Literature review, decision matrices, validation metrics, MP1 data inflection.
What to do if absent- 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 — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Validating Your Prototype: literature review, decision matrices, and metrics
Run a focused literature review, build a decision matrix to choose a design, and define the metrics you will use to prove your prototype works.
- 1Open your design notebook and write the one problem your prototype is meant to solve in a single sentence.
- 2Find three credible sources on your topic and write one fact from each, noting whether the source was peer reviewed.
- 3Build a decision matrix with your top design options as rows and your criteria as columns, then score each cell 1 to 5.
- 4Circle the option with the highest total and write one sentence on why the matrix supports that choice.
- 5List two measurable validation metrics (a number you can record) that would show your prototype is working.
- 6Draft a simple test plan: what you will measure, how many trials, and what result would count as success.
- • You will be able to summarize credible sources and tell peer-reviewed work from opinion.
- • You will be able to use a decision matrix to justify a design choice.
- • You will be able to define measurable validation metrics for a prototype test.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Three-sentence reflection: which source type you trust more for prototype validation and why.
Three-source literature review with citations, main claims, conflict notes, and a synthesis paragraph identifying a design gap.
Weighted decision matrix with three options, four criteria, weights, scores, weighted totals, and a written justification.
Validation plan with prototype claim, two measurable metrics with units and pass/fail thresholds, a control, a test procedure, and one error-reduction step.
Audited Problem 3 tracker with status for every deliverable, all three artifacts attached, and one improvement note for the next marking period.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: real innovators do not guess whether their idea works, they measure it, and this week you learn how.
- Today's goal: turn a pile of ideas into one defensible design with a test plan behind it.
- Monday bioethics debate ties in: is it ethical to cite a source you never actually read?
- Reminder: your graded decision matrix and validation plan are submitted in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance your PLTW innovation benchmark by completing the literature review and decision matrix for your prototype in the online course shell.
- • A literature review gathers and summarizes credible prior work before you design.
- • A decision matrix scores options against weighted criteria to support a choice.
- • Distinguish peer-reviewed evidence from unreviewed claims.
- • Define measurable validation metrics for a prototype.
📋 PLTW evidence due: a literature review summary, a scored decision matrix, and a prototype validation plan in the course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Tue, Mar 9 | Source ethics debate | Three-sentence reflection: which source type you trust more for prototype validation and why. |
| Tuesday | Wed, Mar 10 | Literature review | Three-source literature review with citations, main claims, conflict notes, and a synthesis paragraph identifying a design gap. |
| Wednesday | Thu, Mar 11 | Decision matrix | Weighted decision matrix with three options, four criteria, weights, scores, weighted totals, and a written justification. |
| Thursday | Fri, Mar 12 | Validation plan | Validation plan with prototype claim, two measurable metrics with units and pass/fail thresholds, a control, a test procedure, and one error-reduction step. |
| Friday | Mon, Mar 15 | MP1 tracker audit | Audited Problem 3 tracker with status for every deliverable, all three artifacts attached, and one improvement note for the next marking period. |
- M: source ethics debate
- T: literature review
- W: decision matrix
- Th: validation plan
- F: MP1 tracker audit
Due by week's end: Prototype validation notes and tracker audit.
Lab day — what to bring & watch
This explainer accompanies the PLTW lab protocol — watch it before lab.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Simulated validation plan.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: scientific method and experiment designVocabulary
Virtual resources
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson. Ones marked “Open the file” open right here; the rest are posted in Schoology. Use the label on each card to choose the right move.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Prototype validation and evidence audit by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-3_Medical-Innovation/3.1_Medical-Innovation; keywords:rubric. Score 134. 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 validation and evidence audit by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-3_Medical-Innovation/3.1_Medical-Innovation; keywords:rubric. Score 130. 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 validation and evidence audit by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-2_Human-Physiology/2.1_Human-Physiology. Score 126. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 8 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project