The group 4 project
IN
IBDP
What is Group 4 Project?
The Group 4 Project is a student generated,
student planned,
student produced,
interdisciplinary investigation.
The Group 4 Project is a requirement for all
diploma and certificate students enrolled in
an IB science course.
Student generated
The students choose the topic to be studied.
The topic needs to be :
● narrow enough to be planned and studied in
10-15 hours of work and
● broad enough so that all disciplines of
science can be included.
Student planned
The students
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determine the research topic,
state the problem,
make a hypothesis,
determine what specific investigations are
going to be done within the research topic
chosen, and
plan the procedure, including determining
materials and selecting variables.
Student produced
Group 4 students do
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the research,
investigation, and
the final write-up,
presentation, or
documentation.
INTERDISCIPLINARY
investigation
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All of the sciences are involved.
All of the IB students are involved.
All members of a group will be
investigating the same problem from
different perspectives.
Timing - Schedule in booklet
Planning stage: 4th - 7th March
Action stage: 7
th
March - 7
th
April
th
Evaluation stage: 7 April
Handover to supervisor: 8th April
Presentation: Monday 19th May
Process for a group 4 Project:
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Step 1: Identify major topics: e.g., body, pollution,
water, recycling, air, energy, nutrition, waste,
agriculture.
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Step 2: concentrate on a few topics: Pollution,
Agriculture, nutrition.
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Step 3: Narrow topic down to one: e.g., Agriculture
Process for a
group 4 Project (cont.):
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Step 4: Narrow it down to a focused question, e.g.,
How can agriculture help reduce pollution?
Step 5: Students in each subject come up with
issues in their own areas.
● and create a hypothesis
Step 6: Students in each subject narrow these
down to what they can collect in terms of data and
investigations.
TEAM WORK
You will be working as part of a team of
5 students. This means that your
personal skills will be tested.
i.e. your ability to:
● · Work within a team,
● · Recognize the contribution of others,
● · Encourage the contribution of others.
●
Teams
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Saudatu
Elias
Shehzad
Wouter
Jie Shen
Selin
Brane
Anastasia
Stephanie
Nick
Lovisa
Ayo
Misaki
Diego
Nene
Group 4
Group 5
Supervisors:
Lorenzo
Elliot
Ms Higgins
Varun
Samar
Chemistry
Emily
Viktor
Yi
Ingrid
Ms Sheard
Abdel
Micol
Physics
Team
members
• Have different roles
• Have a common goal
• Don’t choose each
other
Team
skills
• Communication
• Co-operation
• Motivation
• Perseverance
• Adaptability
Broad Topic: Sick Building Syndrome
Focused Question: How do the
environmental conditions in a given
building cause illness?
• Biology issues: Survey of symptoms,
research into existing medical data: studies
of respiratory illnesses, research on
organisms --cause/effect
Broad Topic: Sick Building
Syndrome
• Chemistry Issues: Call Health Department
to find out tests for sick building e.g. in
humidity studies, harmful gases,, etc. CO,
CO2, particulates, water analysis,
investigations of Brownian motion; Rn
detection, condensation patterns
• Physics Issues: measurement of
electromagnetic fields, air flow patterns, R
factors, temperature of the buildings
Examples of
Group 4 Projects
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Natural & Synthetic Fibers
The 400 m Running Race
The School Swimming Pool
Exercise
Paper Recycling
The effect of Caffeine on the Human Body
Petroleum and the Automobile
The Classroom Environment
Transport to School
Group 4 Projects (cont.)
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School Garbage
Agriculture
How healthy is our School?
Pollution in City X
Alternate Energy Sources for the School
Beer / Wine
Driving
Ice Storm
The Weather
The Science of Toys / Thrill Ride
Project stages
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The 10 hours allocated to the group 4
project, can be divided into three
stages:
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planning,
action
Presentation and evaluation.
Planning (2 – 3 hours)
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Mixed-subject sessions:
brainstorm the topic
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Develop a hypothesis
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Suggest data collection
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Sharing of information &
ideas
Definition of Activities
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Develop
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subject-specific questions
to answer and
A subject specific
hypothesis
Define specific tasks
Action (6 - 9 hours)
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Separate subject investigations
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As individuals or groups
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During ‘Normal’ lessons and in own time
● 2 science subjects do 2 action phases
Presentation - Monday 19th May
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The emphasis during this stage,
is on
● students sharing their findings,
both successes and failures,
with other students.
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It will be discussed with
● the teachers, other IB students,
Grade 9 and anyone else in the
Marble Hall
Assessment
● Everyday you will need to complete the following and
hand them in to your supervisor before you can leave:
-personal log
-self reflection
-self/peer assessment
The supervisor will be interviewing your team and using
all the above information to give you a Personal Skills
grade for the IB.
This is 6 marks out of 48 for your internal assessment;
Internal assessment is worth 24% of your final IB grade.
Planning Stage:
1st page in your booklet
Define your research question
Background information
- Include a background to your research question (why is it worthy of investigation?
What is the problem you are trying to solve?)
- Explain your specific topic and the aspects you are focusing on (ESS, biology,
chemistry or physics)
- Outline the roles for your team members
- Give any background theory required to understand the premise of your
investigation
Materials and method
A list of apparatus
A rough description/diagram of your procedure
Variable identification
- Independent, dependent and controlled variables should be listed