Category: Drawing Things Together

Simulation and Modeling Software, 2010

This was inspired by several of this week’s readings that all focused on how various kinds of computational software can make complex science concepts more accessible to students of all ages. Notably:


White, B., & Frederiksen, J. R. (2000). Technological tools and instructional approaches for making scientific inquiry accessible to all. In M. J. Jacobson & R. B. Kozma (Eds.), Innovations in science and mathematics education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Wilensky, U., & Reisman, K. (2006). Thinking Like a Wolf, a Sheep, or a Firefly: Learning Biology Through Constructing and Testing Computational Theories—An Embodied Modeling Approach. Cognition and Instruction, 24(2), 171-209.

Sandoval, W. A., & Reiser, B. J. (2004). Explanation-Driven Inquiry: Integrating Conceptual and Epistemic Scaffolds for Scientific Inquiry. Science Education, 88(3).

Note: the formula on the whiteboard came from the Wikipedia page for Kepler’s laws of planetary motion.

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categories Drawing Things Together | Joshua February 10, 2010

  • Lisa
    So this is based on a diagram of Kepler's laws? BTW--The story about how Kepler came up with his laws of planetary motion (as told by Carl Sagan in one of the old episodes of Cosmos) is one of my all-time favorites. And, as I learned not long ago, Weil der Stadt, the German town of Kepler's birth, was spared bombing by allied bombers during WW II simply because it was Kepler's birthplace. Just some interesting trivia....
  • Oh, I only consciously based the formula on the whiteboard on Kepler's laws, but if the overall arrangement seems to suggest those laws, all the better! Also, thanks for the great trivia - I hadn't known that.
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