Lesson Plan Day 4 | Wolfingers Classroom

Day 4
How Do Scientists Use Models as Evidence?

Learning Target

I can explain how a scientific model helps people understand something too distant or too old to observe directly.

LESSON OVERVIEW

On Day 4, students learn that scientific models and visual data are sources that must be interpreted. They examine a model related to star formation, solar system formation, or Earth formation. Students learn that models are explanations, not perfect copies of reality. A model can help explain something too old, too distant, too large, or too complex to observe directly, but it also has limitations. Students practice sourcing a scientific model by identifying creator/source, purpose, audience, and message.

AT A GLANCE

In this lesson, students will:

Study a scientific model or visual data source.
Identify what the model is trying to explain.
Source the model by asking who created it, why, and for whom.
Explain how a model can be useful evidence.
Identify what a model cannot show perfectly.
Share one usefulness and one limitation.

BELL RINGER

Look at the model. What do you notice? What do you think it is trying to explain?

Document

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

Explain what a scientific model is.
Source a scientific model or visual data source.
Identify the purpose and message of a model.
Explain how a model can be useful evidence.
Identify one limitation of a model.

I CAN STATEMENT

I can explain what a scientific model is.
I can identify the purpose of a model.
I can explain how a model can be useful evidence.
I can name one limitation of a model.

I CAN GUIDE

No understanding: Completely lost. Needs direct help.

Very little understanding. Struggling. Needs major support.

Partial understanding. Knows a little. Needs more practice or guidence.

Good understanding. Mostly gets it. Can worl with minor help.

Full understanding. Completely understands. Can work or explain it by themselves.

Mini-Lesson: Models Are Explanations

Learn that models explain ideas but do not show everything perfectly.

Source the Model

Identify:

creator/source
purpose
audience
message

Document

Small-Group Visual Data Interpretation

Discuss what the model helps people understand.

Document

Whole-Class Share

Share one thing the model helps us understand and one thing it cannot show perfectly.

Document

EXIT TICKET

How is a model useful evidence? What can a model not show perfectly?
- Sentence Frame:
  A model is useful evidence because ________________.
  A model cannot show everything perfectly because ________________.

Document

KEY VOCABULARY

Model: A simplified representation used to explain something.
Source: A text, image, object, model, or document used as evidence.
Visual Data: Information shown through images, charts, maps, diagrams, or models.
Purpose: Why something was created.
Audience: The people a source was created for.
Message: What a source is trying to communicate.
Usefulness: How a source helps answer a question.
Limitation: What a source cannot fully show or explain.

ESL SUPPORTS

Model: modelo
- Means: a simple way to explain something
- Say it: The model shows a process. / El modelo muestra un proceso.
Source: fuente
- Means: something we study for information
- Say it: This source helps us learn. / Esta fuente nos ayuda a aprender.
Purpose: propósito
- Means: why something was made
- Say it: The purpose is to explain. / El propósito es explicar.
Audience: audiencia / público
- Means: who it was made for
- Say it: The audience is students. / La audiencia son estudiantes.
Message: mensaje
- Means: the main idea being communicated
- Say it: The message is clear. / El mensaje es claro.
Limitation: limitación
- Means: what it cannot show
- Say it: The model has a limitation. / El modelo tiene una limitación.