Engineering Design Process: Test
Each group tests its solution against the performance criteria. Groups share and analyze data to determine where improvements might be made.
“Do You See the Light?”
Two kindergarten students test a sun hat design using a flashlight. Watch & Reflect:
Reflection Questions
The students realized that when the hat is centered on the wearer’s head, the brim does not block the sunlight as it was meant to. They can use this information to create a longer brim in their improved sun hat design.
Provide students with specific testing criteria that align with the design challenge. Make clear what data they are collecting—here the students checked to see if the sun hat they designed blocked the sun from their face and ears, and if the brim stayed out of their faces.
Provide students with a graphic organizer to collect the data from testing. For example, in this video, students color in an image of a head to show where the hat was and was not successful.
Demonstrate for the whole class what the testing procedure is meant to look like. In this class, the teacher first tested one student’s sun hat while they sat on a stool in the front of the room.
Related Engineering Practices: Work Effectively in Teams, Use a Structured Problem-Solving Process, Consider Problems in Context
Featured Unit: Engineering Sun Hats