Strengthening Problem-Solving Skills Through Failure

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Standards Addressed

Responsible Decision-Making: understanding the importance of making choices that are ethical and beneficial

Self-Awareness: awareness of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and values

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Objective

Students will solve problems by applying solutions, learning from failures, and adapting their strategies across different challenges.

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Materials

• Newspapers
• Tape
• Scavenger hunt items
• Simple puzzles (from a dollar store)

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Assessment

Students can be assessed in the following areas:

• Participation and collaboration during the challenges
• Creative problem-solving attempts, adaptations, and solutions
• Reflection
• Understanding the importance of learning from failure while problem-solving

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Activating Prior Knowledge

Begin the lesson by asking students, "Can you think of a time when you tried to solve a problem and failed? What did you do next? Did you find a solution in the end?" Allow a few students to share their experiences.

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Lesson Steps

1) Introduce the concept of not always having the perfect or best solution the first time you try to solve a problem. Discuss the following vocab:

• Adaptability: Adjusting strategies when faced with obstacles or unexpected results.
• Collaboration: Working together to achieve a common goal while respecting each other's ideas and contributions.
• Critical Thinking: Analyzing challenges and developing strategies to solve them.
• Communication: Effectively sharing ideas and discussing solutions with peers.

Address the common misconception that problem-solving only involves finding the correct answer. Instead, it’s about the process of learning and adapting from failed attempts. Use examples from everyday life to illustrate this concept.

2) Have students complete three challenges where they will demonstrate their problem-solving skills. The challenges can be completed over different days. Determine which challenges should be done alone and which should be completed as a team to develop collaboration skills.

• Challenge 1 - Have students build a tower with only newspaper and tape (students will have to determine if they will roll the paper or fold, when to use the tape and where, etc.)
• Challenge 2 - Host a scavenger hunt within the class. Students will need to decide the best technique. If they are alone, they will need to decide if they should search for one item at a time or scan the room for all items on the list.
• Challenge 3 - Have students complete a simple puzzle (from the dollar store), but one piece will be from another person's/team's puzzle. Students must complete the puzzle and find the wrong piece. Then they need to find the person/team that matches the wrong piece and trade it for their piece. Students will determine how to complete their puzzle and find the wrong piece.

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Reflection

Students will write a reflection on their experiences during the challenges. They should detail the decisions they made, how they collaborated with their peers, and what they learned about trying different solutions and learning from failure to solve a problem. If completed over a series of days, allow students to reflect at the end of each day.

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Here is the printable version of the Strengthening Problem-Solving Skills Through Failure Lesson Plan.

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