What is a model?

Scientists often report finding that come from models. In the news, we hear a lot about climate models that have forecast certain scenarios for the future. But, what is a model? What can models tell us about the past, present, and future? And are they accurate?

There are a few types of models:

Here is a scatterplot of height vs. weight for a bunch of individuals. While not perfect, there is clearly a trend. The red line is actually a model.

While this may seem strange, this line is a model since we can use it to make predications and test hypotheses:

Prediction: how much does a 70" tall person weigh?
Hypothesis: taller people weigh more on average.

A question for you then, how well does this model reflect the data and what sorts of questions is this a useful model?

Try modeling for yourself! Follow this link to a demo.

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