Questions / instructions:
Imagine you and your friends often get thirsty when playing at school, but the school doesn't have a good drinking fountain or tap.

Think about what you could do to try to get the school to put in a good drinking fountain. I'll write down your ideas.

Show and read the list of ideas given, then ask if there are any more ideas.
If you did these things, and the school still did not get a good drinking fountain, then what could you do to try to get one?

Write down any additional ideas.

Number of appropriate ideas:
several
1–2
none

Categories of ideas:
researching need
funding
talking to appropriate school personnel
writing to appropriate school personnel
writing to community officials or agencies
other

Overall quality of response:
very strong
strong
moderate
weak

Commentary:
Of the 46 percent of ideas for addressing the problem which were grouped under 'other', about one quarter focused on public protest. The remainder either failed to tackle the issue or suggested other sources for drinks. Overall the number of students who were able to offer worthwhile strategies, as judged by teachers, was not high. This could indicate a lack of sufficient practice and confidence in thinking about how to address problems when initial ideas fail.