Modelling biological systems

Okay kiddo, have you ever played with Legos? You can use different pieces to create different structures, right? Well, scientists and researchers do something similar when they study living things like plants, animals, and even humans. They use something called "modelling" to create little versions of these living things using computers, math, and even Legos!

When a scientist wants to study a living thing, they can't just poke around inside and see what's going on. That would be scary and not very nice for the living thing. So instead, they create a model, which is like a pretend version of the living thing. They can use this model to learn how the living thing works and how it might respond to different situations.

For example, let's say a scientist wants to study how a plant grows. They might create a model of a plant, using things like Legos, or the computer. This model plant would have different parts, like the stem, leaves, and roots. The scientist could then use the model to figure out how the plant gets its food, how its roots help it stay put in the ground, and how its leaves help it make energy from the sun.

Now, a real plant is much more complicated than a model plant made of Legos or on a computer, but scientists can use these models to make predictions about how the real plant will behave. They can even use the model to figure out how different factors like sunlight, water, and nutrients might affect the plant's growth.

So you see, modelling biological systems is like building little versions of living things that we can use to learn more about how they work. It's an important tool that helps scientists study and understand the world around us.