Learn how to think critically about the design of things you want to make. Readers will learn to analyze the efficiency of their plans, while still feeling encouraged to push forward with new ideas. Photos, sidebars, and callouts help readers draw connections between new concepts in this book and other makers-related concepts they may already know. Additional text features and search tools, including a glossary and an index, help students locate information...

"How could a smarter backpack make life easier for the kids in your school? Great inventors use a process called design thinking to help them identify problems, big and small, and create solutions for them. This book introduces readers to design thinking and asks them to look at their backpack (the pros and cons of it) in a specific way to figure out how to improve it. Design thinking fosters innovation, creativity, and even empathy--essential learning...