In all of the three subunits, the following aspects of IBSE are present, with different foci in the different subunits:
- Developing questions
- Developing hypotheses
- Testing hypotheses with experiments
- Documenting experiments
- Searching for information in books, the internet, and on products
- Discussing ideas with peers
Sub-unit 3 applies the IBSE steps both for scientific experiments and the idea of technical / industrial processes of the optimization of products.