Models in Science

Reading: Did a model save the bay?

Duration: Approximately 25 minutes

In this passage, students will read about the San Francisco Bay Model, created in 1954 to study a plan for creating fresh water lakes in the bay. The Bay Model, still a popular educational and tourist destination, proved that the plan would not have worked and would have caused irreparable harm to one of the country’s most diverse estuaries.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Students read about a real-life application of a model used to make an important decision.

Teacher Tip

• Examine the difficulty of the text to decide in advance whether the passage should be read aloud by the teacher, read aloud in pairs, or read individually.

Teacher Tune-up

• In science, what do we mean by model?

ACTIVITY OVERVIEW

1. Establishing context (5 min)
2. Describing the model (5 min)
3. Reading the passage (15 minutes)
4. Discussion (5 minutes)

Describing the model (5 min)