Empathize
Students will meet real community members, gather firsthand evidence about snack event needs and budgeting challenges, and create empathy maps grounded in direct quotes and observations to guide their later budget designs.
Days 1 - 3
Define
Students will analyze patterns from their grocery store interviews and empathy maps, identify shared needs for a community snack event, and craft a clear "How Might We" problem statement grounded in real user evidence to guide their budget design work.
Days 4 - 5
Ideate
Students will generate many possible ways to design a $20 snack budget for a community event, explore different approaches to adding and subtracting within 20, and select top concepts based on real user needs gathered from grocery store staff and families.
Days 6 - 8
Prototype
Students will build and test low- and medium-fidelity versions of their community event budget posters and interactive math stations, gather feedback from real users and peers, and revise their plans to more accurately meet community needs while staying within a $20 budget using addition and subtraction within 20.
Days 9 - 12
Test/Present
Students will validate their refined community snack budget plans with new users, make final revisions based on real feedback, and present their full design journey at the Math in Action Fair, clearly connecting their addition and subtraction strategies to real community needs.
Days 13 - 16