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Science · Grade 6

Identify a Need and Constraints

Engineering starts with people, not gadgets. Learners observe and listen to users and stakeholders to find a genuine need, plan respectful user research with neutral questions, write solution-neutral problem statements with a sensible scope, and turn a client's wish list into a specification: firm constraints plus measurable criteria with target values, units and test methods. An optional Going further lesson adds factors of safety, shared budgets and breaking a large problem into sub-problems.

  • 5 lessons
  • About 110 minutes
  • Needs and constraints check: 10 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, highlight a text, match pairs, type a number and put in order
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What learners will discover

  • Identify a genuine need by observing and listening to users and stakeholders, and separate the need from solutions people have already assumed.
  • Plan respectful user research that asks open (not leading) questions, gets consent, protects privacy and includes the full range of people affected.
  • Write a solution-neutral problem statement that names the users, their goal, the reason it matters and the context, at a scope a team can act on.
  • Separate constraints from criteria and rewrite vague requirements as measurable specifications with a target value, a unit and a test method.

Lessons

  1. Start with people: needs, users and stakeholders 8 steps4 practiceabout 22 min
  2. Listening with respect: user research 8 steps4 practiceabout 22 min
  3. Write the problem statement 7 steps4 practiceabout 18 min
  4. Constraints, criteria and measurable specifications 8 steps4 practiceabout 24 min
  5. Going further: margins, budgets and sub-problems 8 steps4 practiceabout 18 min
  6. Needs and constraints check 10 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

  • Marble MountainLay straights, curves, drops and splitters to roll marbles down the mountain.
  • Bridge LabBuild a bridge from beams, brace it with triangles, and stay on budget.
  • Circuit Workshop 3DWire up batteries, bulbs and switches on a 3D workbench.

More 6th grade science

Guide for grown-ups