Process flowchart
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Create a process flowchart that maps patient movement through your prototyped ER, applying human-factors principles.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
List the decision points a patient encounters in your design.
Show all 5 required steps
- List the decision points a patient encounters in your design.
- Draw the flowchart with standard symbols for steps and decisions.
- Apply one human-factors principle to reduce error or confusion.
- Verify the flow matches your floor plan.
- Submit the process flowchart.
Lost your place? Lost your place? If you have listed the patient's decision points from step 1, start drawing the flowchart with standard symbols (step 2). Then apply one human-factors fix at a confusing point (step 3), and before submitting, verify at step 4 that every path in the flowchart matches a real path in your floor plan.
Check your work before submitting
- Your flowchart uses correct symbols and matches the floor plan.
- You applied at least one human-factors principle.
Before lab work: read the safety rules
- Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Patient-flow process flowchart using standard symbols, annotated with one human-factors principle, and verified against the Wednesday floor plan.
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: A scaled model makes abstract design decisions testable, because you cannot measure clearances, check flow, or catch a corridor that is too narrow on a floor plan you have not actually drawn to scale. Today: A flowchart verifies a design, because tracing the decisions a person actually makes while moving reveals confusion points that a static floor plan cannot show, so you can fix them before a patient guesses wrong.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A flowchart verifies a design, because tracing the decisions a person actually makes while moving reveals confusion points that a static cannot show, so you can fix them before a patient guesses wrong.
- 0-10Review standard flowchart symbols: process, decision, start/end, and connector
- 10-25List every patient-facing decision point in your ER layout
- 25-50Draw the flowchart using correct symbols, tracing the full patient path
- 50-65Apply one human-factors principle: annotate where you changed a step to reduce error or confusion
- 65-75Verify the flowchart matches your ; fix any mismatches
- 75-80Submit the process flowchart
- • Yesterday you built the physical layout. Today you trace the patient path through it and verify that it actually works.
- • A process flowchart using standard symbols is a rigorous way to expose hidden decision points and error traps.
- • You will also apply one human-factors principle -- a research-backed rule about how people move and decide under stress.
- • Flowcharting is a core Lab SOP skill that appears in the WebXam 072125 Lab SOPs strand.
- • The standard flowchart symbols for process steps, decisions, and terminal points.
- • What a human-factors principle is and how applying one to a flow reduces error or confusion.
- • How to verify that a patient-flow flowchart matches the corresponding .
PLTW connection and today's work
Open Problem 1 in your myPLTW course shell and locate the process-flow or human-factors activity to review the flowchart format and symbol key.
Today's stopping point: The floor-plan model is done; by end of today your patient-flow process flowchart with correct symbols and one applied human-factors principle should be submitted.
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
- Activity 1.1.2 Research and Documentation
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
Finish the assigned lab safely before starting extra practice.
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.
A scaled model makes abstract design decisions testable, because you cannot measure clearances, check flow, or catch a corridor that is too narrow on a you have not actually drawn to scale.
A flowchart verifies a design, because tracing the decisions a person actually makes while moving reveals confusion points that a static cannot show, so you can fix them before a patient guesses wrong.
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: When a confused patient reaches the fork in your ER between 'check in here' and 'emergencies this way,' does your flowchart send them the right direction without a staff member having to catch the mistake?
What you already know: A scaled model makes abstract design decisions testable, because you cannot measure clearances, check flow, or catch a corridor that is too narrow on a you have not actually drawn to scale.
New idea: A flowchart verifies a design, because tracing the decisions a person actually makes while moving reveals confusion points that a static cannot show, so you can fix them before a patient guesses wrong.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Process flowchart. 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 process flowchart.
- 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: When a confused patient reaches the fork in your ER between 'check in here' and 'emergencies this way,' does your flowchart send them the right direction without a staff member having to catch the mistake?
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.
- • credibility: The degree to which a source can be trusted, judged by the author's expertise, the evidence given, and whether claims are accurate and unbiased.
- • : All the inventions, products, and publications that already exist before a new idea, used to judge whether that idea is truly novel and patentable.
- • : A scaled drawing of a room or building seen from above, showing the layout of walls, equipment, and workspaces.
- • : A step-by-step map of how a task or system moves from start to finish, showing the order of actions and decisions.
- • revision: The act of reviewing and changing work to fix errors and improve it, based on feedback, new evidence, or test results.
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 flowchart uses correct symbols and matches the .
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-2027-02-19 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical design team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from process flowchart supports before submitting the lab report named on today's page.
- • Wait to finish the chart until someone unfamiliar walks your path and shows you where they hesitated.
- • Trace every decision a patient makes while moving and mark the forks where a stressed person could guess wrong.
- • Copy the room order from your into the flowchart, since a good layout already means good flow.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the lab report.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about process flowchart. 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 process flowchart supports before submitting the lab report named on today's page.
Context: A process flowchart is a verification tool, because tracing every decision a person makes as they move reveals whether the physical layout supports them or quietly sets them up to make a mistake at the worst moment.
- • T1: List the decision points a patient encounters in your design.
- • T2: Draw the flowchart with standard symbols for steps and decisions.
- • T3: Apply one human-factors principle to reduce error or confusion.
- • T4: Verify the flow matches your .
- • T5: Submit the process flowchart.
- • 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 flowchart uses correct symbols and matches the .
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 Process flowchart. 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 process flowchart.
- • 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 Students think a flowchart just restates the , so if the rooms are placed well the flow is automatically fine.. The trap: The trap is assuming good rooms guarantee good flow. A layout can be spatially perfect and still fail a person, because the flowchart tracks decisions and moments of confusion that a room layout cannot show. Two rooms next to each other on the plan can still leave a stressed patient guessing which door is theirs, so the flowchart must be checked against the plan, not assumed from it.
My flow maps a patient from arrival to discharge, with the time each step takes:
- Arrival and check-in: 4 min
- Triage: 6 min
- Wait for room: 38 min
- Exam by provider: 12 min
- Tests and results: 25 min
- Discharge: 5 min
Bottleneck call: 'Wait for room' is the bottleneck because it is the longest step and it is a queue (patients pile up there), not actual care. My redesign idea is a fast-track area for low-acuity patients so they do not wait for a full room.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the ER prototype process-flow step: a mapped patient pathway and an identified bottleneck to redesign.
- State the question and method.
- Present the observations and data with units.
- Explain the result, limitations, and next investigation.
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 flowchart image and your one-sentence bottleneck claim on Schoology.
- 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 Process flowchart. 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.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Prototype planning and project management by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:gantt, project management. Score 142. 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 Prototype planning and project management by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/00_Problem-Overview; keywords:gantt, design. Score 134. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Prototype planning and project management by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:design. Score 134. 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 process flowchart. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Your floor plan has triage right beside the entrance, which looks great. But your flowchart shows a patient reaching a fork with no sign and guessing. What does this mismatch prove, and what is the fix?
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?▸
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can state today's specific hazards and the control for each. If this deck does not name them, I ask Mr. Mendoza before I touch anything. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- • Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2List the decision points a patient encounters in your design.
- 3Draw the flowchart with standard symbols for steps and decisions.
- 4Apply one human-factors principle to reduce error or confusion.
- 5Verify the flow matches your floor plan.
- 6Submit the process flowchart.
- 7Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 8Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
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 is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your Lab report.
Go 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.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
NGSS Engineering Design- 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.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.
This week
My Progress dashboard