Engineering Design Process Discussion Prompts and Pause Points

Before the Movie

What do you think the engineering design process is used for?  

What do you think is involved in inventing something? What might the steps be?

During the Movie (Pause Points)

Stop at the following times in the movie and ask questions or prompt a discussion to keep students focused and to assess their understanding before moving on:

Timecode 1:34: What is an example of a physical invention? What’s an example of a process that was designed or improved through the engineering design process?

Timecode 3:14: Why does Edison get credit for inventing the light bulb? What did he design?  

Timecode 5:49 What role does a prototype play in the EDP?

After the Movie

Look at the four related movies at the bottom of the page. Explain how each is connected to the engineering design process.

Identify a problem you’d like to solve. How might the EDP help you design a product or process to solve it.  

BrainPOP recommends reading  the movie description that appears on the Engineering Design Process Topic Page to your class. Then show the movie once through without pausing.  Watch it again, this time using the discussion prompts.

*BrainPOP’s Discussion Questions and Prompts align to CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards.