HS-ETS1-1: Defining Criteria and Constraints for a Global Challenge
Also called NGSS HS-ETS1-1 · Topic: Engineering Design · Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
The Official Wording
Analyze a major global challenge to specify qualitative and quantitative criteria and constraints for solutions that account for societal needs and wants.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What HS-ETS1-1 Means in Plain English
Students study a big problem the world shares, like clean water, energy or food, and pin down what a good solution must do. They write measurable criteria, such as a target cost or output, and descriptive ones, such as easy to repair, plus the limits any design must respect.
The criteria have to reflect what the people affected actually need and want, not only what engineers find interesting. Students do not build anything yet. It extends MS-ETS1-1 to a global scale and sets up HS-ETS1-2 and HS-ETS1-3.
HS-ETS1-1 I Can Statements
- I can describe a global challenge and who it affects.
- I can write measurable and descriptive criteria for a solution.
- I can list the constraints a solution must work within.
HS-ETS1-1 Worked Example
A problem-definition session a class can run on smoky cooking fires, a health challenge in homes around the world.
What must a cleaner cookstove do to actually be used in homes that cook over open fires?
Set It Up: Short World Health Organization readings on household air pollution, photos of a three-stone fire and two existing stove designs, and a criteria table on chart paper.
- List who is affected and how.Smoke in kitchens, hours gathering firewood
- Turn the needs into measurable criteria.Cut smoke and fuel use by at least half
- Add descriptive criteria from what families want.Fits local pots, cooks usual dishes, easy to light
- Write the constraints every design must meet.Low price, local fuel, local spare parts
- Rank the criteria and check the two stove designs against them.One design fails the pot-size need
A stove that burns cleanly in a lab can still fail if it costs too much or does not fit how families cook, so the criteria must cover both.
Why it works: Engineering starts by defining success in terms of the people served, because a solution that meets technical targets but ignores its users goes unused.
Common Mistakes with HS-ETS1-1
Vague criteria
“The stove should be better and cleaner.”
Try this: Give each criterion a number or a clear test, like cutting smoke by half, so any design can be checked against it.
Mixing criteria and constraints
Listing “must cost under $30” as a goal to aim for
Try this: Criteria describe what success looks like. Constraints are hard limits, like a budget, that every design must stay within.
Leaving out the users
Criteria written only from a lab test sheet
Try this: Include what the people affected need and want, such as cooking their usual dishes, or the solution may never be adopted.
Where HS-ETS1-1 Fits
Practice HS-ETS1-1
Quick Check
- Is “must cost less than a week's wages” a criterion or a constraint?
- Why write measurable criteria at all?
- Why ask families what they want from a stove?