CAREER STUDY

People have great ideas for inventions all the time. Just ask the people you know. You might be surprised by some of the ideas they have come up with.

• 1 Plan the Interview Choose two friends or family members to talk to. You might decide to choose people who are different from one another to see how their different needs affect their ideas. For instance, you might conduct an interview with an older person and a younger person or people with different interests.

• 2 Prepare the Questions A good interview includes questions and follow-up questions. Use words such as who, what, where, when, how, and why.

  Question	Follow-up Question
  What is your idea for an invention?	How does it work?
  Where did your idea come from?	How will your invention help?
  Have you ever seen anything like it before?	How is your invention different?

• 3 Conduct the Interview Follow these steps:

  • • Tell the person what the interview will be about.

  • • Ask your questions. Take notes or record the answers.

  • • Ask more questions based on the answers.

  • • Thank the person for his or her time.

• 4 Present Your Interview Summarize your interview for the class. Tell about the ideas you heard. Compare how each person’s needs affected his or her idea. Speak clearly and slowly. Use a tone of voice and appropriate facial expressions to show you are interested in the subject.