models and simulations A

Scientists often use visual or mathematical representations to investigate items that are very large, very small, or otherwise difficult to study.  What are these visual or mathematical representations called?

• experiments
• hypotheses
• models
• observations

Which comes first, the model or the simulation?

• The two are unrelated and can be created in any order.

• They are created at the same time because they are pretty much the same thing.

• The model is created first because a simulation needs models to run.

What is a simulation and why are they used?

• A simulation is a giant model in motion for a test.

• A simulation uses one or more models to imitate how those models might function in a real life situation.

• A simulation tests a hypothesis with 100% accuracy.

Which of the following is a limitation of using a model to study something?

• A model cannot represent a thing exactly.
• A model cannot help study things that are dangerous.
• A model cannot reproduce things that are too far away.
• a model cannot show things that are too small or too large.

Why do scientists use models?

• To test many possible ideas to find solutions to difficult questions.

• So that the object they are looking at can become real.

• So they can have a smaller object to look at.

The questions on a multiple choice test each have 6 answer choices. Which model can be used to simulate randomly selecting the correct answer on a 20 question multiple choice test?

• rolling a six-sided number cube 6 times
• rolling a six-sided number cube 20 times
• spinning a spinner with 4 equal sized sections 4 times
• choosing 1 marble in a bag of 20 different colored marbles

A scientist wants to see what would happen if a truck's tires slipped on ice.  What would the scientist use to test how the truck's tires would function in this example?

• a system
• a simulation
• a conceptual model
• a mathematical model

What is the advantage of creating a model of a dinosaur?

• they are too large to easily study 
• they are too complicated to study
• Real dinosaurs cannot be studied because they are extinct
• The model is safer to work with. 

Models can be helpful in scientific investigations because

• it may not be possible to work with the real thing.

• they can be smaller and more manageable than the real thing.

• they can be safer to work with than the real thing.

• all of the above

A tennis ball could be used to represent the sun because it's round and yellow. Which of the following could also be used to model the sun?

• a light bulb

• an empty cup

• an eraser

• a Kleenex box