Engineering

Problem Solving

NAME: _______________ DATE: __________

BLOCK: ______________ DUE DATE: _________
 Engineering
&
Problem Solving
Process
 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

CLARIFY THE RESEARCH & GENERATE

PROBLEM INVESTIGATE ALTERNATIVE
THE PROBLEM SOLUTION

Engineering
&
Problem Solving
Process
STEP 4

CHOOSE AND
JUSTIFY THE
OPTIMAL
SOLUTION
 STEP 1
CLARIFY THE PROBLEM
• Design Challenge: States the problem
and lists the Specifications for a design.
• Specifications: Performance
Requirements, or output requirements,
that the solutions must fulfill
• Constraints: Limits imposed on a design
solution (Limitations)
 Design Problem
• Your challenge is to design a container
that will keep an egg safe when dropped
from a given height.
 Specifications:
• Light in weight (<50 grams)
• Protect the egg
• small in design (smaller than shoe box)
• Lands close to the target.
 Constraints:
Time: 7 days
Materials:10 POPSICLE STICKS, 10 JUMBO PAPER
CLIPS, 10 SODA STRAWS,5 RUBBER BANDS, 3 PIPE
CLEANERS, 2 FEET OF YARN, 10 COTTON PUFFS, 4
HOT GLUE SLUGS, and 1 SHEET OF NEWSPAPER.
Tools: Scissors, Glue Gun, Ruler, Pencils, Computer, and
Hole Punch.
People: 2 in a group
Information: Past Design
Energy: Electricity, Heat, Human, Potential and Kinetic.
Capital: Money Spent on Supplies
 STEP 2
RESEARCH & INVESTIGATE THE
PROBLEM
• Research & discuss existing solutions to
the problem (good & bad design).
• Identify problems, issues, and questions
related to the design challenge.
• Gather information from people, library,
and internet.
 Research

Good Design Features: Good Design Features:

Bad Design Features: Bad Design Features:

 Research

Good Design Features: Good Design Features:

Bad Design Features: Bad Design Features:

 STEP 3
GENERATE ALTERNATIVE
SOLUTION
• Develop Potential Solutions
• Alternative Solutions: These Should be
Different Designs / Ideas.
• Brainstorm
• Develop Thumbnail Sketches of ideas.
#1 #2

#3 #4

4 Thumbnail Sketches
 STEP 4
CHOOSE AND JUSTIFY THE
OPTIMAL SOLUTION
• Decide on a design that best meets the
specifications, fits within the constraints,
and has the least number of negative
characteristics.
• Examine each design alternative and list
its strengths and weaknesses in
relationship to the original design criteria.
• Be ready to justify your choice.
FINAL DESIGN SOLUTION

JUSTIFY YOUR SOLUTION:

 STEP 5
DEVELOP PROTOTYPE
• Scale model: may be a large or smaller than the
final product.
• Prototype: is a full-scale model, fully operational
version of the solution.
• Drawings and models of proposed solution are
made in order to work out any design problems.
• Models are important because solution may be
very large and costly, might need evaluation of its
risks to people and the environment.
PROTOTYPE

PLACE PICTURE
OF YOUR
PROTOTYPE HERE
 STEP 6
TEST & EVALUATION
• Develop a test to assess the performance
of the design solution.
• Test solution, collect performance data,
and analyze the data to see how well the
design satisfies the original constraints
and specifications
 TEST
MASS SIZE SURVIVAL TARGET
<50g Shoe box Survived, cracked, bulls eyed
smashed
 Evaluation
1. What things was I really happy with when the design was
made… (4complete Sentences)
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________

2. What things I was not happy with when the design was
made… (4complete Sentences)
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________
Evaluation
3. How could you improve your design???? (4 complete Sentences)
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
_______________

4. What did you learned while working on this challenge?????

(4 Complete Sentences)
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
_______________