School Improvement in Maryland

Standard 1.0 Skills and Processes

Topic D. Technology

Indicator 1. DESIGN CONSTRAINTS: Explain that complex systems require control mechanisms.

Introduction

Design and Systems

Design Constraints
An idea to be developed in the middle grades is that complex systems require control mechanisms. The common thermostat for controlling room temperature is known to most students and can serve as a model for all control mechanisms. However, students should explore how controls work in various kinds of systems-machines, athletic contests, politics, the human body, learning, etc. At some point, students should try to invent control mechanisms, which need not be mechanical or electrical, that they can actually put into operation.

/instruction/introduction/science/grade8/xml/1D1.xml