Students will meet a local animal shelter representative, ask questions to understand animal needs, and create empathy maps grounded in real quotes and observations. They will connect addition and subtraction within 20 to real shelter scenarios while identifying authentic user needs that will guide their problem definition in the next phase.

Students will analyze their animal shelter interview notes and empathy maps to identify patterns in animal food and care needs, then synthesize their findings into a clear, evidence-based How Might We problem statement that will guide their care kit designs.

Students will generate many possible animal care kit ideas grounded in real shelter needs, explore multiple distinct solution types, and select top concepts using user-based criteria before moving into prototyping.

Students will build, test, and improve animal care kit prototypes that use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve real shelter food and care problems. They will create low- and higher-fidelity models, gather peer and user feedback, document revisions, and strengthen their mental math strategies before final testing and exhibition.

Students will validate their refined animal care kits with new users, make final improvements based on real feedback, and present their full design journey at the Critter Calculations Carnival, clearly explaining how addition and subtraction within 20 helped them solve real problems for the animal shelter.