Gizmos you can enrol for a free 30 day trial to explore the 450+ gizmos available http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=Controller.

dspTrialPromo Food Chain Gizmo http://www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspView&ResourceID=381 &ClassID=2158936 This was the coolest discovery EVER until I realized it wasnt free. I have contacted them to get costing details but suspect it wont come cheap! There are over 450 gizmos for Science and maths and the few I have played with are really wonderful. They are for years 3-12. I have registered for the 30 day free trial and depending on the cost may look at starting with a small package for my schools- I am impressed. The screenshots below are from the Food Chain gizmo simulation that I explored.
This is what you see when you launch the gizmo. I like how the students can manipulate various factors and view their results over time.

When the gizmo is launched the students can manipulate the variables- in this case they can increase-decrease the number of organisms in each level and select if they are healthy or diseased- a really visual representation of the ecological relationships in this food chain. This can be a great tool for Predict-observe-Explain charts, T-GEM model or LfU model. Each gizmo also comes with a student exploration sheet, vocabulary sheet and even a teacher plan sheet (with ideas on how to use in class). Please see attached examples.

Built in assessment and feedback

After each gizmo, the students participate in a short assessment (usually 5- yes multiple choice but good ones!where they can check their answers.

The assessment questions include visuals generated from the gizmo. What I also appreciated was the detailed built in feedback generated once the students check your answers. Whether the answers are right or wrong- feedback is provided.

Opportunities to visually present and analyse the student generated data

For this gizmo simulation the students can export the data that is generated at any time by clicking on the Table tab at the top. This should stop the simulation time (measured in months)

Students can use the data that their simulation has generated to create a bar chart or graph.

Why is visualization necessary (or not) for student understanding of math or science?

I believe that visualization in science is imperative. It generates a physical representation of abstract knowledge and concepts that are typically difficult for students to comprehend on any meaningful level. Gizmos, simulations, multi-media and other interactivities help students ground their content knowledge often with skill building affordances as an added bonus.

What are the multiple ways that students' understanding could be represented with this dynamic visualization software and what are the implications for teaching practice?

The students understanding can be checked against the assessment questions. They could also be given an exact- teacher selected scenario to input into the simulation and then create report, make a graph, answer questions, complete a P-O-E chart etc.

What are some ways that a students' understanding could be challenged with dynamic visualization software?

Perhaps if there are too many variables for younger children, they could get confused with all the things that are changing. Being that the simulation does everything for the learner some students may not deeply appreciate the creation of graphs-bar charts and may need hands on practice with these skills. However, the visual representations enable students to see what they are learning in a tangible way that embeds a picture that helps proper understanding. This can foster the development of skills while challenging some misconceptions along the way.

What are the social opportunities and potential cognitive opportunities that may emerge from interaction with this software?

As this is a stand-alone simulation, there are some built-in social and cognitive affordances. The formative feedback in the assessment activity is social and if the activities were done in pairs there would be more social affordances. The interactive and manipulative nature of this particular simulation ensure that the students are generating and evaluating their predictions, making astute observations and connecting the data generated to what the model is demonstrating. Creation of bar chart or graph and ability to export data, change or manipulate data and restart- allowing comparisons and modifications to original hypotheses in line with the TGEM and LfU models.

How would you use this technology in a classroom?

I could use this as an extension opportunity, as a starter activity to motivationally hook students, as a summative assessment (given specific input and questions to answer), collaboratively in pairs, as PBL (ie we want a population of 100 hawks after 100 months what is the original input) or as a standalone lesson to teach food chain terminology, graphing or data analysis- so much potential. I could also follow the teacher suggestion sheet for even more ideas.