Unit 1 Lesson 3

Name(s)_______________________________________________ Period ______ Date ___________________ 

  Activity Guide - Using the Problem Solving Process 

Word Search 
Overview 
Working with a team, find the following words in the grid. They may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal in any direction.
DEFINE​, ​PREPARE​, ​TRY​, ​REFLECT​, ​PROBLEM​, ​SOLVE​, ​COMPUTER​, ​SCIENCE

Objective 
Find and circle all 8 words as quickly as you can!

E S Q H J H R C F A X M G M U E B L N I
S R K E R E T U P M O C E C M Z T Y J C
D X A P N X Q L Y V K L S X X N C E H N
J M X P K W W O J Q B B O Q M H E A H T
B I U O E Y H K M O A R L F R D L P H A
N J H T Y R A E R C F L V M S C F A J M
T I R Y Q W P P H D X Q E Q U N E R G S
H Y R I M I X D Z K B M N G O J R B K U
P U B U E U J E G D T F B D T I M V V P
H V W S K F D G K V D M S O X Y O R S F
S C I E N C E W P Q T E O R I A S Q M U
H R G D Y V N H I J D C F G V H E M Z M
U O H H N A G X O Q K K B I G M T W O L
O P E I O Q G B A R V H P N N A Z E X V
Y I S W N R N U U W G H X H A E B O P N
L X D J X R P V Y J H U H X D Y F O I D
F U D J X V U K F C V D Q B P D Z I B D
F B R D S I W P K F K V T R D R G Y C R
Y E T Y O D M X H L L V P T J V I J C D
H E X K R O I P B W E T O Y X I B W V O

Once You’re Done 

Head to the last page of the activity guide and fill in the row there for the “Word Search” in the table.

1
Birthday Guests 
Overview 
A big group of 15 guests is getting together at a restaurant for a birthday. The restaurant has 3 tables that can each
seat only 5 people. Below you can find some information about the people who are attending the party.

Aysha, Ben, Carla, Damien, Eric, Fan, Genaro, Hannah, Isaias, Jessica, Kyla, Laila, Max, Nazek, Owen

Close Friends ​(Try to put them together) In a Fight ​(Try to keep them apart)
Aysha and Damien Aysha and Genaro
Max and Isaias Ben and Hannah
Nazek and Laila Fan and Max
Owen and Genaro Damien and Laila
Ben and Jessica Isaias and Owen
Genaro and Eric Kyla and Jessica

Objective 
Find the best possible arrangement of guests at the party. Draw your solution in the space below. To help you can
cross out the letters of the names you’ve assigned in the row below.

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O 

Once You’re Done 

Head to the last page of the activity guide and fill in the row there for the “Birthday Guests” in the table.

2
Redesign Your Classroom 
Overview 
You and your friends will be redesigning your classroom. You only have one school day to make it happen, but
otherwise how you plan it is up to you. Plan the best looking classroom that you can!

Develop Goals 
Talk with your group for a few minutes. What are the most important things about the classroom? Can everyone see
the teacher? How will you move everything? Write down the goals you’ll use to decide what makes a good plan.

Goals How My Plan Helps Reach this Goal

Everyone can still see the teacher

Everyone should be able to ________.

Make a Layout 
Every member of your group should separately start designing a layout. You should select what should go where and
make sure it all fits in the room. For each goal your group chose, list how your layout helps to reach it in the right
column. In the space below draw or describe your redesigned classroom.

New classroom design:

   

3
Share Your Layout and Get Feedback 
Share the layout you developed with your teammates and explain why you think it is the best possible layout given the
goals you chose. Afterwards, record their feedback and reactions to your design in the space below. Is there anything
that needs to change? How could your layout improve?

Improve and Finalize 

Using the feedback from your teammates update your layout. In the space below, write down the new design that you
and your group agreed on.

Redesign

Once You’re Done 

Head to the last page of the activity guide and fill in the row there for the “Redesign Your Classroom” in the table.

4
Problem Solving Process Notes 
Reflecting on Using the Process 
How did you use each step of the problem solving process to solve this problem? Give examples of what each step
looked like as you were solving that problem.

Define Prepare Try Reflect

Word
Search

Birthday
Guests

Redesign
Your
Classroom

The Purpose of Each Step 

For each step in the problem solving process, write one sentence explaining its purpose. Why is it included in the
problem solving process?

Define:_______________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Prepare: _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Try:__________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Reflect:_______________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Defining Problems with Questions 

Before starting to solve a problem it’s important that you have defined it well. What questions or strategies can you use
to better define or understand a problem? Record them in the space below.