What Is Modeling and Simulation?

Modeling and simulation is like playing with toys to see what happens when you make a big thing smaller.

Imagine you have a really big toy car, and you want to know how far it can go before it stops. Instead of building the whole real car, you build a tiny version, that's your model. Then, you pretend to drive it around, that’s your simulation. By watching the tiny car, you learn about the big one!

• Models are like drawings or small copies of real things.
• Simulations are like pretend play, where you try out different ideas to see what happens.

You might use modeling and simulation when you want to test something without making a mess, like planning how many cookies you need for a party, before you actually bake them!