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Engineering Design Cycle

 

Goal:

Goal:

learning robot character

What do you remember about the engineering design cycle?

Scientists can also be engineers or inventors. Scientists use tools to help them learn about the world and find solutions to problems. They follow the engineering design cycle to help them. Do you remember the steps? Click on each picture to find out more about scientists, engineers, and inventors.

This chart shows a circle of five steps for solving problems.
This chart shows a circle of five steps for solving problems. 1. Ask: A question mark in an orange oval. 2. Imagine: A lightbulb in a blue oval. 3. Plan: A notebook and pencil in a green oval. 4. Create: Red scissors in a yellow oval. 5. Improve: A gear in a red oval.
This chart shows a circle of five steps for solving problems.

The engineering design cycle helps scientists and engineers think of new ideas, try them out, and make improvements.

an old telephone with a tall gold stand and a round black part at the top for talking into, and a round silver dial with holes for fingers to turn and pick numbers.
an old telephone with a tall gold stand and a round black part at the top for talking into, and a round silver dial with holes for fingers to turn and pick numbers.

Inventions are new ideas and things created to solve a problem. This is a picture of an early version of a telephone originally invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

scientist looking through microscope
scientist looking through microscope

Scientists use tools like thermometers, computers, and microscopes to help them learn more information.

Question

Who is an inventor?

An inventor is a person who creates something new.