Background information

The group 4 project is:

• a compulsory component of all gp 4 subjects. If you do 2 gp 4 subjects the project counts for both (you only do one)
• an opportunity to work in a team made up of students from different subjects, the idea being that you will bring different skills and perspectives to the group not that you will necessarily use subject knowledge
• a chance to use and develop your ICT skills
• focused on an environmental issue
• a different way of working than is possible in normal class time
• dependent on individual participation

The framework

• The project will take place during the "on campus" time of friluftsveka
• You will work in groups of 5 students from a variety of subjects
• The aim is to measure the hourly consumption of electrical energy for a 24 hour period
• You will record your progress and results on a public blog
• Failure to meet deadlines will result in the whole group having to do another project
• Each group will produce a graph of energy consumption against time, this will be compared with the actual consumption, the group closest will win a prize.

The timeframe

groups 11 - 20

groups 1 - 10

Data collection

• Although the collection is over 24 hours you do not have to stay up all night, you are a team.
• Think about how you are going to sample the data, you don't have to measure the energy use all the time.
• There will be a lot of estimation.
• Many rooms are the same, you don't have to go into every room, just a sample.
• Don't disturb people at night, a look from the outside will give an idea of lights being used, anyway you are not allowed in other peoples rooms in the middle of the night.

Energy usage

• Some devices e.g. water boilers and ovens consume a lot of energy others such as computers not so much. Go for the big ones.
• You will be given an energy measuring device. Use it to find out the power of different devices.
• Power = energy/time so if you know the power of an appliance you can find out how much energy is used but be consistent with the units.

Watts x seconds = Joules

kiloWatts x hours = kilowatt hours (Use these units)

• There is a lot of energy used in the kitchens but coordinate with other groups, don't all ask at the same time.
• It is difficult to determine how much energy is used to heat the rooms, a lot of heat comes from the ventilation system. Maybe you can calculate the energy required using an online calculator such as this https://www.dimplex.co.uk/room-heating-calculator
• It might be interesting to know how much energy is used on heating as opposed to lighting for example. Bear this in mind when collecting data.

The Blog

• A blog is a way of recording and reflecting on the activities of the day.
• Use blogger.com to make your blog and send me the URL before the deadline.
• Each group should make at least 10 posts including images and even video.
• The blog is public.
• I will be monitoring group activity via blog posts, no posts = no activity.

Conclusions

After you have collected all the data and plotted the results you will be in a position to make some conclusions:

• Where is most energy being used?
• Do you have any suggestions for energy saving?

Final reflection

When you return to class you will be asked to right a reflective statement by your subject teachers, this is an IB requirement. The work will not be graded.

Here are the blogs:

Group 4 project 2019 blogs (1)

Group 4 project 2019 blogs (2)