Hello Hornets!
Monday and Tuesday was spent finishing up our Pattern packets. Students learned how to make accurate predictions in science by recognizing patterns in different types of data: tables and graphs. Students completed their packet and exit ticket to be graded.
The rest of the week was spent learning about well-defined Criteria and Constraints. In science before building models, we are given a set of guidelines we need to follow. Within those guidelines are sets of needs and wants. In order to solve an engineering design problem we need to make sure all the needs are met before we incorporate the wants. Those needs are “Constraints”. The wants or goals that we would like to have is called “Criteria”. Students organized guidelines into criteria and constraints and began building their model. Their model objective was to build a paper tower that could withstand the force of wind from a box fan. Students were put in groups and given a rubric of criteria and constraints to follow in order to have a successful model.
Next week we will finish this lesson and move on to Unit 7.1 which talks about electrical generators.
Vocabulary:
Well-Defined: being measureable, on an appropriate scale, specific to science principles.
Criteria: characteristics of a desired solution that are used to compare different solutions and determine which best solves the problem. These are wants/goals and not requirements.
Constraints: things you MUST do to solve the problem. If constraints are not met the solution is not acceptable.
