📋 NGSS Standards: K-2-ETS1-3 — Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
🎯 Learning Objective
Students will test a model, compare how version 1 and version 2 perform, and make one improvement based on what they noticed.
💡 The Big Idea
Engineers test their ideas. A test gives us information. If a design does not work the first time, that is not failure — it is feedback that helps us improve.
Step 1 — Decide on a Fair Test (5 min) Talk about the job of the design and how to check whether it can do that job.
Step 2 — Test the Model (10 min) Try the design. Watch carefully. Did it help solve the problem? What part worked well? What part needs help?
Step 3 — Change One Thing (8 min) Choose one improvement. Keep the rest the same so you can tell whether the change helped.
Step 4 — Test Again (8 min) Run the test again and compare the new result to the first one. Ask: "Did version 2 do the job better, worse, or about the same? What evidence do you have?"
💬 Discussion Questions
🗣️ Question 1: "What worked well in your first model?"
💬 A strength is something the design already does well.
🗣️ Question 2: "What needed to change?"
💬 A weakness is something that did not help enough or made the tool harder to use.
🗣️ Question 3: "Did your change make the design better? How do you know?"
💬 The best answers use evidence from the test.
👩🏫 Parent/Teacher Notes:
Keep tests simple and visible.
Students only need one meaningful improvement.
We are teaching the cycle: build → test → improve.
🧪 Student Worksheet — Test and Improve Your Design
