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Judging Between Designs is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 science worksheet on comparing multiple solutions against criteria and constraints, aligned to Common Core standard 3-5-ETS1-2. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 10 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Judging Between Designs

3-5-ETS1-2

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why should solutions be generated before any is evaluated?
  • A.It is traditional
  • B.Evaluating early narrows the field before the best idea appears
  • C.It fills time
2.One design meets every criterion but costs twice the budget. What follows?
  • A.It is ruled out, unless the budget itself is renegotiated openly
  • B.The budget is ignored
  • C.It wins on merit
3.Two designs score identically. What is a defensible tie-break?
  • A.A criterion agreed in advance, such as cost or ease of repair
  • B.The teacher decides silently
  • C.Whichever was built first
4.A design fails one criterion badly. What is worth recording?
  • A.Which criterion and by how much, in case the design is revised
  • B.Only that it failed
  • C.Nothing
5.What makes a comparison honest?
  • A.The same evidence and the same standard applied to every design
  • B.Using more criteria
  • C.Scoring your own last
6.Three filters are tested. What should the comparison be based on?
  • A.Which took longest to build
  • B.Measured performance against each criterion, with constraint failures removed
  • C.Which looks cleanest
7.Two groups score the same design differently. What should happen?
  • A.Average the scores quietly
  • B.Keep both scores
  • C.They agree what the criterion means and rescore
8.Why record why a rejected design failed?
  • A.Part of it may solve a later problem
  • B.It is not worth recording
  • C.To justify the rejection

LessonPrint · 3-5-ETS1-2 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Judging Between Designs

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Evaluating early narrows the field before the best idea appears
  2. 2.It is ruled out, unless the budget itself is renegotiated openly
  3. 3.A criterion agreed in advance, such as cost or ease of repair
  4. 4.Which criterion and by how much, in case the design is revised
  5. 5.The same evidence and the same standard applied to every design
  6. 6.Measured performance against each criterion, with constraint failures removed
  7. 7.They agree what the criterion means and rescore
  8. 8.Part of it may solve a later problem

More practice for 3-5-ETS1-2

Compare several possible solutions against the criteria and the constraints.

Teaching this next? Judging Between Designs is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-5-ETS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.