The engineering design process: goals, limits, testing and choosing

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Ari's team must keep a playground slide cool on sunny days. What is the first step of the engineering design process?

   • Build the final shade right away
   • Test a shade before drawing any plan
   • Define the problem: its criteria and constraints
   • Pick the prettiest color for the shade before anything else
2. 2.

   Define (done), brainstorm (done), and two empty boxes. After brainstorming three shade ideas, what should Bo's team do next?

   • Choose a promising idea and build a model to test
   • Skip testing and install one
   • Stop here, since the first idea is good enough to build
   • Throw out the ideas and start over
3. 3.

   Paper bridge across a 30 cm gap; hold pennies; use no more than 4 sheets of paper. Jun's class is building paper bridges across a 30 cm gap. Which one is a constraint?

   • Stay level across the gap
   • Use no more than 4 sheets of paper
   • Hold as many pennies as possible on top
   • Be strong in the middle
4. 4.

   Lunch cooler; keep a drink cold for 4 hours; fit in a backpack; use class craft supplies; finish by Friday. Luz's team designs a lunch cooler with class craft supplies. Which one is a criterion?

   • Be finished by Friday
   • Use class craft supplies
   • Keep a drink cold for 4 hours
   • Fit inside a backpack
5. 5.

   Garden-water filter; make muddy water clearer; work quickly; use only classroom materials. Milo's class designs a filter to clean muddy water for watering the garden. Which one is a constraint?

   • Make the water clearer
   • Use only classroom materials
   • Catch the sand
   • Let water through the filter quickly

6. Read this first

   Decision matrix (model data), scores 1 to 3

   Design A, strength 3, uses little paper 1, easy to build 2; Design B, 2, 3, 3; Design C, 3, 2, 1.

7. 6.

   Using the same matrix, which design is best at using little paper, by Pia's reading?

   • Design B, scoring 3
   • Design C, the strongest one
   • Design A, since strength matters most
   • Design A, scoring 1
8. 7.

   Design A scores 3 for strength but 1 for using little paper. What does that tell Ren?

   • A is strong but uses a lot of paper
   • A uses very little paper
   • A is the top design overall
   • A can skip testing, since it is strong

9. Cooler tests (model data)

   Trial	Result
   1	cold after 4 hours
   2	not yet tested
   3	not yet tested

10. 8.

    Tala's team tests their cooler once, and the drink stays cold. What should they do next?

    • Call it done after one test
    • Test it several more times to be sure
    • Switch to a different cooler design instead
    • Change three things at once and test
11. 9.

    Table, Repeated trials (model data), with columns Trial 1, Trial 2, Trial 3. Why do engineers repeat tests on the same design, as Zee explains?

    • To use up the extra materials
    • One test is plenty; repeats waste time
    • One test could be a fluke; repeats show if results hold
    • Because first tests do not count

12. Cooler trials (model data)

    Trial	Hours cold
    1	4.0
    2	4.2
    3	3.9

13. 10.

    The cooler kept a drink cold for 4.0, 4.2 and 3.9 hours in three trials. What do the trials show Esme?

    • The cooler failed, since the trials differ
    • No more tests should ever be run
    • The result is steady, about 4 hours
    • Just the first trial counts