Communicator (communicator) wrote,
Communicator
communicator

Spreadsheet model

Today I have a very specific job to do. The text book I wrote in the 1990s is being re-purposed for the Caribbean and I have to rewrite a chapter on spreadsheets. I used heat loss from a house as the example - you enter the starting values, and formulas, and then mess about with things like 'adding double glazing' and 'loft insulation' and the spreadsheet models the effect on your annual fuel budget. It was a good example because it was a task that would have been laborious without computer modelling, but quite simple to grasp as a concept. But of course 'heat loss' isn't an issue in the Caribbean.

Our contact in Jamaica suggested I create a model around combining pupils' test results to determine class ranking - but I think that's boring. I mean, even more boring than my original. What I'm thinking of is creating a spreadsheet model of diet: calories and fat and vitamins, and then entering values from foods, so the spreadsheet models the relationship between the food you eat and your weekly nutrition. Not completely got it clear in my mind yet though, but I've promised it to the publisher by Thursday.
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  • Phew what a scorcher

    I see Gove has backed down on climate change and it's back in the curriculum again.

  • GCSE Computer Science

    My book is now for sale

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