What is meant by the term 'computer model'?
A representation of a real-life system or situation.
Any digital image
Any piece of work saved in a spreadsheet file.
Which of these questions tends to be asked of computer models?
How did…?
What if…?
When did…?
What software could you use to build a simple model?
A word processor
A database
A spreadsheet
What is the difference between a model and a simulation?
A simulation has to have moving parts.
A simulation imitates a particular environment.
A simulation needs a supercomputer to run it.
Which of these is a good reason to use a flight simulator?
A flight simulator is an exact replica of the real thing.
Using a flight simulator is free.
The pilot can practise what to do in a variety of scenarios.
Which of these scenarios WOULDN'T use a simulation?
Keeping track of the current football league tables.
Studying the effect of the sea on the coastline.
Investigating the aerodynamics of cars.
Which of these is an advantage of using a computer model or a simulation?
You can test every possible scenario.
You can test a product before building it.
Creating a model or simulation is free.
Which of these is a disadvantage of using a computer model or simulation?
You can't speed simulations up.
It is more expensive than doing it for real.
People's reactions to a simulation might not be realistic or reliable.
Which one of these is NOT a simulation?
A spreadsheet tracking the lap times and positions in a car race.
A car racing computer game.
A virtual wind tunnel.
Which one of these is based on asking a 'what if…' question?
Investigating what price to charge for tickets to a concert.
Creating a graph of the heights of everyone in your school.
Recording all the sales over the last month