The Group 4 Project

The Group Four Project:

The Group Four Project is a project where International Baccalaureate (IB) students from all of the group four science subjects (Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computer Science, Environmental Systems and societies, Sports, exercise and health science) come together to complete a project together. It allows students to practice collaborative skills as well as strengthening scientific research skills that are learned throughout the Two years of the IB Diploma Program.

General Theme:

The General Theme of the Group Four Project is British values, the Office for Standards of Education define fundamental British values as:

• democracy;
• the rule of law;
• individual liberty;
• mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith

The purpose of learning about these fundamental values is in order to give students a better understanding of the society we live in. We as a group felt the following learning goals surrounding British values were the most important.

• enable students to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England
• encourage students to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely
• enable students to acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England.

Our Group Four Project would take place in Hyde Park which granted us the ability to conduct several investigations around the park within our disciplines of science

The Guiding Question of our project is:

Rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance. How can scientific methods help us resolve tensions between these various values when they are in competition in an urban park?

Guiding questions/investigation by subject:

Biology: PH level in the soil of different plants

Chemistry : Dissolved O₂ levels, temperature and pH in water.

ESS: PH level in the soil of different plants

Physics: How pollution affects the albedo of the ponds in Hyde Park

Reasoning behind our investigation:

Urban Parks, like Hyde park, were created were created in Victorian times as a proclaimed safe haven for London dock/factory/mill workers as well as the general public. These green spaces throughout London were supposed to act as a place free of smog and alleviate the poor health associated with the poor environmental conditions of the time. After the recent revelation that both pollutants nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter concentration (fin particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers) have reached exceedingly dangerous levels, we feel its important to analyse whether these environmental pollutants mostly coming from motor vehicles are effecting the parks within London