By the end of this lesson, students will:
Understand the importance of considering multiple alternatives in decision-making.
Learn techniques for generating creative solutions.
Practice evaluating and comparing different options using decision criteria.
Recognize how exploring alternatives leads to better decisions.
Let me present you with an interesting challenge:
Imagine you’re on one side of a river, and you need to get to the other side. There’s no bridge and no boat. How would you get across?
Take a moment to think about it. There’s no right or wrong answer – I want to hear all your ideas, even if they seem silly at first!
Let’s list every solution you can think of:
You know what’s interesting? Each of these solutions has its own good points and challenges:
This is exactly what we do when making any important decision – we look for different ways to solve our problem. Sometimes the first solution we think of isn’t the best one, which is why it’s so important to come up with lots of options.
Think about a problem you’re facing right now. Let’s take a few minutes to list all the possible ways you could solve it, even ones that might seem unusual at first. Sometimes the best solutions come from thinking creatively!
Teaching Note: This opening activity establishes the importance of generating multiple solutions before making decisions, setting up the more detailed exploration to come.
Let me tell you a story about six friends who faced an interesting challenge. These friends had never seen an elephant before, and when they finally met one, each could only touch one part to figure out what an elephant was like.
Sam reached out and touched the elephant’s trunk. “Ah!” he said. “An elephant is like a giant snake! It’s long and can move around.”
Maria felt the elephant’s ear. “No, no,” she said. “An elephant is like a big fan! It’s flat and moves back and forth.”
Alex grabbed the elephant’s leg. “You’re both wrong,” he declared. “An elephant is like a tree trunk! It’s thick and sturdy.”
Jamie held the tail. “How can you say that? An elephant is clearly like a rope! It’s thin and swishes around.”
Kai touched the elephant’s side. “I disagree with all of you! An elephant is like a wall! It’s flat and wide.”
Finally, Jordan felt the tusk. “None of you understand! An elephant is like a smooth, hard pole!”
They started arguing, each convinced they were right and everyone else was wrong. Then their teacher spoke up:
“Wait a minute,” she said. “You’re all right… and you’re all wrong. Each of you is describing just one part of the elephant. Put all your descriptions together, and then you’ll understand what an elephant really is!”
The friends were surprised. When they shared their experiences and listened to each other, they finally understood what an elephant was really like.
Now, think about this: How often do we do the same thing when making decisions?
We might:
– Only look at one part of a problem
– Think our view is the only right one
– Miss important information others might see
– Forget to put all the pieces together
Let me give you an example: Imagine you’re choosing an after-school activity.
You might:
– Think only about which one sounds most fun
– Or only about which one your friends are doing
– Or only about which one looks best for college
– Or only about which one is easiest to get to
But just like with the elephant, the best decision comes from looking at ALL these parts together!
What decisions are you facing right now? How many different “parts” of that decision should you look at?
Teaching Note: This story helps students understand that different perspectives and alternatives can all contribute to a better understanding and decision-making process.
You know how when you’re playing a video game, there’s usually more than one way to complete a level? The same is true for most decisions in life – there are usually many paths we can take.
Let’s learn some cool tools to help us find all these different paths!
Why Look for Different Options?
Imagine if you only knew one way to get to school, and one day that road was blocked. Having multiple routes means you’ll always have a backup plan! The same goes for any decision – the more options you know about, the better chance you have of finding a great solution.
Cool Tools for Finding Options:
1. The Brain Dump
This is like emptying your toy box – dump out ALL your ideas, even the silly ones! Let’s try it:
– Set a timer for 2 minutes
– Write down every single idea you can think of
– No judging ideas yet – just write them all down
2. The Mind Map
Think of this like drawing a spider web of ideas:
– Put your main problem in the middle
– Draw lines coming out for different solutions
– Add more lines for details about each solution
– Connect ideas that go together
3. The SCAMPER Adventure
This is like having magical glasses that help you see things differently:
– Substitute: What could you swap out?
– Combine: What could you mix together?
– Adapt: How could you adjust it?
– Modify: What could you change?
– Put to another use: How else could you use it?
– Eliminate: What could you remove?
– Reverse: What if you did it backward?
