Modelling and Simulations

I sometimes wonder whether this unit/area is the one that causes more confusion and uncertainty than all the others. Most of the other untits/aspects of the PoS can be identified by pointing out specific bits of software that can be used to deliver it: Publisher/PowePoint/Textease, Information Workshop, etc….

However, I feel that this area is best served by showing/talking to pupils about how computers can do things that can aid us to do things that are impossible, expensive, dangerous and unrealistic to do in real life, and to do this, showing tham a range of examples that cover the above is a better aproach than focussing on a particular piece of software. I doubt there’s a pupil in school that hasn’t played a game and can point out the differences between reality and computer games. I’ve lost count of the number of expensive Ferraris I’d have written off on my Nintendo Wii game if they were real. If it was my Ferrari I’d have taken that hairpin at a much slower speed……leaving aside the fact that if it was my Ferrari I’d probably not be writing this blog! And let’s not go down the maiming and mayhem in some games they ought not to be near until much older.

One of the issues is that it’s easy to attach a ‘just playing games’ tag to modelling and this can be true, but to me, one of the key differences between a pupil modelling and one that is just playing or pressing buttons is what goes on in the head. There are numerous examples of activities that can be done by ‘clicking and hoping’, but for some pupils, with guidance and suitable questioning from the staff, this same activity is a valuable modelling exercise.Examples of suitable questions are ‘What would happen if…?’ and ‘Why have you changed….?’ ‘Could you do this in real life?’

Two useful pieces of software that adress this are are Model Shop from Sherston and Junior Simulation Insight, from Logotron. The former has some simple activities at 3 levels whilst the latter is more aimed at modelling in the science curriculum and although perhaps not as easy to ‘get into’ and as attractive to look at offers greater depth and allows pupils to get to the heart of modelling and alter the rules which make the whole thing work.

I read somewhere that if you can’t alter the rules, then it’s a simulation and if you can, it’s a model and I can’t see a reason to disagree over this. E.g: you can play the best flight simulator available and you’ll be in a simulation because some programmer somewhere has decided at what point the plane will fall out of the sky. It’d be a model if you could decide to be airborne at 30 mph in a Jumbo: Not a realistic one, but a model.

Apart from the programs listed above, some useful websites I’ve used are listed below. If you know of any others, please let me know by leaving a comment.

Colin’s Coffee, Go Ballistic, Roller Coaster 1, Roller Coaster 2 (Introduces variables to alter), Cargo Bridge, ( A fun game on its own, but with a few pictures of bridge structures some guidance and pertinent questions, it becomes a realistic modelling exercise, specially as in this one you work to a budget to build your bridge). Morph Faces, is one that could quite easily be parked in the playtime category as pupils mess around with pre-uploaded images. However, a few pics of Star Wars aliens, (most of whom have eyes, mouths and noses) and set them the task  designing an alien for the next intergalactic blockbuster and you have a fun modelling activity. I guess plastic surgeons might have access to something similar before they go to work on someone?

For older pupils and building on the Cargo Bridge model, with links to structures in Design Technology, there’s West Point Bridge Designer. You don’t need to enter the competition. just download the software.

Update

How exciting. I found a different link for the Cargo Bridge game  that lets you copy and paste the code that makes it work inside it’s learning. This link takes you to a lot more that do the same.