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Buns, scissors and strawberry laces –
a model of science education?
■
Ed Walsh
■
Rebecca Edwards
This article argues that there is a
strong case for teaching modelling
as a process in its own right.
What would you identify as the icons of
scientific discovery and invention? The
double helix? The Periodic Table? Maybe
Darwin’s first attempt at a branching
structure representing how evolution has
resulted in organism complexity? What
makes these powerful is not simply that
they are iconic, but that they are useful.
They encapsulate and represent some
truth about those concepts; they are, of
course, models.
Models are included in the science
National Curriculum because modelling is
a key tool for scientists and an integral
part of how science works. Modelling is
explicitly referred to in the Programmes
of Study for Science at Key Stage 3 and 4
(age 11-16) and in Assessing Pupil’s
Progress (APP). We also want pupils to
learn how to use models because they
are a way into some key concepts and
the process develops other skills, such as
group talk and evaluation. If pupils
understand the concept of producing
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November 2009
models, their progress in science will
be enhanced.
Modelling is a good way of getting
pupils to take responsibility for their
own learning. The emphasis becomes
less ‘this is a good model!’ and more
‘is this a good model?’ and ‘How can we
improve this model?’ Modelling helps
develop creativity and devising their own
models provides an opportunity for pupils
to develop higher order thinking skills,
such as evaluation (How good is this
model? What does it show? What does it
not show? Can it be developed?) and
synthesis (What does this reaction model
explain about particles, energy or forces?
Would it be a better model if it were
more graphic or more mathematical?)
Modelling should become progressively
more challenging. Pupils should be
encouraged and supported to move from
using models to evaluating them and
devising their own. Understanding
physical models enables them to
progress to conceptual models; for
example, from a molecular model made
of coloured balls to a written formula.
Modelling is one of the key components
of the Progressing to Level 6 and Beyond
project from the National Strategies and
a number of schools have taken a
proactive role in developing this aspect.
They often find that it links to other
features of effective teaching and
learning in science, including group talk
and writing, as well as developing a key
part of ‘How science works’ in the Key
Stage 4 National Curriculum.
Beacon School Case Study
Gemma Harrison and Kat Forrester are
joint Heads of Science at the Beacon
School in Surrey and have used modelling
as a way of improving pupil progress.
Teachers were already using models in
lessons but this varied from one to
another. Gemma and Kat wanted good
ideas to be shared and pupils to be actively
engaged in discussing and using models.
Simple models describe scientific ideas
Modelling a process, rather than an
object, is a way of increasing the
challenge – for example, devising a
model to show how a liquid evaporates.
A good way of doing this is to share
success criteria (such as ‘a good model
will describe how the particles move and
the role of energy’) and to use these as
bases for evaluation.
Another purpose of models is to
strengthen an explanation. One of the
examples used at the Beacon School was
in the topic of genetic modification and,
specifically, the substitution of the gene
for insulin into a plasmid. The plasmid
was represented by a bun or doughnut
and the gene by confectionary
strawberry laces. Pupils used scissors as
enzymes and inserted the laces into the
bun or doughnut. As the pupils have to
physically insert the insulin gene into the
plasmid, it is an effective way of learning
how the process works.
Gemma emphasised the importance
of the questions that followed. ‘Pupils
discussed why this was a good model, what
they had learned from it, how it was
unrealistic and the ways in which it could
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be improved. It’s easier for them to criticise
a model like this than one that’s been
produced by a teacher and presented as
a definitive representation.’
The strengths and weaknesses of using
the ‘modelling’ approach
Models enable pupils to understand the
key features of a concept and to
represent abstract processes in a
concrete way, and this bridges an
important gap. In one of the modelling
activities at the Beacon School, for
example, pupils model energy transfer in
an electrical circuit by carrying post-it
notes around a ‘circuit’ and depositing
them to represent the energy transfers at
different points in a circuit.