Let’s practice with a real example: “Planning a Birthday Party“
Brain Dump might give us:
– Party at home
– Party at the park
– Pizza party
– Game night
– Sports party
– Art party
– Movie night
Mind Map might show:
. [Birthday Party]
/ | \
Location Food Activities
/ | \ | / | \
Home Park Pool Pizza Games Sports Art
SCAMPER might suggest:
– Substitute: Virtual party instead of in-person
– Combine: Sports + Art = Paint ball party
– Adapt: Indoor activities for rainy weather
– Modify: Make it a morning party instead of afternoon
– Put to another use: Turn cleanup into a game
– Eliminate: Skip formal activities, just free play
– Reverse: Guests bring activities to share
Now, how do we pick the best option? We make a simple scoring chart:
Let’s try this with a decision you’re facing right now. What choices do you need to make? Let’s use these tools to find ALL your options!
Teaching Note: Help students see that generating alternatives isn’t about finding the “right” answer, but about discovering many possible solutions to choose from.
Let’s practice finding lots of different solutions to some interesting challenges. Each challenge will help us get better at coming up with creative options and choosing the best one.
Imagine your school wants to create a garden, but you need to figure out:
Let’s use our tools:
1. First, let’s do a Brain Dump (3 minutes):
2. Now, let’s organize with a Mind Map (5 minutes):
. [School Garden]
/ | \
Location Plants People
/ | \ | / | \
Front Back Side Veggies Classes Teams
3. Try SCAMPER (5 minutes):
– Substitute: Indoor garden instead of outdoor?
– Combine: Garden + art = decorative planters
– Adapt: Vertical garden for small spaces
– Modify: Make it mobile with wheeled planters
– Put to another use: Use it for science lessons
– Eliminate: Remove need for daily watering with self-watering systems
– Reverse: Students teach teachers about gardening
4. Evaluation Time (7 minutes):
Let’s make a simple scoring chart:
Cost | Ease of Care | Learning Value | Fun
(Rate each idea 1-5 stars)
Now, let’s pick a real situation you’re dealing with and use these same tools to find great solutions.
Remember:
What situation would you like to explore? We can use these tools to find lots of possible solutions!
Teaching Note: Guide students through the process, encouraging creativity while helping them stay focused on generating practical solutions. Help them see how combining and modifying ideas can lead to even better options.
Today we learned something really powerful – that almost every problem has more than one solution, and the best decisions come from exploring lots of different options. Remember our friends from the elephant story? They taught us that looking at something from different angles helps us see the whole picture!
Here’s what we discovered:
Over the next week, become an “Alternative Explorer.”
Every time you face a decision (big or small), challenge yourself to:
For example, you might write:
“Today I needed to finish my homework and spend time with friends. Instead of choosing just one, I thought of different options:
For example, you might write:
“Today I needed to finish my homework and spend time with friends. Instead of choosing just one, I thought of different options:
When we meet next time, we’ll learn how to put all our decision-making tools together. Bring your Alternative Explorer notes – I’d love to hear about all the creative solutions you discovered!
Remember our tools:
What surprised you most about finding different solutions? Which of these tools do you think will help you most with decisions this week?
Next time someone has a problem, help them think of at least three different ways to solve it. Sometimes we see options in other people’s situations that they might miss!
Teaching Note: This wrap-up reinforces key concepts while encouraging practical application in daily life. The take-home challenge promotes ongoing awareness and creative problem-solving skills.
Verse 1:
Like the friends around the elephant
Each seeing just their part
Every problem that we face
Needs many ways to start
Brain dump all your ideas down
Draw your spider web of choice
SCAMPER through the possibilities
Give each path a voice
Pre-Chorus:
More than one way
(To cross that stream)
More than one path
(To chase that dream)
Chorus:
Find another way to try
Look at it from every side
Like a puzzle turning round
Till all the paths are found
Some might work and some might not
But that’s how answers start to pop
When you learn to look around
For different ways to go
Verse 2:
Mix and match your ideas now
Combine them into new
Score each option carefully
See which ones ring true
Every angle brings a gift
Every view might show
Something that you might have missed
A better way to go
(Pre-Chorus)
(Chorus)
Bridge:
Substitute, combine and change
Put to other use
Every option teaches us
There’s no need to choose too soon
(Chorus)
Outro:
Like a garden full of paths
Each one leads somewhere
Take the time to find them all
Before choosing which to share
Remember, at QMAK, we don’t just teach; we empower. We don’t just inform; we inspire. We don’t just question; we act. Become a Gold Member, and let’s unlock your child’s full potential, one question at a time.