Untangling Science Inquiry and Engineering Design

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize integrating engineering design into science education, alongside traditional inquiry-based learning. Engineering design challenges must actively engage students in engineering practices, such as defining problems, developing models, conducting investigations, analyzing data, and optimizing solutions. These practices differ from scientific inquiry, which focuses on answering questions about phenomena. For example, engineering tasks require identifying criteria and constraints, making tradeoffs, and designing solutions, while science tasks emphasize constructing explanations and understanding natural phenomena.

Examples include adapting activities like the egg drop challenge to meet NGSS performance expectations, such as MS-PS3-1, which involves graphing kinetic energy relationships. Students engage in defining measurable criteria, conducting controlled experiments, and using computational tools to simulate impacts. Similarly, activities like designing electromagnets help distinguish science from engineering by focusing on solving problems versus answering questions.

The NGSS aims to prepare all students with problem-solving skills, not solely to encourage engineering careers. It highlights the importance of teaching engineering practices explicitly and demonstrates how science concepts, such as the relationship between speed and kinetic energy, are vital for engineering applications. The standards apply to K–12 education, with specific examples tailored to middle school performance expectations.