In order to specify the problem chosen at Stage 0, it is necessary to be clear about the elements we are dealing with. This question may appear trivial, however it is the one learners often fail to answer, especially if one asks for more than a mere repetition of the title of a textbook topic. It often takes a very long time to understand the meaning behind such "obvious" things as a sentence in the language classroom or a triangle in a maths lesson. The idea of Stage 1 is to give the learner a chance to "play" with whatever s/he is dealing with in order to reveal those properties that may not be on the surface.

As a result of this “game”, the learner is able to build the “passport” of the elements involved in his/her problem or describe them via parameters and values. This is the main outcome of this stage.

By the end of working at Stage 1, the learner is able to do the following:

• find and recognise the elements s/he is dealing with
• describe elements via parameters and their values
• distinguish between the elements or their forms
• do all of the above in the context of his/her objectives on resolving the chosen problem