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
● 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
▪ the research,
▪ investigation, and
▪ the final write-up,
▪ presentation, or
▪ documentation.
INTERDISCIPLINARY
investigation

● 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
th th
Action stage: 7 March - 7 April

th
Evaluation stage: 7 April

Handover to supervisor: 8th April

Presentation: Monday 19th May

 Process for a group 4 Project:

● Step 1: Identify major topics: e.g., body, pollution,

water, recycling, air, energy, nutrition, waste,
agriculture.

● Step 2: concentrate on a few topics: Pollution,

Agriculture, nutrition.

● Step 3: Narrow topic down to one: e.g., Agriculture

 Process for a
group 4 Project (cont.):

● 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 Team
members skills
• Communication
• Have different roles

• Co-operation
• Have a common goal

• Motivation
• Don’t choose each
other
• 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
● 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.)

● 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

● The 10 hours allocated to the group 4

project, can be divided into three
stages:
● planning,
● action
● Presentation and evaluation.
 Planning (2 – 3 hours)
● Mixed-subject sessions:
brainstorm the topic

● Develop a hypothesis

● Suggest data collection

● Sharing of information &

ideas
 Definition of Activities

● Develop

● subject-specific questions
to answer and
● A subject specific
hypothesis

● Define specific tasks

 Action (6 - 9 hours)

● Separate subject investigations

● As individuals or groups

● During ‘Normal’ lessons and in own time

● 2 science subjects do 2 action phases

Presentation - Monday 19th May
● The emphasis during this stage,
is on
● students sharing their findings,
both successes and failures,
with other students.

● 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