Investigation Station: Science Laboratory - Software - Model It

Investigation Station

Model-It Home Page | Tutorial | Download Model-It Now!

TUTORIAL

I. What is Model-It?
II. Installing Model-It
     A. From a CD
           1. PC
           2. Macintosh
     B. From the web
III. Model-It Tutorial
     A. Acid Rain: Content Information
     B. Introduction to Model-It
          1. Running and Getting Started
          2. Getting familiar with Model-It
     C. Objects
          1. Deciding on Objects
          2. Creating Objects
              a. Using an image in a file
              b. Using an image from Object Palette
     D. Factors
          1. Deciding on Factors
          2. Creating factors
               a. Adding a Factor in the "Plan" stage
               b. Adding a Factor in the "Build" stage
     E. Relationships
          1. Determining and constructing relationships
     F. Testing the Model
          1. Using the Meters
          2. Running the simulation
     G. Saving and Opening Models
          1. Different ways to save your model
          2. Opening a saved model

Introduction to Model-It

Running Model-It and Getting Started

To run the Model-It Program, click on START.
Next, click on PROGRAMS.
Then click on the Model-It group.
Finally, click on the Model-It icon and Model
Builder will open.

When Model-It first opens a box like the one below pops up asking you to Select Units for your model. Selecting a unit will cause images related to the chosen unit to appear. In this case we will be using Air Quality so click on the circle next to Air Quality. (If you were creating another model and did not find your units click on the circle next to None.) Now click OK

Model-It starts off with a blank model loaded. Objects and Factors will be created in this blank model for this tutorial.

At any time, to start with a fresh new model, click on FILE, and then click on NEW. After clicking NEW the option will be presented to save changes to the current model. If NO is clicked, the current model will he erased, however, if YES is clicked and a file name is provided, it can be retrieved at a later time.

More information about saving and opening models.
Back to Menu

Getting familiar with Model-It

Note: The picture below may look different depending on the units that you chose in the beginning.

Model-It has three different modes, as seen in the upper left menu choices: Plan, Build, and Test. The tools related to the current mode are located just below this menu, in the box now labeled "Plan Tools." Looking at the above picture, the tools available in the Plan mode are "New Object" and "New Factor."

The big white space is the workspace for the model you are creating. The space will be used slightly differently in each of the three modes, but it will always be where all of the work and modifications will be made to the current model. The space directly below the workspace area is the graph area. Labeled "Simulation Graph," this area will remain blank unless in the Test mode.

The part of the above picture labeled "Object Palette" is apparent only in the Plan mode. The Object Palette is an array of possible Object Image choices that relate to the chosen Unit.

Back to Menu

Saving and Opening Models

Click on the FILE menu, which will drop down. From here, there are several different ways in which to save your model:

Different ways to save your model

Save your model as a file

From the FILE menu, click on SAVE.
If the model has not been saved before, a Save window will appear and a file name should be entered. For this example type "acidrainmodel.mbm" and click on the SAVE button.
If the model has been saved before, the current saved copy will be updated.

Save your model as an HTML document

From the FILE menu, select SAVE AS. A new menu will appear, then click on HTML DOCUMENT.
A Save window will appear and a file name should be entered. The file will be be saved as type ".html"

Save your model as JPEG image

From the FILE menu, select SAVE AS. A new menu will appear, then click on JPEG IMAGE.
A save window will appear and a file name should be entered. The file will be saved as type ".jpg"

Opening a saved model

To open a previously saved model at a later time, click on the FILE menu, and then click the OPEN command. An Open window will be displayed listing files in the current directory. The file to be opened should be listed. Select the file by clicking on it and then click on the OPEN button to open the file in Model-It

Back to Menu

Model-It Home Page | Tutorial | Download Model-It Now!