Design notebook setup
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Set up a design notebook and innovation portfolio that documents dated, evidence-based engineering work.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Create notebook sections for problem framing, sketches, data, and reflection.
Show all 5 required steps
- Create notebook sections for problem framing, sketches, data, and reflection.
- Read the rubric for what counts as portfolio evidence.
- Date and label your first page and record today's objective.
- Set up the portfolio folder structure that mirrors the PLTW problems.
- Submit a screenshot or scan of your initialized notebook and portfolio.
Lost your place? If you lost your place, check your notebook's four sections (problem framing, sketches, data, reflection) and set up the next one you are missing.
Check your work before submitting
- Your notebook has dated, labeled sections ready for daily evidence.
- You can explain what makes a notebook entry count as evidence.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Initialized design notebook with four labeled sections and a dated first entry, plus a portfolio folder screenshot.
How to submit and name your file
Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: Reading and applying a Safety Data Sheet is a core lab-SOP skill that applies to every biomedical lab you will ever enter. Today: A dated, organized design notebook is the primary evidence that your engineering work is rigorous and reproducible.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Thinking practice for this week▸
What counts as evidence, and where to find it
What makes evidence strong, and where do you find evidence you can trust?
Evidence is the data and observations you use to back up a claim. In science that means measurements, experimental results, images, and records, not “my friend said” or “I saw it once.”
Strong evidence is relevant (it actually bears on the claim), sufficient (there is enough of it), and reliable (it was collected carefully and others could repeat it). One data point is rarely enough; a pattern across many is far stronger.
Where you find it matters. Prefer primary sources and reputable ones: peer-reviewed studies, government and health agencies (CDC, NIH, NHGRI), and your own lab data. When you find a source online, do not trust it on looks. Check who is behind it and what better sources say.
- • Relevant: it directly supports (or tests) the claim.
- • Sufficient: there is enough of it, not a single lucky data point.
- • Reliable: collected carefully, and others could reproduce it.
- • Sourced: you can say where it came from and why that source is trustworthy.
- • Stop. Investigate the source: who made this and why?
- • Find better coverage: what do other reputable sources say?
- • Trace claims and quotes back to the original.
Find two pieces of evidence for a claim in this unit, one from your lab/class data and one from a reputable source. Note why each source can be trusted.
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A dated, organized design notebook is the primary evidence that your engineering work is rigorous and reproducible.
- 0-10Portfolio rubric review: what counts as evidence and what does not
- 10-25Notebook setup: create and label the four required sections
- 25-45First dated entry: record today's objective and your name on page 1
- 45-60Portfolio folder setup: mirror the PLTW problem structure in your digital folder
- 60-75Submit screenshot or scan of initialized notebook and folder structure
- 75-80Pair-check: swap notebooks and verify the other person's sections and date
- • Engineers and scientists do not just do the work -- they document it so anyone can verify it.
- • Your design notebook is your personal evidence record for the entire year.
- • Today you will set up the notebook and portfolio structure you will use for every problem in this course.
- • A well-structured notebook also prepares you for the Lab SOPs strand of the WebXam 072125.
- • The four notebook sections that must exist before any work begins: problem framing, sketches, data, and reflection.
- • What distinguishes an evidence-quality notebook entry from a rough note.
- • How the portfolio folder structure mirrors the PLTW problem sequence.
PLTW connection and today's work
Open Problem 1 in your myPLTW course shell and locate the notebook-setup guidance in the current activity.
Today's stopping point: The SDS safety check is done; by end of today your design notebook sections should be labeled and your portfolio folder ready.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Problem 1, Lesson 1.1 Design of an Effective Emergency Room
The mapping has not been confirmed inside myPLTW.
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
Reading and applying a Data Sheet is a core lab-SOP skill that applies to every biomedical lab you will ever enter.
A dated, organized design notebook is the primary evidence that your engineering work is rigorous and reproducible.
A bridge prototype is tested against a load limit, cost limit, and user need before revision.
- Which requirement is a criterion?
- Which limit is a constraint?
- What test result should trigger a redesign?
A design improves when evidence is compared with explicit criteria and constraints.
Biomedical designs also require , ethics, and biological validation beyond a physical prototype test.
- • Bridge requirements map to what the device must do for the body.
- • Load results map to the measurements taken from the prototype.
- • Revision maps to the change those measurements justify.
Driving question: You build a great prototype, but your notebook is a pile of loose sketches. Can you prove how you got there, or convince anyone to fund the next one?
What you already know: Reading and applying a Data Sheet is a core lab-SOP skill that applies to every biomedical lab you will ever enter.
New idea: A dated, organized design notebook is the primary evidence that your engineering work is rigorous and reproducible.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Design notebook setup. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled system, test, or design relationship and identify which evidence should trigger revision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in design notebook setup.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: A design improves when evidence is compared with explicit criteria and constraints.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: You build a great prototype, but your notebook is a pile of loose sketches. Can you prove how you got there, or convince anyone to fund the next one?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • innovation: A new idea, method, or product that improves on what came before and creates real value for people.
