YOUR

ONE WAY TICKET TO GOING GREEN Editor: Ryan Ong Kuala Lumpur, Sunday, March 5, 2013 Editor: Ryan Ong KUALA LUMPUR- A teenage boy by the name of Ryan Justin Ong has a mission in mind, to reduce his monthly electricity consumption to 300 KwH. During a recent interview with him, he said: Everyone in school needs to do this project. We have learned the importance of conserving electricity. By saving electricity, I can be the change. Over the past few months, Ryans KwH consumption has decreased by 39 KwH. It may seem like a small change, but small changes go a long way. Besides, who said I was going to stop after this school year? He has also made a few mathematical predictions on how long it will take to Here is a scatter plot of Ryans data. As you can see, the fitted line shows that the line has a negative slope. Also, over the past few months, there is a get to his goal, a month where his constant gradual decrease in his consumption. family has consumed 300 KwH using concepts such using scatter plots, slopes and equations. Q: Dear Ryan, what are the steps that you took? Q: Dear Ryan, can you do more to achieve your goal? A: My approach was very simple. I just looked at my bill and A: Of course! I wish I used games less. During the previous months, I have read less books and played more games (PS3, saw how much I consumed. Then, I walked around my Wii, 3DS, etc.). If I have played less, maybe I could have house with a paper and pen. It may seem odd to do, but you

THE

CONSERVER

THE RACE TO 300 KwH: RYANS GOAL

What Has He Done?

Some Q&A With Ryan

observe a lot of stuff. I listed all the devices that were activated, but not used. From there, its easy. You just list solutions and execute them. I saw that the heater was on so I switch it off myself daily. My family increased the temperature of the AC by a few degrees and during weekdays; we turn off the AC at 6:30, in contrast to 7:30 before. Lastly, I made a deal with my family to open the curtains and window instead of the lights and the fan. We made our plan serious since October, and weve been sticking with it since.

reduced my consumption by a few more KwH. When I dont play games, I use my computer to browse the net and connect with people. We all know technology can be good, but too much of something is not good. There was a time that my eyes were always glued to a computer screen. I would charge my computer 2 times a day! Looking back, I cant believe that I used to be like that! Nowadays, I mainly use my laptop for schoolwork that is supposed to be turned in online. I plan to change these habits and hopefully, I will be able to see that my actions have helped me reach my goal.

The Math Behind It All

with Ryan Ong

The concepts that I learned in Advance AlGeo are essential in order to find the equation for the line, With Ryan Ong we will need to find the slope and the y-intercept. They are essential for determining the slope-intercept form of a line. It looks like this: y=mx+b. This means b is the y intercept and m is the slope. The y-intercept is where the line crosses the y-axis. From looking at the graph, I assume that that it is 615. This means that we have found the b in our equation. So far, we have found that y=mx+615. Because as x increases, y decreases, the slope of the line has to be negative. In order to find the slope, you have to find the rise over run of the line. When you go down 98, you go over 3. This means that our slope is -98/3. I kept it as a fraction because in my opinion, fractions our very usable in comparison to a decimal. Therefore, the equation for the line is y=-98/3x+615. With this equation, we can make predictions such as the amount of time in months it will take to reduce my KwH consumption to a certain level. This is my environmental logo. It symbolizes how small actions, like turning off a light, can In order to find out how long it will take me to contribute to big changes get to 300 KwH, I used the sports analogy, which is to substitute. In can substitute y(Kwh Consumption) for 300 and find out what x(Months after August) will be. Looking back from the beginning of the It would look like this: year, I thought that my KwH consumption was quite low and I would struggle to get it to y=-98/3x+615 decrease even further. But now, The slope of Substitute y for 300 my line is quite steep. 300=-98/3x+615 Subtract 615 from both sides From doing the yearlong project, I have not only gained a profound interest in the -315=-98/3x environment, but I have also been able to do In order to isolate x, you multiply 98/3 by its something to help save the environment. I will reciprocal, 3/98. continue my project next year, even if it is not required anymore. This project has not only 9.643=x made me aware of what I can do for the environment, it has also helped me apply my This is the solution to my equation. If I newfound skills in Advanced Algeo in a way that continue my actions towards saving electricity, it will will not only benefit myself. I look foward to take me 9.643 months to get to 300 KwH. But Like any seeing more service learning in ISKL! other real world problem, the answer must be interpreted. 9.6 months is about 9 months and 18 days. G:Guide your family to save electricity! R:Replace lightbulbs to energy savers! E:Electric fans are better than the AC! E:Enjoy the outdoors instead of playing games! N:Never forget to turn the lights off!

Reflecting Upon Progress

Go GREEN!