Activity (Hands-On)Grades 6 - 8
Egg Drop
Teams follow the steps of the technological method of problem solving to find good solutions.Copyright (top) NASA http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/educ/resources.cfm (bottom) 2004 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA. All rights reserved.
A process for technical problem solving is introduced and applied to a fun demonstration. Given the success with the demo, the iterative nature of the process can be illustrated.
Scientists, engineers and ordinary people use problem solving each day to work out solutions to various problems. Using a systematic and iterative procedure to solve a problem is efficient and provides a logical flow of knowledge and progress.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe in their own words the steps of the technological method of problem solving.
- Explain what is meant by the "iterative" nature of the problem solving process.
- Explain why more than one good solution may exist to a given problem.