Week 1: What problems could I solve?

In this lesson, students critically evaluate physical challenges in their daily environments. What Problems Could I Solve was designed as a way to acclimate students to being inventors and to prepare them to think of an invention to build.

Learning outcomes

Students will:

• will acknowledge problems or challenges they encounter at home or at school
• evaluate the feasibility of designing an invention using magnets and/or electricity to build an invention to solve the problem

Teacher planning

Time required

This lesson requires thirty minutes.

Materials needed

• Chart paper and marker
• Science notebooks or inventor’s logs
• Pencils

Activities

1. The teacher will share that students will begin to evaluate problems in the world around them and think of an invention they could create to solve one of those problems.
2. The teacher will ask students to think for thirty seconds about some physical or spatial problems within the classroom. The teacher will ensure that students understand that the terms “physical” and “spatial” indicate that the problem could be fixed using a tool or object. After students think to themselves, students will share their ideas with partners. Finally, students will share classroom problems with the class, and a teacher or student will record on chart paper in a bulleted list. Some potential problems could be:
   • Mud gets stuck to shoes after being on the playground.
   • It is hard to find things in your desk because it is dark.
   • The pencil sharpener allows shavings to escape.

   If a student does not suggest something involving specialized software or remote controls, the teacher may want to suggest one to use as an example in the evaluation process. Example: A remote-controlled pencil sharpener would prevent our arms from getting tired when sharpening pencils.

3. Once a bulleted list has been created, the teacher will arrange students in groups of three, assigning each group one different problem from the list. The teacher will ask the students whether or not they can think of an invention that could be constructed to solve the problem. The groups should have four to five minutes to evaluate together. Afterward, groups should continue the discussion with the whole class.
4. The teacher will ask each group to share the problem they evaluated and a brief idea for how to solve the problem. The teacher will inform students that the class will keep all ideas as long as they have a basic or general idea of how they can use tools, magnets, and/or electricity to solve the problem. Most ideas should be solvable or at least improvable, and the teacher can hint at a solution when students get stuck. The teacher should guide students to understand that although they are not able to build an invention to improve a remote control problem, the technology exists, and that how to design an invention is a great question for an expert. Let students know that these are great ideas, but won’t be able to be solved in this unit.
5. The teacher will have students to create a list of problems. This list will be an inspiration for their inventions. Students will then work independently to list and form their own ideas. Although working on their own list, it is often beneficial for students to talk and share while working. Students will record work on a “brainstorming” page of their inventor’s log or science notebook.
6. Have students share ideas in small groups of four to six students.

Assessment

• During whole group brainstorming, the teacher will informally observe to ensure each student is able to form an idea for how to build an invention to solve one of the problems. The teacher is observing for an idea only, not looking to see if the idea will work perfectly. (For any student who has difficulty with this step, the teacher will plan to spend extra time with them during the independent work.)
• While students are working independently, the teacher is observing to see that students are able to list problems and propose solutions to problems that interest them.

Modifications

For ELLs, sharing ideas quickly and using science and engineering vocabulary is often challenging. For each part of this activity, ELLs should be allowed to illustrate their ideas and supplement with known and/or taught words as is appropriate.

Comments

Teachers may want to particularly highlight students who are utilizing magnets, electricity, or simple machines as ways to solve a problem. This helps ensure that students will apply their learning from these content areas.