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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 15 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.Two designs score identically. What is a defensible tie-break?
  • A.The teacher decides silently
  • B.A criterion agreed in advance, such as cost or ease of repair
  • C.Whichever was built first
2.What makes a comparison honest?
  • A.Scoring your own last
  • B.Using more criteria
  • C.The same evidence and the same standard applied to every design
3.Why record why a rejected design failed?
  • A.It is not worth recording
  • B.To justify the rejection
  • C.Part of it may solve a later problem
4.Why should solutions be generated before any is evaluated?
  • A.It fills time
  • B.It is traditional
  • C.Evaluating early narrows the field before the best idea appears
5.Three filters are tested. What should the comparison be based on?
  • A.Which took longest to build
  • B.Which looks cleanest
  • C.Measured performance against each criterion, with constraint failures removed
6.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
7.Two groups score the same design differently. What should happen?
  • A.They agree what the criterion means and rescore
  • B.Average the scores quietly
  • C.Keep both scores
8.One design meets every criterion but costs twice the budget. What follows?
  • A.The budget is ignored
  • B.It wins on merit
  • C.It is ruled out, unless the budget itself is renegotiated openly

LessonPrint · 3-5-ETS1-2 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Judging Between Designs

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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.