Project Delta was inaugurated in 2013.
The aims in Phase 1 were
(1) To install a computer suite in the Maths Department and solar panels at Swaminarayan School and to monitor and study their energy flows. This technical side is complete and Proof of Concept has been achieved. For further information see ‘Low Energy Design’.
(2) To allow the Maths Department to explore the use of the computer suite for teaching Maths.
In Phase 2, we are promoting and developing one of the promising resources for Maths Education which we built for our students in Phase 1.
In Phase 3, the aim will be to site one renewably powered computer classroom in a suitable location in the developing world.
The Educational Side
The computer classroom gave us the opportunity to explore the many ways of using the laptops to teach and learn Mathematics.
We were able to undertake some useful work with INTEL at their impressive factory in Leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland. The innovative numeracy software we produced is based on an algorithm in the system called Vedic Mathematics. Students learn to multiply sums such as 99 x 89 mentally in a few seconds. The excellent coder we worked with was Mr Barry McAdam, and the project took place under the kind auspices of Mr Peter Hamilton.
There are excellent graphing packages such as Autograph which enable the student to see and visualise 2D and 3D graphs. There are programs such as Geometer’s Sketchpad. There is now an abundance of excellent Math videos and support for exam preparation. Motivated students will find good explanatory videos for every topic they have to learn. There are also many teaching packages which incorporate systems for setting and marking homework.
AMONG THE MANY POSSIBILITIES, THERE ARE TWO PROMISING LINES OF WORK WHICH OPENED UP DURING OUR PROJECT ON WHICH WE ARE CURRECTLY WORKING.
It is widely agreed that students of Mathematics should learn to ‘problem-solve.’ This is higher-order skill than memorising and applying the routines required for competent exam performance. This issue is addressed partially by the most recent GCE and GCSE specifications which have a higher component of problem-solving.
Some preparation for these challenges takes place in the classroom, but students are also provided with past papers and a co-ordinated suite of ‘prompting videos’. If they feel the need, the student can access the videos in the classroom, and they have now been gathered together on their own web-site: https://challengeprompts.co.uk
The website presents the text of each UKMT Maths Challenge question and the five possible multiple-choice answers. The student attempts the question and clicks on the appropriate button. If correct, the software says so and the next question can be attempted. If not, they are presented with the video which reads the question to them, and then suggests a promising line of approach. They are left to finish the question and choose the correct answer. This is a very effective method. We are researching the proportion of students who click on the correct answer after watching the video once.
We had some good statistical evidence that our Maths Challenge results improved. A presentation on the use of these videos was given at the online summer conference of the BSRLM and an article published on their website.
The article will be found in ‘Action Research’ under the ‘About’ menu.
2) Practical Mathematics and Geometry
For GCSE Mathematics, students are still required to learn a few simple constructions using compasses, pencil and ruler. But as these constructions are presented without little context or purpose, they are easily forgotten.
In the course of attempting to make better use of these practical skills, a new way of presenting the Platonic and Archimedean solids has been developed by Mr Stewart-Brown using Geometer’s Sketchpad. In this ‘excavated’ form, pyramids which open at the base are put together the form the shape.
The last person in this island to study the solids in this way seems to have been Thomas Digges (1546 – 1595) who wrote ‘A Mathematicall discourse of Geometricall Solides’. It is couched in the English and Mathematical Language of his day which is not quite indecipherable given time and patience.
Some of the nets are easy for students to make using simple straight edge constructions on card and can then be scored and cut out to form the necessary pyramids.
We also print the nets onto A4 coloured card which enables students to make the pyramids for each model more quickly. The students are then able to achieve a good result within a lesson.
Students such as the ones in the photoabove enjoy making these fundamental and mathematical shapes which have many interestng properties.
Project Delta offers enrichment courses on this topic to schools.
The Technical Side of the Project Delta Classroom
The central and original intention of Project Delta is to pioneer the siting of renewably powered classrooms in villages in the developing world.
Our classroom had its own dedicated 1 kW PV array on the school roof, and a fleet of 24 low-power laptops. One unique feature was that power to the laptops was provided by use of state of the art low-voltage DC technology – Power over Ethernet (PoE). PoE avoids the costs associated with AC wiring and sockets, is safer than AC, and is widely used and familiar to IT experts.
An important feature of PoE is device-level monitoring capability. This is being used in Project Delta to log energy use of the laptops and also to log solar power generation at one second intervals. To compare with actual energy data gathered from Project Delta, a mathematical model of this system was constructed in Matlab and used to simulate its energy flows as sunshine and laptop demand varies. This virtual test-bed and model forms the basis for a system design tool.
Preliminary results show that the system is cost neutral in operation and produces lower carbon emissions than conventional alternatives while also being safer and lower cost to deploy.
Application of advanced control methods to manage the laptop batteries over the next development phase aims to maximise energy self-sufficiency and minimise emissions of this novel green, low voltage DC computer suite. (2016)
(2021) All the data from the device level monitoring capability since 2013 has been collected, we can now state that we have Proof of Concept. It is definitely possible to design and construct a renewably powered carbon neutral classroom with zero running costs. We have not used batteries to store the sun’s energy for several reasons. Given the low power demand of modern laptops, this issue is surmountable in actual applications.
The system was designed, monitored and studied by
