Tools of the Trade

Problem Solving

Grades K-2

All living things have different needs that must be met in their environment for survival.

• Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s).

• Ask and/or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation.

• Describe how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) support a scientific or engineering idea.

• Students learn that events have causes that generate observable patterns. They design simple tests to gather evidence to support or refute their own ideas about causes.

• A situation that people want to change or create can be approached as a problem to be solved through engineering. Such problems may have many acceptable solutions. Asking questions, making observations, and gathering information are helpful in thinking about problems. Before beginning to design a solution, it is important to clearly understand the problem.

• Designs can be conveyed through sketches, drawings, or physical models. These representations are useful in communicating ideas for a problem’s solutions to other people. To design something complicated, one may need to break the problem into parts and attend to each part separately but must then bring the parts together to test the overall plan.