A simulation is a model (which is a representation of a system in the real world) which incorporates the dimension of time. This enables direct and experiential feedback to the learner as they vary their input and observe the outcome.

Simulations have been used in education for a long time. One could argue that many strategy games (e.g. all the variants of chess) have evolved as a military simulation, to school aspiring tacticians in the arts of attack and defence.

The orrery is another example of an early simulation, the earliest known example, the Antikythera mechanism, dating back as far as 100 BC, long before Galileo and Copernicus. In the picture below, you can see the use of an orrery in education.

Figure 1: By Joseph Wright of Derby (ca. 1766) - europeana.eu, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1292995

A simulation usually requires a mathematical model or approximation of the represented system, which is what makes it so suited for use with computers. Compare the mechanical orrery above with one of the many online planetary models. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Simulations are used to teach and train a vast number of professions: engineers, pilots, surgeons, soldiers, operators, economists - the list goes on.

I am a process engineer by training and most of the process plants that I have been involved in building have only been possible with the extensive use of simulations, both for the chemical processes as well as the spatial layout.

Today, humans endeavour to simulate not just a discrete system, but the whole of reality or a fantastical variant of it.

In researching this article, I was blown away by the beautiful educational simulations that are freely available and I am inspired to explore them with my children. Have a look - I am sure there is something for you as well:

• Open Educational Resources
• Interactive Simulations for Science and Math