Technology and Engineering
The Technology/Engineering domain of the Grade 5 MCAS STE test asks you to use the engineering design process to solve a problem within limits, test designs fairly, and explain how models and tools help. Questions often describe a design challenge or a student's test results.
Design process
- Define the problem. Criteria are what the solution must do; constraints are limits such as cost, time, materials, size, and safety.
- Brainstorm several solutions, then choose one based on how well it meets criteria and constraints.
- Build a prototype and test it. Testing should change one variable at a time while keeping other conditions the same.
- Use results to revise the design. A failed test is useful evidence, not a reason to stop.
Models and tools
- Models represent real objects or systems. They can be physical, computer-based, or mathematical, and they have limits.
- Choose tools and materials based on their properties and the job, such as scissors for cutting paper or a ruler for measuring length.
- Technology is any human-made object or system that meets a need.
Worked example
Students must build a roof that keeps a model house dry. Criteria: no water inside. Constraints: 20 straws, 30 cm of tape, 15 minutes. They test two roofs by pouring 100 mL of water from the same height. Roof A leaks at a joint. They add a tape flap and retest. That revision is iteration. The test is fair because the water amount, height, and house are the same for both roofs.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing up criteria and constraints.
- Changing several variables at once.
- Treating a model's result as exactly true for the real object.
- Ignoring safety or material limits during design.