In this paper I inspect a "semantic" view of scientific models taken from contemporary philosophy of science-I draw upon the so-called "semanticist family", which frontally challenges the received, syntactic conception of scientific theories. I argue that a semantic view may be of use both for science education in the classrooms of all educational levels, and for research and innovation within the discipline of didactics of science. I explore and characterise a model-based account of the nature of science, and derive some implications that may be of interest for our community.