Engineering Design Cycle
What is the Engineering Design Cycle?
Goal:
Goal:
You have learned that tomatoes have lots of pests. Now, you are going to use the Engineering Design Cycle to make a solution to a tomato plant problem. Click through the slides below to find out more about the tomato problem and the Engineering Design Cycle.
The Tomato Problem
One day you find some caterpillars eating your plant’s
leaves and some black and orange bugs attacking the
stem. Your little plant is struggling to stay alive.
Then, you notice a few dark spots and worm holes on some
of the fruit. Another attack! You also notice some
animal footprints in the dirt. Some deer were trying to
grab a tasty morsel too.
You must find a way to keep your tomato plant safe from
pests. To do this, you will use the
Engineering Design Cycle and think
about how nature solves problems.
Engineering Design Cycle
The Engineering Design Cycle has five steps that make it easier to solve problems. The steps are ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve. Let’s follow each step to find a solution to the tomato problem.
Ask
The first step of the Engineering Design Cycle is Ask. In this step you ask a question and name the problem. The problem you are solving is that you want to keep pests away from your tomato plants. How could you use what you know about nature and adaptations to solve the tomato problem?
Imagine
The next step of the cycle is Imagine. In this step, you think about all the ways you could solve the problem. Be as creative as you can and brainstorm lots of ways you could solve the problem. Make a list or draw your ideas. Think about how plants and animals keep pests and predators away. A cactus has spines. Could you think of an idea that uses spines to protect the tomato plant? Would that keep the pests away? Choose your best idea.
Plan
Once you have one great idea, you will need to think about how you will make it. What materials will you need? Make a list or draw what you need. Draw a picture of your plan too. What will your solution look like? Think about why this Plan will work.
Create
In this next step, you get to Create or build your solution. Gather your materials together and use your plan to help you build your design. Then, try it out on a tomato plant to see if it works.
Improve
Finally, the last step is Improve. Now that you have tried your design on a tomato plant, think about what worked and what did not. What changes would make your design better? Make the changes and try again until you are happy with your solution.
Question
What are the steps of the Engineering Design Cycle?
The steps of the Engineering Design Cycle are ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve.