Criteria and constraints, rebuilt as a teaching sequence
A demo for Andy, built with James Moore's course-building method, 2 October 2026. A Grade 4 topic (James, 2 Oct), kept on record for the Grade 4 Science course: it covers register atoms SR4-020, SR4-021, SR4-023 and SR4-005.
What you are looking at
Andy's agent wrote "Criteria and Constraints" as fifteen rules with watch-outs. The evaluation is one click away: Andy's script, evaluated. The short version: it is an answer key, not a lesson. It tells and never shows, teaches fifteen things at once, and coins six words before a child has seen one case.
This site is the same content rebuilt the way the Grade 3 to 5 science courses are built: one idea per lesson, shown before it is told, the rule last, a quick quiz in fresh contexts straight after.
How to walk through it
Go in order. Each lesson page has the video, its script one click below it, and a Read instead tab with the article that teaches the same thing. After the video comes one easy question, then the quiz. Every question marks itself and explains.
- IntroTopic intro: Criteria and constraintsvideo · pollStart →
- Lesson 1A criterion says the jobvideo or article · 1 + 8 questionsStart →
- Lesson 2A constraint says the limitvideo or article · 1 + 8 questionsStart →
- Lesson 3A test does what the criterion saysvideo or article · 1 + 6 questionsStart →
- Lesson 4The same test for every designvideo or article · 1 + 6 questionsStart →
- Lesson 5Met, not met, or a limit brokenvideo or article · 1 + 7 questionsStart →
- Lesson 6Change the part that failed, then test againvideo or article · 1 + 6 questionsStart →
- SummaryTopic summary: Criteria and constraintsvideo · 3 questionsStart →
- PracticeMixed practice15 itemsStart →
What is different, in one table
| Andy's script | This sequence |
|---|---|
| 15 rules in one lesson | 6 lessons, one idea each, on one running scene (a pencil holder) |
| Rule first, examples as "watch outs" | Examples first: a non-example, three examples, a near-miss, then the rule |
| 6 new words, all at once | 3 words (criterion, constraint, fair test), each coined after its plain meaning |
| Watch-outs quoting the practice questions | Quizzes in fresh contexts: bird feeders, paper bridges, kites, bookmarks |
| No picture, nothing to do | A 40 to 75 second animated video or a short illustrated article, the learner's choice |
| Questions written to the rules, unchecked | 65 items, six cold reads, every key verified before it ships |
The method behind it is on the How it was built page.