How Do We Test and Improve a Solution?

Engineers design a plan and then test a prototype. Their data show that the prototype is not working. What will the engineers do next?

• Start from the beginning.

• Communicate their results.

• Improve the design and test it again.

• Change the data so it looks like the prototype worked.

Tai designed a box to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from a distance of 2 meters. He made drawings of his design. What should Tai do next?

• Test the box.

• Build the box.

• Collect and compare test results.

• Think about how to make the design better.

An engineer designed and built a prototype. What should the engineer do next?

• Test the working prototype.

• Make drawings of the prototype.

• Collect and compare the test results.

• Think of ways to make the design better.

Meg has a problem with her soap dish. Water collects in it and slowly dissolves the soap. She designs a soap dish that water can drain from. Then she makes a prototype. When she tests her prototype soap dish, what is the most important result she will watch for?

• How large it is.

• How attractive it is.

• How quickly water drains from it.

• How much it looks like the old one.

Elena rolled a marble across a paper bridge.

The piece of paper fell off the books. How could Elena improve the paper bridge?

• Make the stacks of books taller.

• Make the stacks of books shorter.

• Use two marbles to cross the paper.

• Tape the paper to each stack of books.