Engineering Design Process
The very first step in the Engineering Design Process, where you figure out what the problem actually is.
What is Ask or Identify the Problem?
The letter of the STEM acronym that is most closely related to Design Thinking.
What is Engineering (or E)
The job of a person who studies the stars, planets, and the universe.
What is an Astronomer?
The name for the simple visual coding where you drag and snap blocks together to create programs, often used for teaching beginners.
What is Block Coding (or Scratch)
The four academic disciplines that the acronym S-T-E-M stands for.
What are Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math?
A working model of your solution that you build and test.
What is a Prototype?
In Design Thinking, this first phase involves observing and interviewing people to understand their needs.
What is Empathize?
This type of engineer designs and oversees the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, and buildings.
What is a Civil Engineer?
This is the language used to give structure and content to a webpage, using "tags."
What is HTML (HyperText Markup Language)?
Any object or tool created by humans that extends human capability, from a simple lever to a complex computer.
What is Technology?
These are the limits, such as time, materials, or budget, that restrict the design of a solution.
What are Constraints?
The phase where you stop judging ideas and just come up with as many wild and crazy solutions as possible.
What is Ideate or Brainstorm?
This type of engineer might design a concussion-proof helmet or a prosthetic limb.
What is a Biomedical Engineer?
This is the popular text-based coding language, named after a type of snake, that is often used for web development and data science.
What is Python?
The scientific study of all living things, including animals, plants, and microorganisms.
What is Biology?
This is what an engineer should do after the "Test and Evaluate" step if their prototype fails to meet the criteria.
What is Improve/Redesign or Go back to an earlier step?
This is an informal, quickly built, and often non-functional version of a solution used to get early feedback.
What is a Prototype?
This scientist studies matter and energy to understand everything from the flow of electricity to how black holes work.
What is a Physicist?
A set of commands that repeats an action until a specific condition is met, such as a while or for command.
What is a Loop?
This is the process where unspecialized cells, like stem cells, become specialized in structure and function, turning into things like nerve cells, muscle cells, or skin cells.
What is Differentiation (or Cellular Differentiation)?
The term for the way engineers don't just go straight through the steps but often cycle back to previous steps to make improvements.
What is improve/ repeat?
This stage is focused on understanding the user's needs and problems, while another stage is focused on building a testable solution.
What is Empathy, compared to Prototype/Prototyping?
This professional uses computer algorithms to process and interpret massive amounts of data to find patterns and make predictions.
What is a Data Scientist?
The difference between the step-by-step plan you create and the process of finding and fixing an error in that plan.
What is the difference between an Algorithm and Debugging?
This branch of chemistry studies compounds that contain the element carbon, which is the basis of all known life.
What is Organic Chemistry?