Firstsessionat2.

30pmonMonday14February2005

THE GROUP 4 SCIENCE PROJECT

All IB science students must complete a Group 4 Project as part of their Science practical programmes. In this
project you are part of a multi-disciplinary team studying a particular topic. Your team consists of around 8
students, with a mixture of sciences represented in the team. You will complete the Project in the 2 weeks before
Project Week while your 2nd years write their mock exams.
The Project is an opportunity for you to demonstrate your practical skills. In all 6 stages of the Project there is a
strong emphasis on teamwork, sharing ideas and cooperation, aspects of internal assessment Personal Skills (a) and
(b). Your participation in the Group 4 Project may contribute to your grades for at least these two components of
your internal assessment.
Your team lists and a meeting room are posted on the Physics notice board, which will be used for posting
other Group 4 Project information (such as interviews sign-up sheets). You will meet for the first Planning
session Monday 14 February at 2.30 pm. Arrive on time! Your team is relying on you.
Your supervising teacher will tell you the Theme for the Project at the first Planning session and can answer any
questions you have about the Project at that time.

THE 6 STAGES OF THE PROJECT

You will record your individual progress throughout the Project on a Project Logsheet, provided at the Planning
session. Record all data and other notes on separate paper.

1. 1st Planning 2.30 pm Mon 14 February

In this session you meet in one of the labs or classrooms with the other members of your team to choose your Team
Topic and plan your investigations. Each room has 2 teams and a Science teacher.
You discuss the theme and decide which aspect of the theme your team will work on (your Team Topic)
and how each of the different science subjects can contribute towards this.
After your team has chosen a topic, each science within the Team decides on its own investigation ie the
biologists in your team plan a biological investigation, the chemists plan a chemistry investigation and so
on. Your investigation group should be 2 or 3 students; groups of 4 should break into 2 groups of 2.
If you take more than one science, you do one investigation in either subject area (eg if you take Physics
and Chemistry, design your investigation in either Physics or Chemistry, not both).

2. 2nd Planning 8.00 am Wed 16 Feb

In this session teams A-H meet in the Library with their teachers and teams I-P meet in the Lecture Room with their
teachers. Each room has one teacher from each of the 4 sciences so that the investigation groups can discuss their
ideas with the relevant subject teacher.
Your investigation group within your Team designs its investigation. You need to make sure that your
investigation lasts around 5 hours, is safe, can be done with the equipment we have at LPC, and can be
done on campus.
Before leaving this Planning session, each investigation group must complete an Investigation Plan and
give it to your supervising teacher, and sign up for an interview with the subject teacher in your room
(Trevor or Joyce for Biology, Wendy or Julie for Environmental Systems, Lynn or John for Chemistry, and
Steve or Magan for Physics). Interview sign-up sheets will be posted on the Physics notice board.

3. Interviews 1.30 pm Wed 16 Feb

On the Wednesday afternoon your investigation group meets with a subject teacher to discuss your
investigation plan.
Only 20 minutes is allocated to each interview - arrive on time and be sure that all investigation partners
are present.

Li Po Chun UWC Science Department

Printed on November 17, 2015

The teacher will check your Investigation Plan to see that:

your hypothesis is well written
your investigation is approximately the correct length of time
your investigation is viable
your investigation is safe

Allocation of Investigation slots

Check the Physics notice board on Friday or in the weekend to find the Investigation slots you have been given. Six
2.5-hour slots are available: 3 on Monday, 2 on Tuesday and 1 on Wednesday. If you wish to request particular slots
(eg 2 consecutive slots or 2 slots on different days for your particular investigation, or you want to keep a day free
for visa applications or orals, etc, you must write a note (or send an email: su@lpcuwc.edu.hk) to Steve by end of
Wednesday 18th Feb. requesting which slots you want.

4. Investigation

Students from each of the separate sciences work independently (ie the biologists in your team work
together, the chemists work together, etc.) gathering information, either experimentally or from other
research, on the aspect of the problem that they have chosen to investigate.
At the beginning of each of your Investigation sessions report to the teacher in your science lab. Then,
if your investigation is practically based, collect equipment, chemicals and other materials and carry out
your experiment. You need to complete a sheet listing the equipment, etc that you want to take out of
the laboratory. If your investigation involves library or internet research, let the teacher know before
you leave for the library.

5. 1st Evaluation: sharing and poster 2.30 pm Wed 23 Feb

Your complete Team meets again on Wednesday 23 February (in the same room as the 1 st Planning session)
to share your investigation results.
The aim is to evaluate what your team has achieved and to decide how best to communicate this to others,
through an A3-sized poster for display to the whole College (see some of last years efforts posted on the
walls outside the labs) and a 20-minute presentation to the other team in your room.
You need to consider how all members of your Team can summarise their various investigations on one
poster. Use colour, images and graphs for strong visual effect, and remember to use dark or bold colours
since your poster will be photocopied for sending to IB. The posters will be laminated and posted around
the Academic Block so dont attach any paper to your poster that wont fit onto the A3 sheet no
overhanging or folded pieces of paper.

6. 2nd Evaluation: presentation 9.00 am Fri 25 Feb

On Friday morning 25 February at 9:00 am the Teams will meet (in the same room as the 1 st Planning
session) to present their work to the other Team in the room and to the teacher.
You are welcome to bring any special apparatus to this Presentation session if you think it will help
arrange this with your subject teacher in advance.
Your team is expected to question the other, presenting team! These questions may be directed to any
particular member of the presenting team, so the whole team needs to familiar with all of the teams
investigations.

At the end of the 2nd Evaluation session give your poster and your completed Logsheet to the supervising
teacher. The posters will be photocopied and the original posters will be displayed around the courtyard.
Unauthorized absence or lateness. Failure to complete 10 hours of Group 4 work is a failing condition for the IB
Diploma. Plan your week carefully and attend all compulsory sessions. You are expected to plan your visits to
consulates and travel agents, etc so that you can attend all of your Group 4 Project sessions. Be punctual and
prepared.
Steve Udy
Feb 2005

Li Po Chun UWC Science Department

Printed on November 17, 2015