At a glance
Pairs · launched in Unit 2 and due three classes later · one measured claim about this building, one program that does the measuring, one recommendation somebody could act on
What you are making
An audit of computer use somewhere real — this classroom, the library, the lab, your own household — supported by a program you write that does the arithmetic, and ending in a recommendation with a number attached to it.
The rule that makes this a computer science task rather than a poster: every claim has a number, and every number comes from your program.
What must be in it
- A count. How many machines, of what kind, on how many hours a day. Count them; do not estimate.
- A program that takes those counts and produces the energy used per day, per school year, and its cost. The formula work is in Formulas as Algorithms; the program must read its data from a file, so that next year’s class can re-run it with different numbers.
- A test plan for that program, per Writing a Test Plan, with at least one case you worked out by hand.
- Two recommendations, each with the saving your program calculates: one about habits — sleep settings, switching off — and one about the machines themselves, whether that is repair, redeployment, or proper recycling at end of life.
- The disposal answer: where equipment here actually goes at the end of its life, and where it should go, naming the programs and agencies from Where to Take It, and Who to Ask.
- One paragraph on the other side of the ledger: a way computing reduces resource use rather than consuming it, from Computers and the Environment or your own research.
How to work
- Agree who counts what before you leave the room. Two people counting the same lab twice is the classic waste of a period.
- Write the program against invented numbers first, then swap in the real file. A walking skeleton beats a perfect plan — Keeping a Project Board has the reasoning.
- Sanity-check every result against something you know. If your program says the library uses more power than a house, one of the units is wrong, and it is usually watts against kilowatts.
- Write the recommendation for somebody who can act on it: the caretaker, the librarian, the principal. Plain sentences, the number in the first line.
How this is assessed
| Quality | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Measured, not guessed | Counts you took, in a file your program reads |
| Correct arithmetic | Units stated; a hand-worked case in the test plan |
| Program is reusable | Data in a file, functions with sensible names |
| Recommendations are actionable | Specific, addressed to somebody, with a saving |
| Disposal is concrete | Names real programs and what they accept |
| Balanced | Acknowledges what computing gives back, with an example |
Reflect
A Code Journal entry: which number surprised you, and what did you assume before you measured? Then: whose decision would your recommendation actually be, and what would it cost them?
Curriculum connection
D1.1
describe the negative effects of computer use on the environment (e.g., creation of e-waste, excessive use of paper resulting from unnecessary printing of files and emails, heavy power consumption) and on human health (e.g., exposure to radiation, musculoskeletal disorders, eye strain, mental health problems resulting from social isolation, various health consequences of reduced activity levels);
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D1.2
identify measures that help reduce the impact of computers on the environment (e.g., lab regulations, school policies, corporate and government policies promoting paperless workplaces and computer recycling and reuse) and on human health (e.g., ergonomic standards);
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D1.3
describe ways in which computers are or could be used to reduce resource use and to support environmental protection measures (e.g., computer modelling to reduce use of physical resources; management of natural resources);
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D1.4
identify government agencies and community partners that provide resources and guidance for environmental stewardship (e.g., local community recycling centres, private companies that refurbish computers, printer cartridge recycling programs).
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B3.2
solve common problems (e.g., calculation of hypotenuse, determination of primes, calculation of area and circumference) by applying mathematical equations or formulas in an algorithm;
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