Memory is a form of knowledge that can be manipulated. This is the knowledge you use when studying for a test or remembering things that happened. You practice and run things through your brain until you “remember” them. The information then becomes cataloged knowledge. Teachers emphasize this type of knowledge because it is a straightforward way to teach information.
Habits can consciously be formed or can be learned inadvertently. Just as with memories, you can practice something, making it a habit and thereby turning it into knowledge. An example of this is driving a car. The more you practice, the more habits you form, such as slowly depressing the brake pedal or making small motions with the steering wheel. These habits become the basis of knowledge when it comes to driving a car. While you likely remember some of what you learned when you took the written driving test, the practical habits you learn when actually driving the car tend to be much more important.
Following what others do teaches people how to do things. From childhood, you model behavior after observing others around you. As you make these models, it becomes knowledge. If you watch your parents cook, you can start to behave the same. This becomes the basis for your knowledge on food and preparing items to eat. In education, teachers can form models for the students to follow. Often this helps imprint the information in the brain, sometimes giving the students a better way to recall the information.
Mental models are the most elusive form of knowledge. This is how your brain stores data and draws conclusions. Utilizing your memories, you brain processes the information, like a computer, to come to a legitimate conclusion. As you build models from year to year, you can expand knowledge of various subjects. This is the basic principle of advancing through levels of history, math, science and other subjects. In English, you learn basic sentence structure. Based on this model, you learn to build more complex sentences. The model lets you increase your knowledge from year to year.