Kat stresses that, in addition to the
aim of pupils scoring higher marks on
tracking and summative assessments,
this helps instil a positive attitude and
disposition towards science. Pupils feel
more confident in exploring ideas and
taking the risk of responses being
challenged and, in some cases, proved
wrong. For teachers, it is also about
being able to adapt any model to use
with any teaching group.
There are two pitfalls with the use of
models in school science. One is that a
model devised by pupils themselves can
become an end in itself, especially a
visual model. The teacher has a key role
here in terms of determining the success
criteria; a good model is one that is fit
for purpose. The other pitfall is that the
model comes to be seen as being the
reality rather than representing it. A
model being used effectively is still seen
as a model and pupils need to be aware
of its limitations.
Model teachers
The science team at the Beacon School
was encouraged to identify instances in
which they used models in lessons and
reflected on their effectiveness. Schemes
of learning were reviewed and a greater
variety of learning activities
incorporated. One of the outcomes of
this review was to identify and share
good practice by building it in to plans.
This reduced the variation between
lessons and strengthened collaboration
and a sense of shared enterprise within
the team.
Other examples they included were
‘Tails’, in which pupils gather tails from
each other to show what (or who) they
have eaten, progressing from Year 7 (age
12) (showing how habitats work and
introducing the idea of competition by
acting out different scenarios) to Year 11
(age 16) (depicting the predator/prey
relationship that brings the graph to life.
They also then devise their own
scenarios to show ‘what happens if...’).
Another is the particle model – looking
at pictures of a football stadium and
seeing how the particles relate to
spectators at a football match. Another is
using a shopping centre to model the
idea of density (on a hot summer’s day,
not many shoppers – low density, but on
Christmas Eve when no-one has done
their shopping – high density). Finally,
there is the circulatory system model,
which uses coloured boiler suits and hats
to represent oxygenated and
deoxygenated blood. Pupils are then
encouraged to take the route of blood
around the body going from the heart to
the lungs and to the muscles. At each
stage, pupils are asked to swap their
boiler suits to model the process of
gaseous exchange occurring at the
different organs.
As well as incorporating models into
the lesson plans, staff were encouraged
to use them in response to questions
arising in lessons and where additional
explanations were needed. This
developed a ‘toolkit’ that teachers could
draw upon to respond to pupils’ needs
and interests.
Pupils’ Progress
Progress data, test results, observation
outcomes, and pupils’ work were all
measured in order to evaluate success,
showing that pupils are more engaged
with lessons and therefore with the
overall process of learning. Lessons are
enjoyable as well as challenging and
pupils are significantly more likely to talk
to each other about positive experiences
that they have had in lessons. Lessons
are much more likely to be ‘high
challenge – low stress’, so that pupils
feel more able to offer their own ideas
and less worried about whether they are
‘correct’. Pupils who had previously taken
no interest in science were making
comments such as: ‘I liked running around
outside with a tail on!’ and ‘I like being a
“science model”!’
❍ For a more detailed account of
Gemma and Kat’s use of modelling at the
Beacon School, visit the What Works
Well website at: www.standards.dcsf.
gov.uk/whatworkswell
❍ For the APP materials, visit the
National Strategies web area at: www.
standards.dcsf.gov.uk/nationalstrategies
and search on ‘Science APP’.
❍ Using models and modelling techniques
develops some of these ideas further. It
is available for download from the National
Strategies web area (see above); search
using the reference number 0699-2004G.
❍ For the Level 6 and beyond materials,
visit the National Strategies web area
(see above) and search using the phrase
‘progressing to Level 6 and beyond
in science’.
For more information, please contact
Steven Brassey on 020 7509
5381/07545 423 062 or
[email protected]
QCDA is the government agency for the
development of curriculum, delivery of
assessments and reform of qualifications
(www.qcda.gov.uk)
The National Strategies is the
Department for Children, Schools and
Families’ (DCSF) main programme and
delivery vehicle for securing
improvements in standards in Early Years
(EY) settings and schools
Ed Walsh is Senior Adviser at
The National Strategies, Secondary and
Rebecca Edwards is Curriculum Adviser
at QCDA.
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