These seven original questions mix the Invention skills. Write your own answer first, then open the explanation and compare the method.
This page is part of the SPM subjects and learning resources section.
Questions
Q1. Is this a need or a solution? “Grandmother needs a motorised pill dispenser.” Explain.
Answer
It is a solution, because it names an object to build (a motorised dispenser). The need would be something like: “An elderly person needs to take the right pills at set times without help, using a solution the family can afford.”
Q2. Write a need statement for this situation: students at a school canteen queue for a long time because the drinks counter serves one person at a time.
Answer
“Students buying drinks at the canteen need to be served faster during the short recess, using the existing counter space and without adding staff.”
It names the user, the situation and two constraints, and it names no object.
Q3. Concept X scores 3 on safety, 2 on cost.
Concept Y scores 2 on safety, 3 on cost. Safety has weight 3 and cost weight 1. Which wins?
Answer
X: 3 × 3 + 2 × 1 = 9 + 2 = 11. Y: 2 × 3 + 3 × 1 = 6 + 3 = 9. Concept X wins, because safety carries the higher weight.
Q4. In Q3, cost becomes weight 3 and safety weight 1. Recalculate. What does this show?
Answer
X: 3 × 1 + 2 × 3 = 3 + 6 = 9. Y: 2 × 1 + 3 × 3 = 2 + 9 = 11.
Now Y wins. The concepts did not change, so the result depends on the weights and the weights must be justified from the need.
Q5. A student tests a desk organiser by dropping a 500 g weight on it once from 30 cm. It did not crack. The write-up says “the organiser is unbreakable.” Correct it.
Answer
“In one test, a 500 g weight dropped from 30 cm did not crack the organiser. I have not repeated the test or used heavier weights, so I cannot say it is unbreakable.”
Q6. A student changes a water filter from sand only to sand plus charcoal. Name the five parts her reflection should include.
Answer
The decision (adding charcoal), the reason (the need for clearer water), the evidence (a test comparing the water before and after), one alternative (for example, a finer sand layer) with why it was rejected, and the next step (testing again with muddier water).
Q7. Write two sentences of reflection on this decision: you moved a hinge from the top of a lid to the side because the lid kept slipping. Invent one test result.
Answer
Your result will differ. A strong model: “I moved the hinge from the top to the side because the lid slipped in four of five trials. With the side hinge it stayed in place in all five trials, so I kept it.”
If you got these wrong
- Q1, Q2: read define the need before the solution.
- Q3, Q4: read compare original concepts using explicit criteria.
- Q5: read explain a prototype observation without overclaiming.
- Q6, Q7: read reflect on a development decision.
Build a timed set with the timed practice session builder and check your answers with the structured answer self-review. For a teacher to review your work, see online one-to-one Invention tuition.