complicated to see without them.”  Some examples of such concepts include…

• Cells (too small)
• Anything in space (too large, too far away)
• Erosion (too slow)
• The flow of energy through an ecosystem (too complicated)

Using that definition opens a lot more options.  Physical models (things you build, shown above) are great, but they’re not the only way to make the invisible visible.  Some other types of models that fit this definition include

• Diagrams 
• Animations 
• Digital models 

There are even times when I’ve shown or had students create analogies.

This practice is a lot easier to approach with a wide-ranging definition of “model.”  It opens the door for a lot more kids to get excited.
​

Whatever is about to happen here, I think it qualifies as a model.

STEP #2 - STUDY EXISTING MODELS (GOOD AND BAD) FIRST

Let’s say I’m planning on giving the standard shown earlier a week of class time.

I mentally think of each class as having some “learning time” (where I teach them something in some way) and some sort of “working/practicing/doing” time.  I think that’s common to many classes.  I’m devoting five days to this standard, the first day will be devoted to examining existing models, looking at their strengths, inaccuracies, and limitations.
​

No, you don’t have to pre-make any models.  Thanks to search engines, you can find dozens of models for just about everything quite easily.  As we look at them, I teach the students to look for three features:

• Strengths - these are concepts or ideas the model demonstrates well
• Inaccuracies - these are concepts or ideas the model shows incorrectly
• Limitations - these are features missing from the model because the creator intentionally chose not to include them
  
  

I found a lot of success using the last two instead of just “weaknesses.” I like for students to consider the difference between wrong information and information that the creator didn’t attempt to include in the model.  For example, in explaining sea breezes, this diagram makes it appear that clouds are involved in the process of wind formation (a common misconception), which is inaccurate:

This next model, on the other hand, doesn’t have any explanation of what’s happening nor any mention of pressure.  While those would be strong additions, they were likely left off intentionally.  Even if not, it isn’t inaccurate to omit them.

STEP #3 - TEACH THE PRACTICE EXPLICITLY

I think that sometimes the Science and Engineering Practices come across as HOW we're supposed to teach, not WHAT we're supposed to teach.  So in my example here, the standard might come across to some readers as:

​Don't buy into that.
 
You need to teach students how to develop and use models (and all the other practices).  It isn't intuitive.  We can't just teach students what they need to know; we have to teach them what to do.  The practice comes up over and over again from kindergarten to 12th grade.
 
​Teach the practice explicitly.

​I would specifically devote the next day's learning time to planning good investigations.  Students don't naturally know how to do that.  They have to be taught.

If you'd care to see it, here are the slides I made to guide one of my lessons on this.  You'll notice that it is pretty bare bones.  I reviewed the features of good models (this was our third time on this practice), modeled an example (I do), had the students help me with a second example (we do), then work a third example with a partner (you do together), and finally start planning their first official models (you do alone).  In doing so, they saw three examples of well crafted models and thought through the process and the pitfalls three times, too.

​It doesn't have to be fancy, but kids need instruction on the practices.  They can't be expected to do them - much less learn content while doing them - without explicit instruction.
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STEP #4 - HAVE A SCAFFOLDING GUIDE TO H̶E̶L̶P̶ FORCE STUDENTS TO PLAN ​

Even with good instruction, kids will have a tendency to cut corners in planning their models. The page I provide them for doing so helps prevent that.  It forces them through a series of steps that should assure that they do a good job, or at least that I'll catch small problems before they become big problems.
 
​My scaffolding guide for "Developing and Using Models" looks like this:
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It is one page front and back, and I check it when they reach the development stage to make sure they've chosen an appropriate, manageable, well-crafted model before they start to make it.  If you like this scaffold, you can access it here.  If not, other experts have made scaffolds, too.  The Wonder of Science website has a popular one, and I'm sure there are others to be had as well.
 
The key is that the scaffold becomes something students get familiar with so they make fewer mistakes and grow accustomed to the practice.  I typically teach students for two years, and by the end of that time, they can do this in their sleep because we use the same scaffolding document every time.  I've done this with students as young as first grade, too (with a modified version).  The scaffold makes a big difference.

STEP #5 - DEVOTE MORE THAN ONE DAY OF "DOING" TIME TO ALLOWING STUDENTS TO DEVELOP MODELS THEMSELVES

Now for the fun part.  When students are learning to develop models, that's what they're going to DO​ during work/practice/doing time.  They'll need a few days.  And they'll love it.  I'll plug in four days here, but it can be as many or as few as you can afford.

This is the fun part, but also the intimidating part.  A room full of kids all developing different types of models - how in the world do you manage that!?  The next several steps address that very question.
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STEP #6 - OFFER TO GET SUPPLIES ​AS REQUESTED

There's no way around it - some models will require materials, and if students are developing their own models, you won't have everything they want.

My scaffold asks students "what supplies will you need that aren't in the classroom right now?"  I ask this BEFORE I approve the model so I know what to get them.  Most of what they ask for is in the room or in the school somewhere.  Most of the rest can be picked up on the cheap with a trip to a grocery store or Walmart.  Students will often offer to get the rest.
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This step is personal.  I'm fine making a trip to Walmart after school with everyone's wish list.  My schools have often been willing to pay for it.  If not, I'm willing to pay for it.  It is rarely expensive.  Usually the same few things are in everybody's models.  I also reserve the right to tell a student "you've planned a great model, but I won't be able to get you these supplies.  If you can get them, I can't wait to see how this goes!  If not, would you try  a different model from your list of options?"

STEP #7 - OFFER CHOICE, BUT THE TEACHER APPROVES

Ultimately, I want students to develop models the actually want to create.  However, I reserve the right to deny a proposal in the scaffold.  Maybe it is off topic.  Maybe it is poorly planned (reteaching opportunity!).  Maybe I can't get the materials it will take.  Maybe I just don't trust a certain student to actually follow through on a certain idea.

You want choice, but you don't want chaos.
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STEP #8 - KEEP TEACHING!​

Don't forget, you still have teaching time!
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What you do here will vary depending on the standard, but there is still time to teach those concepts, vocabulary, etc.  Working on models doesn't have to shut down everything else.  Back in step #1, I promoted sequencing activities based on the principle of "do the fun stuff first" (officially called "explore before explain").  Well, now it's time to explain.  Kids won't learn everything​ through discovery.

STEP #9 - KEEP AT IT

If this is totally new for you, it will feel uncomfortable at first.  It will feel chaotic,  you'll wonder if the kids are actually learning (they are!), and there will be ways you want to personalize and modify things.

That's ok.

Like everything in teaching, you'll know what to do when the time comes.  You make a thousand decisions every day and fix a thousand little problems.  This is no different.  You'll figure it out.

Over time, you'll get better at this, and so will the kids. Just wait until the third time this practice comes up in your curriculum, and you're teaching model development for the third time, and the kids are give you a "yeah, we remember" look the entire time you're teaching them what to do.  

And then wait and see how much gusto they dive into those models with.  They love it.  They'll know that for the next few days, when I go to science class, I'm going to really, truly do some science.
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And they'll look forward to it.

And they'll remember it.

And so will you.

So c'mon!  Next time "Developing and Using Models" comes up in your science standards - go for it.

Lean in.

This is part 3 of a 10-part series called "Leaning Into The Science and Engineering Practices for a More Dynamic Classroom."  The rest of the series can be accessed here.


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