Can poor science models still be useful for teaching science?
This might be counter-intuitive but sometimes presenting poorly designed scientific models to students can be extremely helpful in allowing students to critically analyse a given topic area. This week I was teaching a Stars & Planets workshop to primary school students and we started tearing apart the solar system model shown below:

Solar system model: basically it's terrible...and useful!
Of course, as you'd expect of a school science incursion we bring all the 'whiz bang stuff' to show the students but for this hands-on station it is very useful to use the solar system pictured above as a way of having students brainstorm all things wrong about the model... and believe me, there are a LOT of issues:
What's the moral to this story? Even if you can't get the exact scientific model to use in demonstrating a concept it is the very flaws you can find that can be used as the greatest source for inspired learning.
All the best!
Ben

Find out more about the author
Join our newsletter for more science teaching thoughts & ideas
>100 free science experiments on this site!
If you enjoyed this post you might also like these related posts:
Got any comments or want to share your own experiences? We'd love to hear from you below!

Solar system model: basically it's terrible...and useful!
Of course, as you'd expect of a school science incursion we bring all the 'whiz bang stuff' to show the students but for this hands-on station it is very useful to use the solar system pictured above as a way of having students brainstorm all things wrong about the model... and believe me, there are a LOT of issues:
- The size ratios of the Sun compared to planets are completely out.
- The distances between each planet and to the Sun are totally wrong.
- Where are the moons? For that matter, what about the asteroid belt, the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud?
- The Sun is missing sunspots, solar flares and is even the wrong colour (it's a yellow dwarf after all).
- Mercury is completely smooth instead of pockmarked with craters.
- Venus should be white-ish yellow reflecting the presence of a carbon dioxide atmosphere laden with sulfur.
- Earth has no continents, tundra, weather systems or polar caps.
- Mars is missing it's northern polar ice cap.
- Jupiter has no gaseous banding or rotating storms shown (nor does any of the other gas giants either).
- Saturn is missing it's icy rings, and that's the same with Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.
- If we were only showing planets and our Sun, why is Pluto there if it's classified as a Dwarf Planet?
- The orbits paths are completely circular instead of elliptical...
... and the list goes on!
What's the moral to this story? Even if you can't get the exact scientific model to use in demonstrating a concept it is the very flaws you can find that can be used as the greatest source for inspired learning.
All the best!
Ben

Find out more about the author
NEW Primary science teaching book
Be Amazing; How to teach science, the way primary kids love


Join our newsletter for more science teaching thoughts & ideas

>100 free science experiments on this site!
If you enjoyed this post you might also like these related posts:
Got any comments or want to share your own experiences? We'd love to hear from you below!
2 Comments
How to teach science, the way primary kids love
Want more science? Subscribe to the FizzicsEd podcast!