- • : Sorting patients so that limited staff, time, and supplies do the most good. In everyday emergency care that usually means the most urgent first, but in a mass-casualty event it means treating those who benefit most, which is not always the most badly injured.
- • stakeholder: Any person or group affected by a project or decision, such as users, patients, families, or the team building a solution.
- • system: A set of parts that work together as a connected whole, where a change in one part can affect the others, such as an or a designed device.
- • : Practices and precautions that protect people from harm, such as wearing protective equipment and handling hazards correctly in a lab or clinic.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
A biomedical design advances when test evidence is compared with explicit user needs, criteria, constraints, risks, and failure modes, then used to justify a documented revision.
Limit: A classroom prototype, , presentation, or does not establish clinical , effectiveness, manufacturing quality, or regulatory clearance.
A design improves when evidence is compared with explicit criteria and constraints.
Limit: Biomedical designs also require , ethics, and biological validation beyond a physical prototype test.
Your notebook has dated, labeled sections ready for daily evidence.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-BFH-2027-02-01 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical design team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from design notebook setup supports before submitting the notebook record named on today's page.
- • Delay finalizing your section labels until you see one day's actual evidence and know what each entry must hold.
- • Set up dated, labeled sections now so each entry holds framing, sketches, data, and reflection a reader can follow.
- • Keep the notebook as a loose scratchpad for ideas and clean it up later when the project matters.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the notebook record.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about design notebook setup. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from design notebook setup supports before submitting the notebook record named on today's page.
Context: A dated, organized design notebook is the primary evidence that engineering work is rigorous and reproducible, because it lets someone else follow and trust your process.
- • T1: Create notebook sections for problem framing, sketches, data, and reflection.
- • T2: Read the rubric for what counts as portfolio evidence.
- • T3: Date and label your first page and record today's objective.
- • T4: Set up the portfolio folder structure that mirrors the PLTW problems.
- • T5: Submit a screenshot or scan of your initialized notebook and portfolio.
- • E1: A biomedical design advances when test evidence is compared with explicit user needs, criteria, constraints, risks, and failure modes, then used to justify a documented revision.
- • E2: A design improves when evidence is compared with explicit criteria and constraints.
- • E3: Your notebook has dated, labeled sections ready for daily evidence.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Design notebook setup. Trace the labeled system, test, or design relationship and identify which evidence should trigger revision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
- • The solution must address the stated need in design notebook setup.
- • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
- • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
- • Complete the work inside the 80-minute block.
- • Use only supplied or teacher-approved materials and evidence.
- • Do not trade , accessibility, or privacy for speed.
- • and evidence quality: must pass before scoring other criteria.
- • User need and effectiveness: highest scored criterion.
- • Time, cost, and ease of use: compare only after and effectiveness pass.
Test evidence: For each option, record the E1-E3 result that supports or fails each criterion. Do not assign a score without a named observation.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
Students often think the notebook is just a scratchpad for your ideas. The trap: the notebook is your evidence, so it needs framing, sketches, data, and reflection, dated and organized, not just loose notes
Design notebook setup, dated entry
Date: January 21, 2027
Objective for today: Set up a design notebook and portfolio that can hold dated, evidence-quality engineering work.
Sections I created (tabbed and labeled):
- Problem framing: where I define and restate the problem I am solving.
- Sketches: dated drawings and concept notes, each labeled.
- Data: tables, measurements, and observations with units.
- Reflection: what worked, what I would change, and my next step.
What makes an entry count as evidence, not a rough note:
- It is dated and labeled with the objective.
- It records what I actually did and what I observed, in enough detail that someone could repeat it.
- It connects to a problem or a criterion, so a reader can see why it matters.
Portfolio folder: I built one folder per PLTW problem (Problem 1 through Problem 8) so each problem's evidence has a home. Screenshot attached.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A design notebook set up with the four working sections and a dated, labeled first entry, ready to hold daily engineering evidence.
- Date and label the entry.
- Record the procedure, observation, or design decision clearly.
- End with what the evidence means and the next step.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit the notebook screenshot or scan and the portfolio screenshot on Schoology by end of period.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Design notebook setup. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Play the cold open at the start of the unit to set the scene. Each recording is AI-generated and simulated (fictional callers, no real people or student data).
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this after the required lesson work when you are ready for a harder application or a deeper connection.
Placement rationale
Matched BI launch and mission innovation by path:Biomedical-Innovations/00-Course-Planning; keywords:emergency room, design. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched BI launch and mission innovation by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:emergency room, design. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched BI launch and mission innovation by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:emergency room, design. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Sign in to Clever with your district Microsoft account to open Schoology or myPLTW. Follow today's posted steps. If myPLTW will not open, use the posted alternative and tell Mr. Mendoza. Turn in your completed work through the Schoology assignment.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about design notebook setup. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
What four sections must a design notebook have before work begins, and what turns a rough note into an evidence-quality entry?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today's work depends on equipment and locations in our lab, so it cannot be finished from home. Do the part that travels: read the target above and the safety notes, and write what you already know.
Back in class. The in-room part has to be done in the room. See Mr. Mendoza on your first day back and he will run it with you before you work at the bench.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
OSHA Hazard Communication Standard- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
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